AmateurRadio.com

Sometimes with DX, it’s better to be lucky than good. Well, I really shouldn’t say that.  I know nothing of being good when it comes to DX, but I sure can relate to lucky.

Band conditions were good today, and I went out to the Jeep at lunchtime to find 15 Meters hopping!  I heard a huge pileup around 21.023 MHz and I think it was for JA7SGV/6V in Senegal.  He was loud here in NJ, so despite the pileup being furious, and despite having worked Senegal on another band, and because I’m an optimist at heart, I decided to give it a go.  I turned on the “Dual Watch” feature on the KX3, hoping that I would be able to figure out where he was listening.  After listening for a goodly bit, it became apparent that I was not hearing the same stations that the DX station was going back to. So I hoped for the best and started throwing out my call at 21.025 MHz. It seemed as good a place as any to start.

Then all of a sudden, my call comes back to me.  But it wasn’t from the ear bud tuned to 21.023 MHz, but instead from someone transmitting on 21.025 MHz.  I quickly turned off “Dual Watch” and deactivated the split function and twirled the main VFO up to 21.025 MHz.  I thought just maybe it was someone who heard my call sign in the pileup, recognized it, and wanted to say “Hello”.  A half second later, when I got up to 21.025 MHz, the station was still calling me and sending out “W2LJ 579 TU BK” waiting for an acknowledgement.  Obviously, this was NOT someone wanting to say “Hello”. So since the station was loud, auto-pilot and habit kicked in and I sent back “DE W2LJ TU 599 NJ BK”.

It turns out that it was MJ0ASP, located on the Island of Jersey.  A DXCC entity that I have never worked before at all, let alone via QRP!  How cool is that!  Tried for Senegal, but got a brandy new one, instead (albeit by accident!). Add to the fact that New Jersey was named for the Island of Jersey, so there’s a little historical connection there, too..  My hat is off to Elecraft, because if it weren’t for the “Dual Watch” feature on the KX3, I might have missed Jersey entirely.  A very good day on 15 Meters, indeed, as a little while later, I also worked Luca IK3VUT in Italy and Pep EA6FG on the Balearic Islands

I was listening for K3WWP and KC2EGL on 40 Meters, as they were scheduled for another Parkpedition today.  I didn’t hear anything on 7.041 MHz, so I broke down, packed up and headed in. Checking e-mail, it appears that it was raining in Kittaning, so John and Mike put lift off on hold for about an hour or so.  Can’t blame them. Who wants their equipment to get wet?

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

I have about 2/3rds of the 2013 Skeeter Hunt Soapbox comments Webpage composed.  Hopefully, I will finish tomorrow night and will then publish them (I’ll post the link here, of course!).  Thanks to all who submitted soapbox comments and especially for all the photos.  I only wish I was a better Web artist, so that I could give them the layout they truly deserve. Once the soapbox comments are published, I will begin printing and mailing certificates.

It is being said that we are now at the peak of sunspot Cycle 24.  Several articles have pointed to that fact. We may, or we may be not.  I am not an astronomer/astrophysicist, so I wouldn’t be able to tell you that from my own authority.

But I do know that 15 Meters has been good lately, and today’s lunch time QRP session was decent again.

In my limited amount of operating time, I worked the following stations:

HA3FTA
9A287R
DK3GI

The first two contacts were pretty much your average “bang bang” DX QSO exchanges of RSTs. The last QSO with Roland DK3GI was a little bit more in depth.  Roland who lives near Nuremberg, was pushing 200 Watts to a beam.  I also found out that it was rainy and cool where he was – it was only 15C (59F). Typical Autumn type weather.

On the other hand, we’re having a brief re-visit from Summer here in NJ. After some cool days and some downright chilly evenings the past few days, the heat and humidity have come back with a vengeance!  It was a sticky 85F (29C) here today, and it expected to go into the low 90s (32C) tomorrow.  But then clouds will come in Thursday and by the weekend, the temperature is supposed to struggle to reach 70F (21C) on Saturday and Sunday.

As Mark Twain once said this about the weather in New England:

“If you don’t like the weather in New England now, just wait a few minutes.”

The same holds true for New Jersey!

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

My lunchtime QRP session looked promising, right from the start. First off. the weather was, gorgeous …… simply gorgeous! It was sunny with a deep blue sky, and about 72F (22C) with a slight breeze, and the humidity was way, way low. It was one of those days where you go out for lunch and seriously consider the possibility of not going back inside to the office. One of the 10 best weather days of the year …. absolutely!

The 15 Meter band was hopping again.  I had a quick QSO with RO70PR and then a bit bit of a longer one with Lars SM5CAK, who was running serious power. I don’t know what Lars was using for a rig, but he told me that he was pumping 800 Watts into the aether via a beam atop a 75 foot tower. That QSO done, I was hunting for more.  This was the kind of day where I thought I might be able to get 5 or 6 good DX QSOs in rapid succession, just like Jim W1PID on one of his outings.

Then it happened.  TA7I appeared on the very low end of the band, at 15.003 MHz.  He was loud and the pile up was brisk, but not something (in my estimation) that could not be conquered. If you’re a fan of David Baldacci’s series of “King and Maxwell’ books, it was the moment where Edgar Roy would say, “Hot Damn!”

My estimation was wrong.  I could not make myself heard.  This was one of those instances that happens many times in the life of a QRPer.  The DX is loud, the crowd is small, you just know in your heart of hearts, that you will be successful and will get that DX station in your log.

But you don’t.  And to make it worse, it leaves you scratching your head, because you don’t know why. Everything seems perfect, but it’s not.  Band conditions seem good, you’ve worked weaker DX stations just a few minutes earlier. It all looks like “a go for liftoff”, except that the rocket never ignites.

I could be disappointed that I wasted almost a good half hour on a futile mission. But I’m not. You learn quickly in the QRP game that sometimes you’re the windshield, and sometimes you’re the bug.  But tomorrow is another day, and someday …… someday I will get Turkey in the log using QRP.  I’m certain of it.

Besides, if this was like shooting fish in a barrel, what would be the fun in that?

As I close, I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome a newcomer to the ranks of Amateur Radio (even though he’s not even aware of this blog as far as I know).  But this newcomer is special to me, because he’s a Catholic priest – a very, very cool Catholic priest.  I read his blog, every single day.  So a big “Welcome to the hobby” goes out to Fr. John Zuhlsdorf,  KC9ZJN.  Fr. Z got his Tech license and he’s studying for his General.  Besides covering religious topics in his blog, he’ll also cover topics such as art, travel, food, target shooting, various technology related items and now …. Amateur Radio.  Like I said ……. cool, very cool!

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

First, before a brief discussion of 15 Meters, I’d like to share a video on QRP – actually it’s HamRadioNow Episode 93 – “QRP (Life’s Long Enough …….).  This was pointed out by Norm WA4ZXV on the nogaqrp e-mail reflector.

The episode is about an hour long, though, so before starting it, you might want to pop some popcorn and open up a cold one and get comfortable for a bit.  (It’s instances like this where tablets and other hand held devices really soar!)

Now on to 15 Meters.  The past few days during lunch, I have been noticing some very loud signals on 15 Meters, even though various propagation tables have been calling for only “fair” conditions on the band. There were a few loud Europeans and South Americans on the band, but I was being beat out in the pileups by stronger signals (Them’s the breaks).  Rather than give up on the band totally, I decided to go on up to venerable ol’ 21.060 MHz and put out the CQ call for a lil’ bit.

I was rewarded with a call from Bert F6HKA who is very well known on the CW portions of the bands. Bert and I have QSO’ed before, but always in a contest situation.  It was nice to be able to spend a few minutes with him today, actually chatting for a bit.

Today I pulled off a hat trick during my lunchtime QRP session. A triple play, a trifecta, a triple crown ….. three QSOs, one each on three different bands, in about 15 minutes. One on 20 Meters, one on 17 Meters, one on 15 Meters. A lot of band hopping!

The first QSO was a domestic one, but was perhaps the contact that intrigued me the most of the three. On 20 Meters, I worked Mike AI8Z/8, who was on SOTA Summit W8M/UP-057. This is better known as Feldtmann Ridge on Isle Royale National Park. The park is technically part of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula,  but is actually an island in Lake Superior, very close to the Canadian shore. I did a Google search for images and have come away seeing that this is one very beautiful location.

Looks like a perfect place for a QRP vacation. This is exactly the kind of QRP adventure that I dream of and salivate over. Some day, I’m going to go on one of these! I wonder if Ken WA8REI has ever been there?

The next QSO happened on 15 Meters, which seemed to be open with a few signals today. I answered HC2SL, Alfredo’s CQ from down in Guayaquil, Ecuador and received the standard DX “TU 599” exchange. He did get me first time, no fills; but I’m pretty darn sure I wasn’t really 599. Alfredo really was 599 up here in New Jersey, however. His signal was really booming in.

From there, it was a jump on over to 17 Meters, where I answered another CQ. This one was coming from Andy DM5MU, from Leipzig, Germany.  Andy came back to me on my first call, also. Andy rewarded me with a 539 report, while I was able to send a 579 his way. The DX does not have to be 599+ in order to get a QSO. If you hear a DX station calling CQ, and they’re not making your eardrums bleed, don’t be afraid to throw your call sign out there, anyway. They might not hear you; but then again, they might. You’re never going to get a feel of who you can work and who you can’t if you only answer the loudest of the loud. Push the envelope – you will be rewarded many times over.

I would have liked to have stayed on longer, but after working Andy, I felt a buzz from my cell phone. A text message indicating that I had to cut lunch short and go back inside to handle a mini-crisis. Oh well ….. how do these crises seem to know when the bands are hopping?

On a “blog housecleaning” note, I have added one blog to the blogroll and have eliminated another.  First off, welcome to Jim Smallwood N7RCS and his blog, “Low-power, low-profile QRP from the Pacific Northwest!”  Looks like it’s going to be a good one.

Secondly, at the request of the blog owner, I have deleted the link to Smoke Curls by Jeff Davis KE9V. Jeff wrote me to let me know that he sold all his Amateur Radio gear and has retired from the hobby.  ‘Tis a pity, I will miss his word smithing – he is one very talented person.

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

I know that band conditions aren’t the best.  And I also know that this Sunspot Cycle 24 maximum, as compared to other sunspot cycle maximums has been kinda “meh”.  But you know what?  I’m having fun despite the band conditions!

You can sit around and pee and moan about “How this sure wasn’t like the cycle we had back in ’57 when you could work the world with a 1/2 Watt and a wet string!”, or you can get on the air and choose to operate.  I choose the latter.

Today was another successful lunchtime QRP session.  The KX3 and Buddistick successfully netted S564EB, which is a special event station commemorating the European Basketball Championships in Slovenia.  A little later, still on 17 Meters, I bagged IS0GQX, Bruno in Sardinia for that country on a new band.

When the sunspot cycle does finally dwindle to weeks and months of little or zero spots, I’m sure that this “not so great” maximum is going to look mighty fine from the rear view mirror.  As long as it lasts, I am going to keep at it.  5 Watts to a Buddistick plopped on top of my Jeep – every QSO amazes me!

Now, to another matter.  The period for submitting log entries for the Skeeter Hunt is entering the halfway mark.  Next Sunday, August 25th at 11:59 PM EDT, is the absolute final deadline for log submissions.  So far, I’ve received 55 log summaries.  That’s about 1/3 of the people who signed up for Skeeter numbers.  In fact, I’ve received two log summaries from Non-Skeeters!  So if you participated, please send me a log summary.

For some VERY preliminary results, you can go to – http://www.qsl.net/w2lj/index%20page%205

If you submitted a log and you don’t see your numbers next to your call, then I didn’t get them. Please send them again!  Soapbox comments and photos will appear after next Sunday.

So far here are some standings:

Top 5 finishers:
KX9X
N5GW
KX0R
NK9G
N0SS – who is also top multi op finisher so far.

Top multi op, multi transmitter is WQ4RP (so far).

Top mixed (SSB and CW) – W9LR

Top SSB – a tie between KK4NWC and KC5FM.

Hope to see your numbers soon!

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

I was fighting a high ambient noise level tonight, while participating in the monthly NAQCC Sprint. Not as terrible as it was a few years ago, when 40 Meters was so bad that I had to abandon the 40 Meter Fox Hunts, but bad enough to be annoying.

With the goofy damp weather we have been having, I think the local QRN was due more to atmospherics, than anything else. I’ll have to see how the band conditions are over the next few days.

In any event, I racked up 22 QSOs during the during the Sprint, almost evenly divided between 40 and 20 Meters. It ended up being 10 QSOs on 20 Meters and 12 on 40 Meters. Not my best effort, by any means, but not abysmal, either.

I was happy to work Jim W1PID at the very end, but was disappointed that I was not able to get a QSO in with my two NJ buddies, Don W2JEK, or Charles W2SH. They were both sitting on frequencies, running mini pileups, and I could just not break through.

Just goes to show you ….. sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you.

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