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Why? Because JT9 is the best weak signal mode there is. On 10 meters I worked with 5 watts JT9 CX2AQ (11.371 km) and LU8EX (11.445 km) I read at PE4BAS that KB2HSH published a nice list about the sensitivity of digi modes. Why should anybody uses RTTY for instance?

JT9 and JT65 are the most sensitive ones. I prefer JT9 because it has a very small bandwidth. Ideal for crowded band activity. At the moment activity is a bit low with JT9, so I call all radio amateurs who like to work QRP or low power and wanted to do some experiments: use JT9. Download the software from this web site of K1JT Joe Taylor.

Finally a chance to take out my Shack-in-a-Box and do some outdoor operations. The weather for Friday and Saturday was predicted to be very good, with Saturday being the sunniest. It turned out to be the other way around, because on Friday morning I took my son to his baseball practice and set up the MP1 in a quiet corner of the field, under a blazing sun. With my deck chair positioned under some trees I took this selfie…

It being a Friday the bands were quiet. I worked JR1CXW from Japan on 15 meters in CW and had a nice long QSO with him. Then nothing till almost an hour later when I heard KZ5OM coming in on 12 meters. Because I had already marked the different bands on the MP1 tuning coil it was a breeze to get the antenna into resonance and work him. He came in 559 and I got over the Pacific with a 539 signal. Yeah, two firsts: one for CW QRP across the Pacific and one for CW with the US on 12 meters. Thank you Jerry, great working you.

After that V85TL and JQ2IQW who was interested in my QRP setup. I got some attention from a parent and gave a short demonstration. The exchange with BH1FXN was just a 599 one, but it was enough to impress him.

The sun was shining, the temperature just right and the coffee well brewed, so a perfect Friday morning. To be continued….

The Simi Settlers Amateur Radio Club in Simi Valley, California toured the USS Iowa, worked some DX, and got some great lessons about shipboard life. What an interesting history lesson in this video taken by club president Rick Galbraith, W6DQE!

USS Iowa, lead ship of a class of 45,000-ton battleships, was built at the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York. Commissioned in February 1943, she spent her initial service in the Atlantic and carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt to and from Casablanca, Morocco, in November 1943. USS Iowa is presently part of the Reserve Fleet.

Getting started with HSMM-Mesh™ (High Speed Multimedia-Mesh), also known as Broadband Hamnet™, can be daunting to hams that have the interest, but lack the expertise of network engineers. Indeed, perusing comments and documents on the Web can be confusing to newcomers who want to participate in setting up Amateur Radio broadband mesh networks under FCC Rules in Part 97.

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I was thinking about the ‘Handy from Tandy’ conversion from 49MHz and it occurred to me that the first set that I ever transmitted on was a 49MHz handheld.

It must have been around 1980 when I was a keen shortwave listener and starting to get interested in getting an amateur licence. My parents had taken us on holiday to Fishguard in Pembrokeshire. Just along the A487 from Fishguard towards Cardigan is the village of Dinas. This particular year, a new shop had appeared in Dinas, a CB shop. I was very keen on looking in the shop window!

Of course, at this stage, CB was illegal in the UK and as I was living at home – there was no possibility of illegal operation – not that I would have done anyway 🙂

I can remember a number of 49MHz handhelds for sale in the shop as well as the 27MHz AM sets.

When I returned home to Cheltenham, I researched the 49MHz handhelds. They were very low power and they appeared to be legal to use. I bought a set of two. The range was probably 100-200 yards in a built up area. A couple of doors from me lived Jon, G6BHS, so it made perfect sense for Jon to have the other handheld and for us to use them to chat. Good fun!

27MHz CB was legalised in 1981, on FM, and I very quickly purchased a CB licence and a Cybernet Beta 1000 set (great receiver!) and had some fun and learned some basics about aerials and propagation.

Of course, it was just the push I needed to get my first amateur licence, G6TTU early in 1983.

And I certainly hope this is the last blast for the Winter of 2013/2014.  The Equinox is less than three weeks away, and I am ready – perhaps readier than I’ve been in a while.  The snow that is forecast to start this afternoon, and last into Tuesday morning my bring us 4 inches – and then again may bring us 14-18 inches. The meteorologists just cannot seem to agree on this one. So that tells you the situation is extremely volatile, and we’ll just have to wait until after it’s over to see who was right.

But in the meantime, here are some warm weather thoughts from the Buddies in the Caribbean from LAST Winter.  Barbados seems like a good place to be right about now!

I was able to get on the air for a bit yesterday afternoon. The CW portion of the bands were kind of on the barren side, as the ARRL DX SSB was going on.  I could swear I heard a tumbleweed or two blow through.  But I did manage to work W1AW/7 in Washington State on both 12 and 15 Meters – first call with QRP each time.  I also worked HK7/AL4Q – an Alaskan call in Colombia – that’s different!  I also worked EA6BH in Mallorca.  That’s probably another wonderful place to be this time of year.

Clear away those dishes after a delightful dinner – enjoy some wine and set up the KX3, throw an EFHW over the railing, and we’re good to go!

I can dream ….. can’t I?

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

Earlier in the week, I noticed a handheld 50MHz FM transceiver on eBay for £6.99. I read a little and it turned out to be a converted Tandy/Realistic 49MHz handheld. Back in the late 1980s (I think), Practical Wireless ran an article by Peter Julian, G7PRO on how to convert one of these on to 50MHz FM.

There had been a follow up article by Mike Hadley G4JXX and by coincidence, the transceiver on eBay was Mike’s! Unfortunately, Mike didn’t have a copy of his article, although he did kindly send me a scan of the original G7PRO one. I’m sure I can locate a copy of Mike’s article.

The little transceiver arrived today and I wasted no time in putting a 9v battery in it! It works fine and transmits and receives quite happily on 51.510MHz FM. The original article suggests the power output is in the region of 50mW, but I think Mike’s modification is for a little more output.

Actually, my thought was not particularly to use this as a transceiver, although it will be fun to play with the low power and see how far it will go, but in the Es season, to use it as a monitor receiver in the greenhouse/garden and see if I can hear any Es on it.

As for the price, I think it’s provided £6.99 worth of enjoyment already!