AmateurRadio.com

The first day of Summer came as a prototypical Summer day – hot and humid!  The high temperature did reach 96F (35C) and is expected to be about the same tomorrow (maybe a little higher) and in the 90s on Friday. A heatwave is defined as a period of at least three days with temps in the 90s – so Summer is starting off with a bang!

Unfortunately, our air conditioning unit picked a heckuva time to give up the ghost!  We have a repairman coming tomorrow and I am keeping my fingers crossed that we will not need a new compressor.  Our Central AC unit was not brandy new when we bought the house 14 years ago, so it may be time for a new one. Eeep!

On the CW-Bugs Yahoo group, Donnie WA9TGT posted a picture of a beautiful (and I mean beautiful!) picture of a bug that he fabricated himself.  I would love to post a copy here; but the original is in his picture folder on the group, so  it is not public property.  If you are a member of the group, however, you can take a  look-see for yourself at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cw_bugs/photos/recent/1291589982/view  It is a thing of beauty and I wish I had the talent to make things like this.

Now for something not radio related: If you have a kindle and are also on Facebook, here’s a site to “like”:
http://www.facebook.com/EreaderNewsToday

Over the past few months I have been able to “buy” about 30 or 40 books for FREE.  There are all types of genres available and there may be days when it seems that nothing good is being offered except for a bunch of turkeys.  But then the days come when there are a lot of good mysteries, suspense novels, thrillers, etc. In true Ham fashion, stuff that’s offered for free can’t be all bad, can it?

This weekend is Field Day and the weather here in the Northeast looks to be perfect for it. I will not be participating this year as my sister and I have to finish clearing out my Mom’s apartment before the end of the month.  We’ve gotten a lot taken care of so far; and are about halfway done.  I think all the small stuff will be boxed up and moved out this weekend.  Whatever furniture is left over will be donated to charity and will be picked up next week.

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

It’s like going from the ridiculous to the sublime.

Tonight a real treat was in store. My CQ on 40 Meters (yes, 40 Meters was quiet tonight, yay!) was answered by K4BXN, Crit who hails from Hendersonville, NC .  Crit and I have QSO’ed a few times before; and as always, listening to his fist is pure pleasure.  Crit was using an old bug with his K3, and if he hadn’t mentioned it, you would have thought for sure that he was using an electronic keyer and paddles.

Perfect spacing and perfect sending – period.  Music to my ears. And sending Morse like that with a bug is no mean feat.  From my own experience, I know it’s so easy to develop a swing. Not that a swing is necessarily a bad thing – but it can be if you’re not careful.  It takes a lot of practice and a lot of skill to be as good as K4BXN.  But boy, is it a treat to listen to!

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