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then I am willing to bet that you know, have worked, or at the very least, heard of one or more of these fine individuals.

From Jim W4QO:

“Travel plans are set for the fifth “Buddies in the Caribbean” (BIC) mini-DXpedition to St Lucia (J6). Eight operators, some of whom have never experienced the “other side” of a pileup, will be operating from Chateau Devaux on the NE side of St. Lucia from December 1st through 9th, 2013.

This “Suitcase DXpedition” will operate QRP to 100-watt radio stations using backpackable Buddipole antennas to make contacts from the villa, the surrounding mountains, and (of course) from St. Lucia’s superb beaches.

The eight operators are Jerry—N9AW, Craig—NM4T, John—W5EXJ, Joe—K3JDB, Rick—AA4W, Jim—W4QO, Chris—W6HFP, and Budd—W3FF (J68FF). Ops will preface their own calls with “J6/”.

Team members will operate several CW, SSB, and/or Digital Mode stations on 160-10 Meters from the villa while others make contacts with portable set-ups from other J6 locations.

Per tradition, meeting and operating with local hams while on J6 is one of our key goals.

Details for obtaining contact confirmations from the operators can be obtained by checking www.QRZ.com. The BIC team members will confirm contacts via LOTW and/or QSL cards.”

Got to hand it to these gents – they know when to make an escape to the Caribbean, eh?  Just as the really cold weather settles in, they’ll be on the beach, enjoying the balmy breezes and having drinks with little umbrellas from coconut shells. And enjoying Amateur Radio to boot!  Have fun, guys …. I’ll be listening for you!

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

Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Today I was hanging around the QRP frequencies on 30 and 20 meter. On 30 meter I worked S51WO. On 20 meter (14060 KHz) I worked EA2KV and YU1BM. 2-way QRP contact with RX3DOR and OH3GE.
Paul Stam, PC4T, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from the Netherlands. Contact him at [email protected].

Amateur radio has a long history, going all the way back to wireless experiments in the late 1800s. However the study of electricity has its roots in the observation of natural phenomena and stretches back much further.

I ran across this excellent three part documentary detailing the story of the discovery of electricity. The presenter is Jim Al-Khalili, currently Professor of Theoretical Physics and Chair in the Public Engagement in Science at the University of Surrey. He not only knows his stuff, he is also an interesting and engaging speaker.

The documentary runs for three hours but is worth your time if you are interested in the story of electricity and the people behind its discovery and history. I hope you find it as enjoyable as I did.

Owen Morgan, KF5CZO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Texas, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

 

The season started tonight on 80 Meters. I worked Tom KV2X in NY rather easily. Then I located Jay KT5E in CO, and called him pretty much non-stop for the next hour. Sadly, it was not to be. Conditions didn’t favor me, and out of the three regular NJ Hounds, only Al W2EEW, got a two-fer. Both Charles W2SH and I nabbed only one pelt each.

Today during lunch, I was disappointed to hear that activity on 10 Meters seems to be waning. I didn’t hear many CQers, so I shinnied up to the QRP Watering Hole at 28.060 and called CQ for a bit myself. I was answered by Gerry EI5HJ. It was a nice QSO, but copy was a bit tough, with lots of QSB. 10 Meters may still be open, but the band seems to be in a bit rougher shape than it was just a mere week ago.

After my QSO with Gerry, I slid on down to 17 Meters, where I worked Cedric, CT3FT on Madeira Island. Band conditions seemed a lot better there. There was also more activity there than there was all last week.

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

Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

especially when you lose your dog, or your cat, or your goat.  This was re-posted by Alex K5UNY to the QRP Polar Bears e-mail reflector today:

“On 11/6/2013 2:31 PM, qrp.wg0at@… wrote:

It’s with deep sorrow I have to make this announcement …”Rooster” goat died suddenly last night of unknown causes …his trail buddies will soon be scattering Rooster’s ashes on many SOTA peaks throughout western NA.

The Boys ——–Photo by Chuck/N6HUB

Farewell, Rooster! RIP …we will really miss you but are so so grateful to have had you in our lives. …Steve/Pam “

I couldn’t see the picture taken by Chuck N6HUB, but here’s one I found of “The Boys” on the Web:

Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

What turning the loop can do

As times goes on and I use the Alexloop more and more I am coming to realize that this antenna may not be a bad choice for my condo antenna. The loop is small and I thought may not preform that well, stacked up against my Alpha Delta DX-EE dipole antenna yes it does not far very well. BUT for limited space, fast to assemble and take down and stealth the Alexloop is a great contender. Recently I have been only using the Alexloop indoors and either on the main floor or my second floor shack. The power has been set to 5 watts and as was said in my previous posts I was able to get into Europe with some decent reports. This weekend using the loop antenna along side my K3 (Up to this point I have only been using my KX3) they seem to get along very well. The tuning of the antenna has been made easier because of the P3 and external monitor. I am able to tune to peak noise using the band scope or otherwise known as the Elecraft P3. Peaking the noise level this way has almost netted me a perfect SWR on all bands. There was only a very minor self tune I had to do in order to get the SWR flat.

Man made noise on the band

I did notice on 30m today there was lots of man made interference and by simply rotating the loop most if not all the interference was eliminated. As well after rotating the loop the signals I was listening to were still there. That to me can be a great bonus once in the city of Toronto and the interference problem may increase and by turning the loop I may be able to rid myself of some of it. I also wanted to know what the loops receive bandwidth would look like on the P3 and I am please to say that's it's great. As for transmitting I have found the loop has to be re tuned anywhere from 10 to 25 Khz depending on the band. This was a good learning weekend for me regarding the Alexloop. I have been toying with the idea of the MFJ magnetic loop as you can tune it from your desk. I have tried to add some extra length to the Alexloops coax and have had some good and bad results with tuning the loop for best SWR. I have noticed as well that when tuning the loop your body has an affect on the SWR as well. You may see a great SWR but once you have moved back to  your radio the SWR goes from your tuned 1.2 to 1 to 2.2 to 1. This is not the case all the time but has happened now and then.

A nice bandwidth with the loop

One other element I wanted to try this weekend was Skimmer, there was a contest on and I wanted to see how well it did. The results were very pleasing and I was able to see how Skimmer can help me. I have played with Skimmer in the past and just could not get it working but I stuck with it this time and am pleased with the results.

Skimmer showing the picture

Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].