AmateurRadio.com

My question ……. how did he know?

QRPTTF Saturday May 3, 2014

A “heads up” announcement.

Due to concerns about the “Polar Vortex” still being around in April in some areas, both privately and on QRP-L, I have decided to move QRPTTF this year up two weeks to:

SATURDAY, MAY 3, 2014 1200-2359 UTC.

Hopefully, this will bring warmer weather to most of you.  Following weekends are Mother’s Day and some RTTY, etc. contests.  Turns out, a good weekend for some great opportunities for some special QRP DX contacts.  That weekend is the 10-10 contest, which normally attracts many DX stations on the “wet noodle” band.  Also, it is the SOTA International Day, which puts plenty of EU DX stations on the air, many running QRP.  SOTA in Europe has already been alerted to participate in QRPTTF as well, as they have in the past.

I will ensure our exchange is compatible with these two DX events to avoid any lengthy discussions.  This information has already been submitted to Hornucopia (WA7BNM) Contest site and the ARRL for their Contest Calendar.

Frankly, I haven’t even come up with a theme or the rules yet.  But will soon.  With the uncertain weather and predictions of late snows in some areas, nothing exotic to cause any hardships.  If you have an idea or two, please let me know.

Mostly, since May 3 is moving it “up” more than most would expect, I wanted to get the word out ASAP.
I don’t know how much this will help us out here in the west (MDT and PDT), but it should really allow those in the CDT and EDT time zones to work some good EU DX, and hopefully give you a few new countries.

Rules will be posted in the usual place: http://www.zianet.com/qrp/

I hope everyone will find this change agreeable, and at least a bit warmer.

72, Paul NA5N

Thankls Paul, but you really didn’t have to do this on my account! (grin!)

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

This past weekend, we enjoyed some temperatures in the upper 40s and lower 50s (9 to 12C) and we had a lot of snow melt. I’ve even seen some robins hopping about – a sure sign that Spring is on the way.  These Polar Vortices that we have been enduring, bringing bone chilling cold and snow down into our midst have sure taken a bite out of my lunch time QRP operating sessions.

I guess I am not the hardiest individual.  While I love QRP and CW, and getting on the air as much as I can, I do not cherish the cold weather. I have not been on the air at lunchtime since last December. Way back then, daytime temperatures were tolerable, and I didn’t mind sitting in the car and pounding brass. It was chilly, but not mind numbingly cold.

The past few Winters spoiled me.  I look back at my logbook, and I see that there were actually days that were so mild in January and February, that I actually spent some lunch hours out of doors in the local park!  This year, that would have been the height of insanity.  Hating the cold weather as much as I do, even Amateur Radio is not enjoyable for me if I am not comfortable.  Operating under adverse conditions during an emergency is one thing. Doing it when you’re supposed to be just having everyday fun is not my cup of tea.

The good news is that, if the weather prognosticators are correct, we should be heading into more normal temperatures come maybe the second week of March.  So even if it isn’t balmy, it will be more than warm enough to head out to the car for some daily lunch hour QRP.  The old 60’s song rings true – “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t what you’ve got ’til it’s gone?”  I really miss my daily fix of QRP.

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

is one where I can rack up at least 4 QSOs during lunchtime. Today was such a day.

PJ6/W4VAB – Hugh in Saba, St Eustatius on 15 Meters. DX contact
IK2SND – Danny in Italy on 17 Meters. DX contact – Danny was 599+ in NJ.
K9WIS – Brian in Waterford, WI on 20 Meters. Short ragchew.
N4KGL – Greg in Panama City, FL on 20 Meters. Very short ragchew.

The QSO with Greg N4KGL intrigued me. Greg also does the lunchtime QRP portable ops thing, and we have hooked up several times.  He uses a KX3 to an Alex Loop.  He was a good 579 / 589 into New Jersey and the Alex Loop was doing a superb job getting his 5 Watts up here in good shape.  I may have to look into magnetic loops as a serious option for QRP portable ops.

On another note, sometimes, when you collect a lot of Ham paraphernalia over the years, you forget some of the stuff you already have. I am a case in point.  The other day, I was in correspondence with a fellow Ham who was looking for a very small, miniature straight key. I e-mailed him that I had one and was willing to part with it. In turn, I received an e-mail back, asking for a photo. I was searching the shack for it last night, for picture taking purposes, only to suddenly remember that I sold that very key along with my K1. It was part of the package that I had put together, back when I was trying to raise funds for my KX3.  I sheepishly informed the inquiring Amateur that I no longer had it (losing your memory is a terrible thing!), and was feeling bad for having given him inaccurate information. I was relieved as everything turned out all right.  He informed me that a friend of his had actually given him exactly what he was looking for, and that it met his needs very well.

But during my search for the straight key, I came across a Viz Key that I had purchased about 7 years or so ago. I had totally forgotten that I had it

And that was a fortuitous discovery, as for a while now, I have been trying to settle on a key to stick in with my KX3 in my portable QRP ops bag.  I was originally using an American Morse “Dirt Cheap Paddle”.  It was very good and had an excellent feel, but was just a bit too light for my hand. When I’m doing these lunchtime ops, I like to hold the paddle in my left hand and squeeze the levers with my right hand. Call me crazy, call me weird but that’s what works best for me. When I would try to find the “sweet spot” for the DCP in my hand, I seemed to always accidentally squeeze the paddle levers at the wrong time and would send out a string of inadvertent dits. Next I tried a TE-NE-KEY, but I just couldn’t get used to the feel of that at all. I ended up making more mistakes with it than I do when I am on a bug!  So I had resorted to using a White Rook MK-33 single lever paddle that I had. That was actually too light also, but I overlooked that, as I absolutely love single lever paddles.  

The Viz Key is an iambic paddle, but it’s a bit heftier than what I have been using, without being too hefty (it weighs in at 8 oz. or just 1/2 pound).  It’s just the right weight for me, whether it is in my hand or on whatever table I happen to be sitting at. It is stable without being cumbersome. If I was hiking for a long period of time, I’d probably switch back to the White Rook, but the small amount of weight savings is not a concern for me right now.  I used the Viz Key for my QSOs today, and it took a few minutes of getting used to again.  But very quickly, my sending became less error prone and I was able to make the QSOs that I did make without sending the Hams on the opposite end into a messy Morse Code frenzy.

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

It turns out that I discovered (after the fact) that my lunchtime session netted me three Toms and one Sam.

of lunchtime QRP sessions.  I did not get skunked all week, unless you count yesterday, when I had to work through lunch and didn’t get a chance to get outside. The bands seemed decent and this is the week’s tally:

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!

for not posting all week. Whew!  What a week!  It was so busy this week, that I only managed to get one lunch time QRP session in.  The other days, I ended up either working through lunch, or got saddled with “must attend” conference calls during lunch hour.

Last Monday, I had to serve out a jury duty summons.  Here in Middlesex County, you are summonsed for “either one trial or one day”.  You report to the county courthouse with your juror badge, which is mailed to you ahead of time. The badge has your name and a juror number. People are randomly picked throughout the day in groups of 20 or 30 or more. If your number gets called, you go into a courtroom as part of a “panel” where you may or may not be selected to serve on that jury. If your number isn’t selected for any panels and you’re not picked from a panel to be on a jury that day – you go home. My number wasn’t selected for any panels, so I came home and now I don’t have to concern myself for reporting for jury duty for another three years.

Since the week was so busy, I rewarded myself this morning by attending the OMARC Fall Hamfest, down in Wall Township, NJ.  I attended their Spring Hamfest, which was held on Dayton weekend.  I liked it enough to go back.  Again, it’s a small event, but it’s very nice, nonetheless.  Attendance was decent and the people there were really nice, and the weather was absolutely gorgeous, so it made for a pleasant morning. (Great job, folks from OMARC!  I’ll be back next year, for sure.) My only purchase was a 25 foot length of RG-8X coax with a male PL259 on each end.  This will be used to connect my PAR ENDFEDZ when it is sufficiently high up in a tree.

But, I was given a great idea by two guys who were selling military surplus fiberglass antenna masts.  In particular, I really like this:

They anchored the bottom section of mast in these tripods. I asked them if they were selling them, as one of these puppies would be just perfect for holding my Jackite pole.  They informed me that they don’t sell them, and they acquired theirs at Lowe’s. They are the tripods used to support quartz work lights. Perfect!  I have to look into getting one of these. The two gentlemen had 26 feet worth of mast being held by this particular tripod.  It was slightly breezy and yet it was anchored like a rock.  Looks like a promising concept.

The other thing I noticed at the Hamfest was just a personal observation.  Something that to me, is one of the marked differences between CW and Phone operation.  A little background – you all know that many times I have stated that I am not a big VHF/UHF talker.  I have my handheld mounted in my Jeep because I do enjoy listening to the local repeaters on the way to work and on the way back.  If you’re like me and you do mostly listening, you get accustomed to “the regulars” on the different repeaters and you get to know voices and the personalities behind the voices – and after a while, you form a picture in your mind of what you think the face must look like that goes with the voice you are hearing.

I was walking around this morning and amongst the various conversations going on, I heard some familiar voices – some of the guys I listen to each morning and each afternoon.  I looked up and, Wow!  In each case, the face that I had mentally pictured looked absolutely NOTHING like the actual person!

Then I realized, that this is not something that happens while operating in the CW Mode …… at least for me. Conversing with a guy in code does not cause me to conjure up the face behind the fist.  I love looking at QRP Quarterly and the photos from FDIM and the various QRP “Cons” because I can finally see the faces behind the fists. But for some reason, I am never taken aback by seeing a photo of some QRP op, or other CW op and saying to myself, “He just doesn’t look the way I pictured him”. The only thing that I can think of that may be the reason behind this (for me at least) is because voices are distinctive in tonal quality, while CW fists are distinctive in rhythm and pattern.

Crazy, huh?  These are some of the thoughts that run through my head while mowing the lawn. Maybe I should see someone about this!  😉

Oh, before I forget …… tomorrow is the inaugural Peanut Power QRP Sprint. Hope to catch you all on the air tomorrow afternoon!

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