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This has been a bad week for me as far as the QRP Fox hunts go.  On Tuesday night, I was only able to hear both Foxes at ESP levels.  I “knew” where they were; but they were much too weak to even bother calling – no way they would have heard me. Tonight is a rare QRN free night on 40 Meters, but alas, same problem as Tuesday night.  I can’t hear the Foxes for anything.

So instead, I headed down the lower part of the band and was picking off Caribbean stations that are flexing their CW muscles for this weekend’s big DX contest.  I got Curacao, and Bonaire and Aruba among others. And I even got a “brandy-new” entity for me via QRP. I worked PZ5RO in Suriname on 40 Meters.  I heard him call “QRL?” and he gave out his call and I nabbed him on my first shot. Sweet!

If you’re new to QRP and you’re hesitant about jumping into this contest, don’t be.  Have no fear, jump in and have fun.  But (there’s always a “but”, isn’t there?) you have to be sensible about it.  For the first half or so of the contest, don’t get frustrated if you don’t get the results that you want.  Remember at the beginning, you will be competing with a ton of QRO stations.  As a beginner, you might want to stay with “hunting and pouncing” and working the loudest stations.  If you try and try; but can’t get an answer within a reasonable amount of time – move on.  Work what you can.  As Kenny Rogers sang, “You have to know when to hold ’em, and when to fold ’em”.  Contests like this will really help you learn the capabilities and strong points of your station.

QRPers stand a better chance during the last half of the contest, if my experience means anything.  Towards the end, stations that are still hungry for points seem to hear sharper as they eke out those weaker signals in order to inflate their point totals.  On Sunday afternoon, I would try working just about anyone that you can hear.  At this point, even the weaker stations without super antenna arrays seem to respond to QRPers.

Don’t be surprised when you find out you can work a lot of DX with low power and modest antennas.  A few years ago, as a personal experiment, I decided to get on Saturday night and work the loudest DX stations that I was hearing, while the K2 was turned down to 1 Watt.  I think I earned the “1000 Mile per Watt” award about thirty times over that evening – and that was when we were in the middle of the sunspot doldrums.

And speaking of the “1000 Mile per Watt” award – you should be able to earn that this weekend without breaking a sweat.  And if you’re working on your DXCC – just starting,  in the middle, or near the finish line, this is always a great event for that.  Also keep in mind Diamond DXCC for this year. I am hoping to inflate my country total big time towards that award.

The contest is also a good way to increase your code speed a bit.  Don’t get frustrated with the guys who seem to be sending at 50 WPM,that sound like a buzz saw.  Pay them no attention – move on.  But don’t fall into the trap of only working slower speed guys either.  Work the ones who are a bit faster than you’re comfortable with.  It may take you eight or nine times to get their call correct; but what they hey – it’s not like you’re in this to take the whole shebang, right?

Bottom line is to have fun – be a “Giver of Points”, relax and have a good time.

On quite a different; but sad note ……. I heard on the radio, on the way home from work today, that Gary Carter passed away, losing his battle with cancerous brain tumors.  Gary “Kid” Carter, along with Johnny Bench may arguably have been two of the greatest catchers the National League has ever seen.  His coming to the NY Mets in 1985 was a catalyst that started a series of winning seasons that lasted until the early 90s.  I had the great fortune to meet him at a baseball card show after he had retired from the game.  Not only was he a great baseball player, totally worthy of his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, he was also a total gentleman.  The world of baseball (and NY Met fans) is poorer today for Gary’s passing.  But I’m sure he’s being more than welcomed on Heaven’s All Star Team.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

Elecraft KX3

Elecraft said they hope to start shipping at the end of February or the beginning of March when I talked to them on the phone today.

I’m at the tail end of the line too, I just ordered on today!

While we’re waiting for that big day when the Kx3 arrives, I was wondering how many ordered the Kx3 assembled by the factory or in Kit form?

Just curious! I ordered mine ‘Factory Fresh’!

de AA1IK

Ernest Gregoire

73

As I’ve mentioned many, many times.  My attempts at learning Morse code or CW as a teenager were unsuccessful.  While I’ve mentioned my excuse was too many distractions (cars, sports, girls).  I also believe my failure was a learning block which I couldn’t overcome.  Perhaps another way to word this was a learning block I didn’t know how to overcome. 

Since getting my license in 2007, CW has been a mode I’ve wanted to operate.  I will admit that I’ve fiddled around in Ham Radio Deluxe DM780 and have also downloaded and installed other software applications to decode via the computers soundcard to text translation.  I’ve decoded many times, but have never actually attempted to send via these mechanisms. 

Please understand that what I’m going to say next is my opinion and only my opinion.  But if I have to use computer software to send and receive CW signals, I might as well stay away from that mode.  Again…this is my opinion for my own operational style and my own way of thinking. 

So having said that, I am in the process of researching methods of learning Morse code.  I’ve spent some time talking to some friends and researching information on the internet.  I plan to wrap up this discovery phase and get started in the next few days.

While I know many learned CW from simply studying the dots and dashes which make up each letter or from listening to code tapes.  I’m looking for alternative methods as I’ve tried the code tapes and studying an A is .- with not much success.  Of course, I also understand I’m a much different person now than I was 30 years or so ago.  Most of this will be similar to overcoming my obstacles with earning extra last summer.  Meaning, I just need to focus and get it done but at the same time not setting unnecessary pressures on myself. 

Morse code is very much alive on the bands and it is a mode I dearly want to enjoy.  I’ll be certain to most frequent updates to share both my successes and frustrations along my Morse journey.

Until next time…

73 de KD0BIK 

Reminiscing about my early days in ham radio, one of the things that really stands out is a gift my parents gave me 32 years ago — a Heathkit HW-8, an 80/40/20/15 meter QRP CW transceiver! It was an utter surprise to me; I never had the slightest inkling that it was coming. I was 12 years old and had never built anything like that before. How wonderfully mysterious all those parts looked as I pulled them out and set them on the dinner table!

Looking back on it now, I realize how patient my mother was to let me take over that table in the dining room. As I recall, I worked nonstop to build the little rig and its power supply. Ten days later, on January 3, 1980, it was finally ready. My dad took a look at it and said it was ready for the “smoke test.” You can imagine how I held my breath as we plugged it in and turned it on. I was waiting for something on the circuit board to go up in a puff of smoke! Nothing exploded, so I was ready to take it into the shack and hook it up to an antenna and straight key. “Ready” is an understatement — I was so excited to get that rig on the air I was nearly bursting at the seams!

I picked up the phone and called Dr. Bernard “Bernie” Northrup, KAØDKN, a friend of mine across town, to see if he would get on the air and give me a signal report. Dr. Northrup (later NØCIE, now a silent key) was a professor at Central Baptist Theological Seminary of Minneapolis and a fellow member at Fourth Baptist Church, Minneapolis. Not long before, he had gotten his license after hearing me talk incessantly about ham radio at church (I’m afraid back then I was more interested in ham radio than spiritual things.). Anyhow, I called him (around suppertime, I see by my log!) and he graciously agreed to get on the air.

And sure enough, my HW-8 worked! After a half hour with Dr. Northrup on 15 meters I was ready for my first “real” QSO, as I thought of it. Tuning around the band, I heard ZL4KI. My heart started thumping as I prepared to call him. Could he really hear me even though I was sending with no more power than that of a small flashlight? My hand was shaking as I tapped out ZL4KI ZL4KI ZL4KI DE NØART NØART NØART KN and waited, flushed with excitement. I could hardly believe it when I heard my callsign as he came back to me! To think that the signal from this little radio, built with my own hands, was being heard 8,700 miles away in Invercargill, New Zealand! Amazing!

Other radios have come and gone, but that trusty ol’ HW-8 is still with me. As a boy I brought it with me to church camp and set it up in the lodge, tapping out CW while the other boys played games. Once on a trip to Louisville, KY I set it up on the second floor of my grandparents’ house — with a TV-twin-lead dipole my father had built — and worked a station in Poland. When I moved into my first apartment as a newlywed, I set it up with that same dipole in my (below-grade!) apartment. On a couple of memorable, crisp, autumn days, I brought it to a local park with a thermos of hot cocoa, sat down on a carpet of pine needles, and thrilled to the sound of soft static and CW.

And last summer, when I just couldn’t wait until I got my shack set up at my new QTH, I set it up on the picnic table in my backyard with an OCF dipole tossed into the trees. Even though that antenna was so low its feedpoint rested on the picnic table, I still worked both coasts on 20m with my trusty ol’ Heathkit HW-8! What a great little rig. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for giving me such a great gift!

(Click here to view the HW-8 Manual)

Many friends who have been at this hobby a lot longer than I have worked some pretty famous people – King Hussein of Jordan, King Juan Carlos of Spain, Barry Goldwater.

I have never worked anyone famous per se, but I did get a chance to work the Arizona DX Association last night, which is celebrating Arizona’s Centennial this week.  Their call is K7UGA – the same used by Senator Barry Goldwater (SK).  So when I heard them on 40 Meters tonight, I jumped at the chance.

It took a while for me to break the pileup; but I was successful.  5 Watts and the HF9V yielded me a response.  I got the customary “599”; but they were truly a 599 here into New Jersey.  One of the loudest signals on the band.

I will definitely send for a QSL card, as this may be the closest I ever get to working a “famous” Ham.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

The Northeast Arkansas Radio Club is sponsoring a special event station in honor of Johnny Cash’s birthday.

All licensed amateur operators are welcome to contact N5C on Sunday, February 26, 2012 from 12:00pm CST (1800 UTC) to 8:00pm CST (0200 Feb. 27, 2012 UTC).

Stations making a confirmed contact with N5C will receive a commemorative certificate.

They are planning on operating at least one station in Johnny’s boyhood hometown of Dyess Colony, AR. Stations making contact with the Dyess Colony station will receive a special designation on their certificate.

Planned operating frequencies will be: 3.835, 7.260, 14.260 and 28.330 mHz (+/-3 kHz).

“He ‘walked the line,’ now let us ‘talk the line!'”

https://www.facebook.com/cashspecialeventstation