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It was a very unseasonably warm day today in Central NJ. I took advantage of temperatures in the mid 70s, and headed out to a park near work during my lunch break. North Branch Park is all of about five minutes away.

I decided to use the Buddistick on the mag mount on top of the Jeep, so set up was a snap. After getting to the park, I was on the air within just a few minutes. There was a ton of activity towards the low end of 20 Meters, but it was all contest traffic. I probably could have worked a few DX stations, but I didn’t know the exchange, so I headed towards the QRP watering hole instead.

There, I ran into Martin KØBXB in Burlington, WI. We had a short QSO as I didn’t have a lot of time. It was very pleasant however. Martin was 579 into NJ and I received a 539 in return. Martin was using his IC-7000 at 5 Watts into a G5RV.

Later on, back in the building, I saw that Martin is quite the accomplished Ham. He builds, he experiments, and he was the winner of the May 2012 QST Cover Plaque Award.

So it just goes to show, you never know who you’re going to run into when you turn on the rig! In addition to learning more about Martin, I did a little research on his town of Burlington, WI. It’s an old town that was settled somewhere around 1835 by the sons of some Revolutionary War soldiers. Burlington is nicknamed “Chocolate City, USA” because of the Nestle chocolate factory that is located there (pssst …… don’t tell the folks in Hershey, PA ……. OK?).  Burlington was also the home of a lot of notable and famous people. But one in particular, caught my eye.  Burlington, WI once was “home” to Gregory Itzin. If you’re a fan of the TV series “24” then you know Mr. Itzin better as President Charles Logan – unfortunately, not one of the good guys.

But getting back to the topic of QRPTTF practice, I wanted to share with you all how I carry my portable QRP equipment out and about.  My KX3 is my pride and joy, so I want to protect it as best possible. A tip o’ the QRP hat to TJ WØEA for recommending the Lowe Pro Traveler 150.  We’re having thunderstorms tonight, and I’m off the air, so I made a little video:

Hope you enjoy it – I’m certainly no WGØAT or K6BBQ, but you’ll get the idea.

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

We Radio Amateurs in general, and QRPers in particular, take so much for granted when we want to enjoy both our hobby and the great outdoors together.  It really takes no effort at all to pop a small, lightweight radio into a backpack along with a lithium battery and a hunk of wire, and find yourself on the air – literally in minutes.  What’s your pleasure?  An Elecraft KX1, K1, KX3?  A Sierra?  A Yaesu FT817 or an Icom IC-703? A Steve Weber ATS or MTR? A Hendricks PFR3A? One of the HB radios from either YouKits or one the Ten Tec models? One of Dave Benson’s Small Wonder Labs models? There are many other models from other manufacturers that will fill the bill just as well, too.

But it wasn’t always this way.  Before the days of transistors, ICs and other semi-conductors, radio equipment was (for the most part) big, bulky and destined to a life in an indoors environment.  When radio equipment was needed for outdoor use by the military, conventional equipment was often modified for use outside, on the battlefield. Here’s the story of how Hallicrafters served our country during WWII:

Obviously, I’m comparing apples to oranges.  First off, today’s military doesn’t rely on HF as in years past. A majority of military communications take place in the UHF and higher frequency parts of the radio spectrum.  Also today’s military makes extensive use of satellite communications.  But for the moment, let’s forget that.  If HF was the still predominate playing field today, like it was during WWII, think what a small radio like a Yaesu FT857D (capable of 100W output), a small generator, or a deep cycle marine battery and an antenna like a Buddipole could do. This would be a lot more convenient (and portable) than the equipment shown in the YouTube video.

My point?  We’ve come a long way, baby!

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

The bands are improving, the geomagnetic effects of the Coronal Mass Ejection seem to be fading. I was able to get on the air after dinner and work a few DX stations to add to my Club 72 QRP Marathon totals.

Many, many thanks to Peter HA5MK in Hungary on 40 Meters, Rolf SE6Y in Sweden on 30 Meters, and Vlad RW6FS in European Russia on 20 Meters.

The final totals for the 2012/2013 QRP Fox hunts were posted today. While I placed nowhere near the top finishers, I did “OK” for living in the Northeast without gain antennas. In the 40 Meter hunts, I nabbed 21 out of 40 possible pelts for a .525 batting average. I did even slightly better in the 80 Meter hunts. There I snared 26 out of 40 pelts for a batting average of .650 – good numbers if I were a slugger in the Major Leagues.

The “Major Leagues” as far as Fox hunts go, are folks like Doc K0EVZ, Dick W0NTA, Dave AB9CA, Dale WC7S, Dave N1IX, Jerry N9AW, Rick NK9G, John N2RK, Todd N9NE and many others. These guys are the heavy hitters, and I am nowhere in their league.

The “portable ops QRPer” in me really appreciated and enjoyed an article by Padraig Lysandrou KC9UUS in the May issue of QST. Read it if you get the chance. Padraig is a relatively newly licensed Ham, as well as a high school student. He and his family (Mom, Dad and two sisters are also licensed) took the opportunity to combine a vacation to Cyprus with Ham Radio. Not QRP, but very much portable. It was a good read, and Padraig is an excellent writer.

Lastly, before closing, for the night, I’d like to send prayers and thoughts to all the folks in Boston who suffered in the bombings today. May the injured heal completely and quickly. May the families of the deceased receive consolation and healing, also.

We are all Bostonians tonight – as a Nation, we gather together and become one.

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

BOGO – Buy One, Get One free.  Two for the price of one.  You know what I’m getting at here, right?

Unfortunately, I am NOT announcing a cool bargain on Amateur Radio equipment. If that were the case, I’d probably be at the head of the line. But BOGO does have something to do with QRPTTF for me, this year.

QRP To The Field is just a couple of weekends away.  This year, the theme for the event is “Happy Trails”. As Paul NA5N describes it on the official QRPTTF Website, “About every community has an historic trail or two …… from the biggies like Route 66 or the Santa Fe Trail, to a local old wagon trail, mining or lumber road. About all railroad lines, active or abandoned, are old trails.”

Paul proceeded to provide a link to a list of historic trails, highways and railroads, which I clicked on. And there, right at the top of the list of Historic Highways was the Lincoln Highway.  Holy!  That’s what we now call Route 27 which runs through Edison, just the next township over from South Plainfield.  A quick trip to Wikipedia informed me that the Lincoln Highway is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.  With Wikipedia’s indulgence, I am going to paraphrase some history.

“The Lincoln Highway is one of the first transcontinental highways for automobiles across the USA. The highway turns 100 years old in 2013.  It was conceived and promoted by Indiana entrepreneur Carl Fisher. The Lincoln Highway spans the United States coast-to-coast from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco.  It passes through New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California.  When originally built, it measured 3,389 miles long. After some re-alignments were done over the years, the road currently measures 3,142 miles.”

Thanks to Paul NA5N, I learned more about this road than I ever knew before (isn’t Amateur Radio a wonderful thing!?!).  I have seen some street signs along Route 27 that still call it “The Lincoln Highway”, but I had never bothered to investigate its history before.  But where does the BOGO come in you ask?  It comes in here – as Paul states: “Many old historic trails are also today’s super highways (like Route 66, the Lincoln Highway, etc); we don’t expect you to operate from an Interstate junction!  Find a nice operating spot within a couple of miles if you can to ensure your safety.”

Immediately, I thought of a real neat place to operate from that is literally just a couple of blocks away from the Lincoln Highway:

The Edison Memorial Tower, which was dedicated in 1938 and was built on the spot where Edison’s Laboratory was located. It was here that the incandescent light bulb, as well as many of Edison’s other inventions were conceived and produced.  The original buildings have since been relocated to Dearborn Michigan by Henry Ford so this tower and its accompanying museum (which has a parking lot where I can operate from) were built to memorialize the spot.  The tower and museum were just recently renovated and were reopened last year after being closed for a long time due to deterioration.

I am envisioning a special QSL card, designed for the day which will include photos of both the Edison Tower and something having to do with the Lincoln Highway.  Two “special” QRP outdoor events for the price of one – BOGO! This is going to be fun!

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

Yes – you’ve read it correctly. I am speaking of scorching your hind quarters off even as we haven’t officially made it through Winter yet.

Scorch Your Butt Off is the Summer time answer to Freeze Your Butt Off, a brandy new for 2013 outdoor QRP operating event.  The concept is the brain child of Rem K6BBQ, of QRP portable recumbent tricycle fame.  You’ve seen Rem’s videos, you know how dedicated he is.

Rem was concerned that the BUBBA contest had gone by the wayside. Being the courteous Ham that he is, Rem contacted the Arizona ScQRPions and asked if they’d mind if he organized and ran something to take its place.  He didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes.  So when he got the “knock yourself out” e-mail, SYBO was born.

It will take place on Saturday July 20th.  Rules can be found here.

So now, all you rabid outdoor QRPers have three great “under the sun” fun events to look forward to this Summer (as if you needed an excuse to get oudoors!)- Scorch Your Butt Off, the Flight of the Bumblebees, and the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt.  Three perfect opportunities to put into action all the great gear you’ve built over the Winter!

It’s a good thing Spring is coming – I can hardly wait for these!

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

From Paul NA5N on QRP-L:

“Head’s Up” – Initial announcement:

The 2013 QRP TO THE FIELD will be held on SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

QRP TO THE FIELD is the annual “get out of the house and operate somewhere from the field” QRP event and contest.  It is also the annual event for QRP-L, as this is where it is exclusively administered.

PROBLEMS:
1. Our solar maximum is very disappointing, making contacts more difficult
 than should be expected at this point in the solar cycle.
2. #1 above discourages many QRPers from participating
3. #1 and #2 means fewer stations to work for our efforts.
4. We have new hams and new QRPers joining our ranks all the time, both
 CW and SSB, with various skills wanting to get on the air.

PROPOSED CHANGES:
SOTA (Summits on the Air).  Last year, we joined forces with SOTA for plenty of new stations to work and a new measure of fun (with those strange exchanges!).  We will join forces again with SOTA for the increased on-the-air activity for us both.  Most SOTA stations are QRP.  SOTA does not have an organized annual event; QRPTTF can serve as their annual special event, as well as ours, for increased activity.

THEME: QRPTTF has always been unique by having a “theme” each year.  Last year it was SOTA and summits.  This was last year only.  The different themes for QRPTTF will continue … though, I haven’t figured out YET what this year’s theme will be.  Ideas welcome.  I wasn’t expecting to live past the Mayan Calendar thingie!

CW vs. SSB: For years, I have been asked to add an SSB category to QRPTTF.  There are few organized events for SSB QRPers, and many QRP-L members are SSB QRPers.  We also have plenty of new QRP hams who are SSB only.  Many SOTA stations also find SSB more convenient from those mountain tops.
Therefore, I have decided to add SSB to QRPTTF this year to those who prefer SSB or are no-code QRPers.

I NEED YOUR HELP.
It’s been years (like decades) since I’ve had an SSB QSO on HF.  I know nothing about it, what frequencies are REALLY used, etc.  I need someone who is willing to serve as the Contest Manager for the SSB side of QRPTTF and accept the summary sheets.  Results can be published on your website, or of course, my existing site http://www.zianet.com/qrp/ Please contact me privately if you are interested.

Again, I see QRPTTF (and the Zombie Shuffle) as events for the QRP-L community and our new SOTA friends.  I am always interested in your comments or thoughts on the above to bring more fun and enjoyment to the majority of us.  Hopefully, adding SSB will be one.

There are yet no rules for this year’s QRPTTF (not much different than in the past).  I will wait until I have a volunteer SSB Contest Manager before finalizing this year’s rules and get some feedback from SOTA on their preferred SSB protocols.  But basically, get on the air, work stations, have fun.  The rest are just details!

72, Paul NA5N
Socorro, NM
http://www.zianet.com/qrp/

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

The “Freeze Your Buns Off” contest was held last Saturday.  And no, I did not get a chance to operate.  Well, actually I did try. I went out at about 3:00 PM local time and set up the portable station in the back of the Jeep in the driveway.  KX3 to Buddistick mounted on the magmount of the car, 7 Ah SLA battery that had been charged via solar panel.

I turned on the KX3 only to find 20 Meters had S9 noise all across the band.  That, and the fact that it was 30F with a wind chill caused me to just say “Nuts!” and forget about it for 2013.

So, instead I live vicariously through K6BBQ:

Thanks, Rem!

Oh, and by the way ……. they say it’s a sign of good mental health when you can laugh and joke about yourself.  Take a gander at this (fake) news story about QRPers from The NoiseBlankers Website. Hopefully, it will make you smile – just a little bit!

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