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This was announced by Jim W4QO from the North Georgia QRP Club:

OK, the Bumble Bee has flown away; the Skeeter Hunt is just around the corner. Now it’s time to start thinking about the Peanut Power Sprint.

Sponsored by the North GA QRP Club (NoGaQrP), this sprint will be held on Sept. 29, 2013 from 4PM to 6PM EDT (Sept. 29 – 2000z to 2200z). Full rules are on the NoGaQrP website – nogaqrp.org Check Peanut Pete!

The club is making this one different from most other QRP contests.

1. It is open to all amateurs at any power level. This is to attract some new folks to QRP while running their comfortable power – QRO is welcome and there is a category for that. This is a FUN event. Not cut-throat!

2. It is a short sprint lasting only two hours; not tying up the entire afternoon. Although brief, run reasonable CW speeds for all to copy.

3. It starts late in the day (right after close of TX QSO party!) which will mean those on the west coast will begin at 1PM PDT, later than most.

4. There are categories for all situations – the prestigious category is the Peanut Power category – 1w CW or less, 2W PEP SSB or less – operating from the field! This is the GOOBER CLASS!

5. Plaques will be award for 5 category winners (minimum 3 entries).

6. Sprint will allow SSB as well as CW contacts.

7. Multipliers count each band/each mode. Work GA ( or any SPC) on 3 bands and 2 modes each = 6 multiplier. Puts emphasis on switching bands and modes during the event.

8. This will encourage activity on the 3 permitted bands – 40,20, and 15M. There are suggested frequencies for each band/mode. Notice we are encouraging the now almost dead part of 40M – 7060 khz and up.

9. Logs are not required – simply a score – however, category winners will be asked to submit their logs for verification.

10. Work stations holding a Peanut Power Number (PPN) for 7 points. Stations worked who do not hold a PPN yield 3 points. Yes, QRO stations can request and receive a PPN. You do not declare your category until you send in your entry.

To request a PPN, send an email to NoGaNuT JiM at w4qo@… Numbers over 120 may NOT be requested. See the current list via the website. Include the word PEANUT in the title please.

73 and may the best PeAnUt win!

Thanks Jim and thank you NoGAnauts for sponsoring this!  Yours truly is Peanut # 70.

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].

I’m a bit of an Arduino fan. I’m also interested in APRS. So I was keen to get hold of something that would bring the two together. Enter the Argent Data Radio Shield

I bought one a while ago and used it to make my shack clock. Arduino’s come in a lot of shapes and sizes but the Uno is probably the simplest. You can add bits and bobs to them through stack-able ‘shields’. One of these shields is the Argent Data radio Shield. I ordered mine before going on holiday and got a bit done over on the customs charges but have assembled the little thing and put together one of the simple sketches to show the thing working.

 

All ready on the bench

 

All in all the assembly was pretty straightforward with a few parts to put together and not a lot else. You don’t get much in the way of guidance but the suppliers website has all the pertinent information and it shouldn’t challenge most who are ok with a soldering iron. As shown here as a finished article

Ta Daaaaa

 

Below is a little video clip of the thing running a simple sketch from the website. Instead of the output being to an LCD I’ve sent it to the Arduino IDE serial monitor. This is easily done by not actually putting an LCD on the headers. All nice and simple.

Radio Shield

Alex Hill, G7KSE, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, UK. Contact him at [email protected].

AmateurRadio.com is offering a free prize drawing!

With the help of our generous sponsor, KB3IFH QSL Cards,
we’re holding a giveaway for 500 free full-color photo QSL cards.
This is a US$75 value and open to all licensed hams worldwide.

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Matt Thomas, W1MST, is the managing editor of AmateurRadio.com. Contact him at [email protected].

Emory Peak (7,825 ft) is the highest point in Big Bend National Park in Texas. As previously posted I had activated Mount Locke  in the Davis Mountain the day before. Mt. Locke was a relatively easy activation , but I would earn my points and more on Emory Peak.

 For those not familiar with the Summits on the Air (SOTA) program there are bonus points added for activating a summit either during the winter in cold climates or during the summer in hot climates. West Texas is definitely a hot climate. Emory Peak is a 10 point summit (maximum), but activating in the summer months is worth 3 extra bonus points. On the drive from Mt. Locke to the Big Bend area temperatures hovered between 99 F to 101 F. The temperatures would moderate a little at the Chisos basin where we were staying, although not a lot. The Chisos Mountain Lodge is around 5500 feet in elevation, but the high temperatures during this time of year are in the low 90's.

The Chisos Mountain range within Big Bend National Park is a beautiful place. Emory peak may be the only peak that is climbable, but even then, you must climb the last 35 feet using some, not so easy, rock climbing techniques. I would not recommend it if you aren't experienced.

The trail to the summit of Emory Peak is a very nice trail. It is well marked and maintained. The only issue is that the round trip is 9.4 miles and there is 2,500 feet of elevation gain. Given that distance the elevation gain is not particularly difficult, if you are accustomed to mountain hikes, but it is a long way.

Cris, my XYL, just below the summit

AD5A just below the Summit VHF Antenna above are on the Summit

Emory Peak Shack You can see the Buddi-stick if you look closely

Mike Crownover, AD5A, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Texas, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

We’ve just returned from an excellent week’s holiday in South Devon. I took the picture at Goodrington Sands, which has the dual benefit of being a nice beach and having a steam railway behind it.

I took the FT817, whip antennas for 21, 50 and 144MHz as well as the Elk 144/432MHz log periodic. In the event, the only radio operating that really ‘called’ was satellite operation.

I listened on a few SO-50 passes, most of which were quite busy, but without managing to make any contacts.

However, I did take the plunge and try FO-29 for the first time. The lack of full duplex on the FT817 makes this a bit of a challenge, but thanks to some sage advice from Pete 2E0SQL on where to transmit and where to listen, I managed to work DG0ER for my first contact on this satellite. I heard some other interesting stations such as UA9CS as well, so must make an effort to feel a bit more competent on FO-29.

Back home today, after I’d finished writing the Practical Wireless column, I switched on and found 50 and 70MHz buzzing with Es. I was pleased to work IW9HII (JM67) on 70MHz for what must be my best DX on the band this summer at around 2000km as well as I3VWK. On 50MHz, I was pleased to work old pal T77C who was coming through nicely on CW.

Tim Kirby, G4VXE, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Oxfordshire, England. Contact him at [email protected].

There was a slight lift on 6m this afternoon, enabling me to try out my latest acquisition: an Elecraft PR6-10 preamp for the K3. A few days ago I noticed that the KX3 had a more sensitive receiver than the K3 on 6m. I couldn’t allow my K3 to be outshone by its baby brother so the preamp was ordered. I felt that the K3 could do with a boost on some of the lower bands as well so I opted for the new PR6-10 dual band preamp which despite the name covers the range from 6m to 12m. It was obtained and delivered to me very speedily by Elecraft’s UK agents Waters and Stanton. This was one Elecraft item that actually worked out cheaper to buy from the UK!

The preamp was very easy to install. It is designed to fit on the back of the K3 using the BNC connectors for RX IN and RX OUT provided by the KXV3A board. The preamp’s connectors are exactly the same distance apart as the ones on the K3 so you just need a pair of BNC couplers which Elecraft thoughtfully provided. I saw from the manual that the preamp was installed like this but I was afraid I would not have enough distance between the back of the K3 and the wall so I had ordered a couple of BNC patch leads as a precaution. In the end they weren’t needed.

Elecraft also provided a made-up cable to link the preamp to the K3’s switched 12V output and its ACC socket so you can select the bands the preamp is enabled for. On other bands a pair of pass-through connectors are enabled. This was the main factor for choosing the ready-made Elecraft preamp instead of a cheaper home-brew one as it meant I didn’t lose the use of the RX IN and RX OUT sockets that are utilized by the MFJ noise cancelling unit which is essential here on the 20m band.

Installing the preamp involved dismantling the entire station.

Although fitting the preamp to the K3 was easy, getting access to the back of the transceiver was not, and entailed the dismantling of almost the entire G4ILO station. Taking it apart may have been one thing, but putting it all together again is another. Labels fell off disconnected cables, other cables disappeared down the back of the table and had to be fished out again. If that wasn’t enough, the meter illumination lamp in the MFJ magnetic loop control box chose this moment to fail, resulting in a lot of time wasted after I had reconnected it trying to find out what I had done with its power supply.

Despite these hassles, installing the PR6-10 was worth the trouble, producing a clearly audible improvement in signal to noise ratio even on 12m. I can now hear stations that can’t hear me!

Julian Moss, G4ILO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, England. Contact him at [email protected].

After a good 7 months of work without much time off I’ve come back off a lovely holiday in Ile de Re, France. The island is 4km off the coast of La Rochelle and is a fantastic place and a popular place for ‘Le Weekend’. It reminded me how bad my French was but nice to practice what poor language skills I have.

Famous for salt and donkeys in pyjama’s as well as good wine and sea food. Gros Jonc is the long vertical beach on the right hand side at the top of the picture. Lovely in the sun and 2 minutes walk from where we were staying.

The closest I got to radio was seeing a chap with a TM25H (Le Mans 24 hour race special event station) T-shirt but as he was heading for the gents I wasn’t going to strike up a conversation.

Alex Hill, G7KSE, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, UK. Contact him at [email protected].