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My lunch time QRP session was the pits.  I didn’t work anyone and I kept getting jumpy SWRs.  The KX3 kept wanting to re-tune and I couldn’t get a decent SWR on 15 Meters, which had never been a problem until today.  Last night, I re-soldered the connections to my magmount as the shield connection snapped.  I brought the base in last night, cleaned everything up and re-soldered the wires to new connectors.  When I reassembled the pieces, I thought I had screwed everything down tight.  But when I took the Buddistick apart today at the end of my lunch time session, the threaded stud part of the magmount, that the radiator screws into, was turning pretty freely. Obviously, I didn’t tighten things as well as I had thought. I took care of THAT this evening with the help of two good Craftsmen Hex Grip wrenches.  Tomorrow should be better. Even if I don’t end up working anyone, the KX3 should be a happier camper than it was today.

Tonight however, was a different story. I worked W1AW/7 in WY and W1AW/0 in MO on 30 Meters, back to back. Then I hopped on over to 15 Meters just in time for the grayline to give me a hand.  Although I used QRO power (75 Watts), I was able to snare two good ones – E51KJW, South Cook Island and FW5JJ, Wallis and Futuna Islands.  I had to work FW5JJ twice, as the first time he had me in his log as “W2LO”. Big time dilemma. At that point, what do you do?  I knew he had me wrong, but I didn’t want to call again right away, so I went and worked E51KJW who got my call right the first time. After working Nakayama, I thought I’d give FW5JJ a second shot. I was worried that I would get the dreaded “WRKD B4”, but this time he heard me correctly and I clearly heard “W2LJ” this time. Two new DXCC entities in the log – Booyah!

Going to shut the rig down now and head upstairs to watch “The World Wars” series that is running on The History Channel.  I’ve been watching it since Monday night. So far it’s been a very good documentary assessing how World War II was really just a continuation of World War I. And although I always considered myself pretty familar with the histories of both wars, there have been some new tidbits of information that were new to me, which is always fun.

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

Great circle path between Anchorage and Oslo

Here’s what a transpolar signal sounds like (click here to listen) and looks like (below). This one has traveled from Anchorage, Alaska to Oslo, Norway.

The characteristic sound of a CW signal that has passed over a moderate geomagnetic disturbance (Kp = 2) isn’t too hard to recognize with a little practice. There is also some static on this short recording as we had a local thunderstorm coming in with the first summer days here.

The great circle distance between the two cities (actually their two airports) is 6446 km as illustrated by GPSVisualizer. Anchorage and Oslo are about at the same latitude, 61° N and 60° N, respectively. As they are at longitudes 149° W and 10° E, there is a difference of 159 ° – almost 180 ° – and this means that the signal almost passes directly over the North Pole, although a bit hard to see on the projection used in the map.

“TU KL7SB UP“, 1550 UTC, 19 May 2014, 18 MHz

There is rapid fading, or flutter, as seen e.g. from the large level difference between the two initial dots in “U”. Also the dah-dih-dah pattern of the “K” has more or less merged into each other in the image, but not in the audio, as this is caused by a static crash.

It was recorded just after my contact with KL7SB on 18 MHz today from my Elecraft K3 using Audacity® which is a free, open source, cross-platform software for recording and editing sounds.

If you ever needed proof that QRP is good fun and very rewarding, look no further than my latest project. I just (today) finished building the QRP Labs Ultimate 3 kit. This kit is amazing and I’ve ordered mine with the 20m BPF as thats the lowest band my home Antenna will go to.

In its current configuration my kit only pumps out 200mW and I left it running while i went out to a party with the family. On my return I was staggered by the reach on the little kit. The longest distance it was heard was a staggering 6408Km ! all that way with just 200mW of RF..

Here is a map I’ve downloaded of the plots :

and a list of the stations that heard it. You will notice some frequency fluctuation. I have to box the kit up and think about some stabilisation on the DDS. but hey for its first outing – I’m very happy !

To say it is a beautiful day in New Jersey today is in understatement.  The sun is shining, and the temperatures are in the upper 60s (20C).  The breeze (if there is any) is so gentle that you don’t even notice it.  So I decided that after grocery shopping, but before other chores, that I would sneak off to the park and try out the EARCHI antenna.  I built the 9:1 UNUN late last Autumn and didn’t get a chance to try it out.

Then when I got home, I got on the computer to order some wire and rope from The Wireman.  For the heck of it, I also decided to check out Facebook.  A lot of my Ham friends had posted about how lousy the band conditions are today. In fact, one commented that he went outside to make sure his antennas were still in the air!

Courtesy of Facebook

So it ends up that today was not the day to base a critical performance review on,  I will have to wait for another weekend with decent weather and better band conditions for another test. In the meantime, I will also browse the Internet to see if I can garner more information on optimal radiator lengths for use with a 9:1 UNUN.

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

Some random thoughts before turning in.

Just when you think you have a handle on this propagation thing. The 80 Meter Fox Hunt was especially and  surprisingly tough tonight. The Fox that I thought was going to be easy pickings was a lot tougher to nab than expected, Ray K9XE in Illinois.

Usually, Illinois is a cakewalk from NJ. Signals between the two states are usually decent and reliable. Not so tonight! I tried nabbing Ray for most of the first hour without success. At that point, I figured I’d better try the other Fox, John N4KV before time ran out. I didn’t want to flip the big switch with no pelts in the bag. Luckily, I was able to work John in TN after only a few calls, so I was “going home” with at least one fur.

I then switched back to Ray’s frequency to find that he had QSYed a bit up to try and end run some QRM, and he went simplex. After a few calls, I got a W2?J.  So I put out my call a few times more. Finally, Ray got my call and sent my exchange. And as I was sending mine …… wouldn’t you just know it? A net barged on frequency without checking to see if anyone was there. Ray eventually copied my exchange despite the net QRM, but it took us about a good two or three minutes to get it done. Usually, a two way exchange occurs in well under a minute. In spite of it all, I brought two pelts home, but the one I thought would be easy was painful, while the one I expected to be trouble was far easier. So much for expectations and conventional wisdom.

The other thing going through my mind concerns this year’s Skeeter Hunt. Yes, it’s still seven months away, but the wheels are already turning. I am toying with the idea of changing the exchange this year. Up until now, I have gone with the conventional RST, S/P/C, Skeeter # or power output. I am thinking of ditching the RST and using the op’s first name instead. I am also thinking of seeing if I can get plaques donated for the top CW and SSB finishers.

Oh well, time to hit the sack. I am looking at a potential 12+ hour work day tomorrow. Ugh!

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

It’s the first episode of 2014, and we start the year off right: by talking about philosophy. Say what? Yep, that’s right. Trust us, it’s a lot more entertaining that it might at first sound. We have a special guest on the program, Ted (WA0EIR), who brings a through-provoking topic with him. Then we have a bunch of the usual suspects, including short topics on Linux, amateur radio, science and more. There is even feedback, info on our Indiegogo campaign for Hamvention and our Raspberry Pi giveaway. Don’t miss it!

73 de The LHS Guys