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After a rainy start, it turned out to be a gorgeous Spring day. It was sunny and it was nice and warm, despite a stiff breeze. I was able to get to the car at lunchtime and worked two Swedish stations, SM5IMO and SM4NGT on 15 meters and IK2CIO on 12 Meters.  The nice thing about operating at lunchtime here, is that at that time, most of Europe is done with the work day and there are lots of stations on the air.  They get to relax and enjoy their evening, and I get some good DX.

Thanks to a comment from Kelly WB0WQS, I am taking another close look at LOG4OM.  I tried this a couple years ago and was having severe problems getting it to run properly on my computer.  They must have made a bunch of improvements, or maybe it’s that the laptop I am using now is a better platform than what I had before. Whatever the reason, I downloaded it again tonight and installed it.  It’s working very well and for now? Let’s say I am intrigued.  It has most of the bells and whistles that are part of better logging programs these days. It is powerful with CAT, Cluster management and all the other “necessary” stuff.  It’s free and it’s easy on the eyes.

Here’s an announcement that I saw in an e-mail today.  This looks way cool and is going to get me to try and get back in the swing with my bug (pun intended!):

W6SFM On-Air BUG ROUNDUP – Saturday May 17th 2014

Objective: 
This 12-hour event is not a contest; rather it is a time dedicated to celebrating our CW and Bug key heritage. Participants are encouraged to get on the air and simply make enjoyable, conversational CW QSOs using a Bug style key as the sending instrument. There are no points scored in this event, and all who participate are winners.

Once the event has concluded, logs can be submitted to the W6SFM by way of the link provided on the clubs Bug Roundup web page. Nominal prizes/certificates will be awarded to: the person who had the most QSOs during the 12 hour period; and the person who worked the most interesting amount of bug types. 

Bands            (Suggested Freq.)
10 meters – 28.040 – 28.050 MHz
15 meters – 21.040 – 21.050 MHz
20 meters – 14.040 – 14.050 MHz
40 meters –    7.040 – 7.050 MHz
80 meters –    3.540 – 3.550 MHz

Dates
W6SFM Bug Roundup is held twice annually.
– Every 3rd Saturday in May from 1700 UTC though Sunday 0500 UTC
– Every 3rd Saturday in November from 1800 UTC through Sunday 0600 UTC


Thank you for your participation and we hope you enjoy the event. 73

For more information on this exciting event please visit the W6SFM Bug Roundup website page by clicking HERE (http://www.w6sfm.com/Bug_Roundup.html)

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

A few new toys are headed to my QTH this week.  The first scheduled to arrive is the amp for the KX3.  When I purchased my KX3 (serial number 0057) I really had no intention of adding the amp to the setup.  The KX3 was simply going to be my SOTA/Portable QRP rig (replacing the FT-817) and when not on an outdoor adventure it would stay safely in my cabinet.  After all, I have the Yaesu FT-950 which I use for SSB Phone contacts and the FT-897 which is setup for the digital modes.  I just didn’t see a need for another 100w HF rig. 

Some things have changed with my work.  For the past 3+ years I’ve worked from home 1-2 days a week and would often get on the air during lunch.  A few policy changes have taken place along with some changes in responsibility and now I’m going to the office five days a week.  As I still would like the opportunity to get on the air during lunch, I’ve been researching remote access opportunities and my research has led me to a little device called the PigRemote.  The PigRemote was developed by Nick, N3WG who also developed the PigTail which I’ve previously blogged about and demonstrated on Youtube. 

When everything arrives, I plan to experiment with accessing my KX3 via the PigRemote from my office location.  Based on everything I’ve learned, I should be able to access and control my KX3 via my iPad, Android smart phone or laptop and make a few lunch time QSO’s when time permits.  Of course, I’ll thoroughly document my experience and share with you all here via this blog and of course my amateur radio podcast. 

Of course, the addition of the KX3 amp will also provide greater flexibility for how I use the KX3 for portable operations.  While I don’t plan to lug it up a mountain top, I do enjoy operating picnic table portable from time to time and the amp should provide me many additional hours of fun.   While the FT-897 is a fine rig, for SSB operations I believe the KX3 out performs the older 897 and with the 100w amp, it will become my new picnic table portable rig.

Finally, arriving a little later than the items I’ve previously discussed.  I’ve also ordered one of the custom KX3 heat sinks.  When operating the KX3 even at just 5w, I’ve experienced the overheat warnings when running PSK-31.  From what I’ve read, users who have installed the custom heat sink report cool operation up to 10w.  I’ll let you know of my experience once the heat sink arrives and I’ve had a chance to test it.

More later when all the items have arrived and I have time to experiment.  Thanks for reading.

Until next time…

73 de KDØBIK

Work has been a bear the past few days. The weather has turned decidedly Springlike, but yet I’ve been stuck behind my desk the past three days. No lunchtime QRP for W2LJ.  🙁

And to make matters worse, it’s that time of year that we QRP Fox hunters go into withdrawal, as the season has ended. So I’m tired from work, but yet can’t fall asleep, and I’m in Fox withdrawal to boot ….. so what do I do? I get on the air – that’s what!

Tonight, I worked EA8TL on 17 Meters. He was one of the few stations that I was able to hear on the band after dinner, but was he ever loud. Like, across the street loud! I called Jorge, and got through on the 1st call with 5 Watts.

After that, I engaged in a nice ragchew with Jeff, K9JP, who answered my CQ on 20 Meters. Jeff was using a KX3 also, and was blasting into New Jersey with 4 Watts. He’s also an SKCC member, so it was a 2X KX3 SKCC QSO! That’s a lot of capital letters!

After the QSO with Jeff, I dove into the pileup to work W1AW/4 from Virginia on 80 Meters. I managed to break that pileup in about 10 minutes, maybe a little less. 80 Meters was a lot tamer than it was last Thursday night when I got skunked in the last hunt of the season.

All the while that I was chasing W1AW/4, I was also playing with the DX Labs suite of programs. Sometimes I feel like Diogenes, searching for the perfect logging program like he searched for an honest man. DX Labs looks like it’s going to require a bit of a steeper learning curve than Ham Radio Deluxe. But it is very comprehensive and full featured. If I ever get the hang of it, I just may switch over.

Did I mention that my old, decrepit shack  laptop uses Windows XP? I turned it on for the first time since support ended and it didn’t blow up!  ;-). (Like I thought that it would … NOT!) Gosh, I’m getting punchy here, I had better try to get some sleep.

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

So yesterday I celebrated my 47th birthday.  I had a great time eating a nice dinner with my Wife and children.  Perfect night!

My 14 year old son, Ryan, has discovered a graphics program called Blender – he is teaching himself how to use it and has really done some cool stuff.

Well, for my birthday present he made a graphic of my Elecraft KX3!  He apparently had been making clandestine trips to my newly implement shack to see what the rig looked like and then model it up in Blender.

Here is how it turned out….very cool….I just had to share it with you guys.

What a great birthday present from him – I am gong to make it into my wallpaper on my shack computer.

Thanks Ryan – you did a great job!

Courtesy of Facebook postings:

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

It was quite beautiful outside at lunchtime today. Sunny and 64F (18C). Unfortunately, it’s not going to last. Tomorrow is expected to be rainy with only a high of about 45F (7C). But I got to the car and enjoyed my time away from the desk. I only worked one station – EW1TZ on 12 Meters. Serge was 599+ in New Jersey and I received a 579 in return. I didn’t mention that I was running QRP (I rarely do), so I will take that 579 to the bank.

This QSO was entered into the pot for the annual “QRP Marathon” which is sponsored by Oleg Borodin RV3GM and Club72. It’s not a contest, but a QRP statistic gathering event. Basically, you add into a database your best distanced QRP contacts for the day. Here are some of the particulars from Oleg’s website:

Date and time: April 1 (00.00 UTC) to April 30 (23.59 UTC) annually.

Only the following modes are usable: CW, SSB, DIGI (PSK, MFSK, HELL, Olivia).

All HF bands 10 to 160 Meters including the WARC bands.

There is no conventional exchange. The Marathon is not a contest. Add your Maidenhead locator (i.e FN20to, for example) and your output power in the report form. Participants are to use QRP power only from 1 to 5 watts output, the “other” station may use any power. Only 1 QSO per each HF band per each day (UTC) may be submitted. Use the QSO which gave you the best distance.

Any passive power attenuators or power dividers are forbidden. Only output RF power from an active component before antenna (transistor, valve) must be submitted.

Only QSOs covering a distance of 500 km (311 miles) or more may be submitted.

All the details can be found at http://club72.su/marathon.html. The form and webpage are pretty well explained. You should have no trouble.

As of right now, I am 5th in a field of 13. That will drastically change as more QRPers enter and more entries are received. I usually end the month somewhere in the bottom half of the pack. But it’s fun and it sure would be nice to see some other W/VE operators in there. I’m not sure as to whether or not you have to be a Club72 member to participate, but membership is free – so consider joining, if you haven’t already.

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

From the KX3 e-mail reflector: