AmateurRadio.com

to remind anyone, but I will, anyway. THIS coming Sunday is the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt! And there is still time to sign up for a Skeeter number – all the way until 0400 UTC on Sunday morning.

We have 140 Skeeter’s so far, warming up their wings and ready to take flight. Please consider joining in on the fun.

All the rules can be found at www.QSL.net/w2lj or, you can just click on the Skeeter Hunt page tab above.

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

I managed to hobble out to my car at lunch time today.  The weather was decent, but my right foot isn’t. Seems I aggravated the same tendons and ligaments that I had a few years ago – so now I’m wearing “the boot” for the next week or so. Sigh.

Anyway, after the past couple of days of torrential rain, the skies were blue and sunny today.  The temperatures were downright pleasant and 17 Meters seemed to be hopping.

I worked CT8/DL5NUA, CR5W, and J79BH. So – I reached the Azores, Portugal and Dominica – not terrible.

In other news, we have 118 Skeeters signed up for the Hunt on August 10th. Still plenty of time to sign up. We could use more participation from the West Coast states – HINT, HINT, HINT!

I also attended a meeting of SPARC, the South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club.  We reviewed our Field Day effort and claimed score before officially sending our entry off to the ARRL. We also started making some basic plan changes for next year.  It’s so nice to know that my fellow club members had a good enough time with a QRP Field Day that they want to do it again next year!

By the way, if you want to read the local newspaper’s account of our Field Day – here’s the link:  http://tinyurl.com/ls56z6u.  I think they did a very good job, even though they did get some of the details wrong (like our callsign, for example). But on the whole it was an excellent article which put Amateur Radio in a very positive light.

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

The bugs is among us!

As of Friday, if you aren’t already aware, Rich Fisher KI6SN announced that he is accepting requests for Bee numbers for the Annual Flight of the Bumble Bees. which will occur on Sunday July 27th.  The sign up procedures for both Sprints remain the same as last year – however each Sprint has a different sign up procedure.

To become a Bee, the first thing you have to do is visit http://bit.ly/15aGgN1. Once you’re there, you can see what numbers have been requested and assigned.  When you have in mind the number you would like to be assigned, you send Rich an e-mail with your request and two alternate choices to:  [email protected].

In your e-mail, you send Rich the following information:

Your Callsign
Your First Name
The field location you anticipate to be operating from

Your Top 3 Choices for FOBB Number

Then, go back and check the database after a bit of time, as Rich will not be sending individual confirmation e-mails. I saw my name and number appear just a few hours after I had sent Rich my request.

As I’ve stated before, the procedure for getting a Skeeter number for the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt is a tad different.  Just send an e-mail to [email protected], and I will send you a sequential number in a confirming e-mail.  I just sent out a bunch of Skeeter numbers to people who sent me requests last week while I was on vacation.  If you have sent me a request, and didn’t get a reply or you don’t see your name on the roster, then I apologize.  Send me another e-mail and I’ll get a number out to you, lickety-split.

Both Sprints are on Sundays from 1700 – 2100 UTC and both are designed to get you and your gear out in the fresh air to enjoy the Great Outdoors. Personally, I hope to work you in both events!

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

36 intrepid souls have signed up for the 2014 NJQRP Skeeter hunt since the opening bell rang early yesterday morning. And I am proud to say that one of our Skeeters this year is Mr. NJQRP himself.  George N2APB sent an e-mail and was assigned Skeeter #29.

I also see that several of my fellow QRP Polar Bears have signed up for numbers, too.  These guys are fantastic and are never ones to miss the opportunity for an outdoor QRP adventure. Thank you fellow Polar Bears – grrrrrrrrrrr. Will be looking to join you in swatting Skeeters from bear hide this August.

I’d like to take this opportunity to “borrow” and old New Jersey slogan.  This was an advertisement that ran back in the days when Tom Kean was governor and it was designed to increase tourism in NJ.  It went like this, “New Jersey and you ….. prefect together.”

If I may, this kind of sums up the whole idea and intent behind the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt.

“QRP and the great outdoors ….. perfect together!”

Join us and see for yourself.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
2014 Skeeter #13

MONDAY MORNING IMPORTANT UPDATE:  Argggghhhhh!  I went to my spam file this morning and found about 20 Skeeter Number requests that were sent over the weekend. I didn’t know they were there, and I didn’t even think to check there until this morning!  So if you sent me an e-mail request over the weekend and still haven’t heard from me …..you will tonight. I promise!

After a long, cold Sprinter (that’s what you get when Winter seems to last endlessly into Spring), Summer is finally here! Yay! And as promised, as of today, numbers are being assigned for the 2014 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt.

The Hunt will be held on Sunday August 10th this year – and right now, the best place to see the rules is at  http://w2lj.blogspot.com/p/njqrp-skeeter-hunt.html. I am trying to get the QSL.NET page updated with the new bonus points rules, but the server seems to be down right now.

Yes – bonus points this year for gathering enough letters from callsigns to spell out the word “SKEETER”. 100 extra points will be added to your score if you accomplish this feat. In any event, the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt is a grand time and folks seem to enjoy themselves a lot, so send me an email ([email protected]) and reserve your Skeeter number today.

Today was also the Raritan Valley Radio Club annual hamfest, which is held at Piscataway High School, in Piscataway, NJ.  The weather was absolutely beautiful – perfect for a hamfest!  It was sunny and it got up into the high 70s.  Very nice, but yet not exasperatingly hot. And as you can see from the two quick photos that I snapped with my phone, there was not a cloud in the sky. Unfortunately, it was perfect sunburn weather. Reporting time for the hamfest workers was 5:00 AM and as I was driving to the hamfest site, I had realized I had forgotten to bring sunscreen.  I discovered the hard way that there are NOT a lot of places open at 5:00 AM where you can buy sunscreen!

There were plenty of vendors and lots of buyers. The ARRL had a presence with the appearance of Bill Hudzik W2UDT, our section Vice Director. (Psst!  It helps that he’s a club member!) We also had a VE Exam session, where three people earned their Technician licenses, and we also had one upgrade to General and one upgrade to Extra.

In the top photo, you can see the huge mast sticking up from an old broadcast van that Brian N2MPM had acquired. Running up the mast was a PAR END-FEDZ antenna that Alan W2AEW using to make QRP contacts.  If you follow this blog, you know that I have mentioned Alan’s YouTube videos in the past. He does an excellent job producing videos on how to use test equipment and other neat technical tutorials. If you haven’t subscribed to his YouTube channel, then you are cheating yourself. After you read this go over and subscribe – it’s definitely worth it.

Here’s a video he took of today’s festivities:

Pulling off a hamfest like this is a huge undertaking. Thanks to the direction of our two Hamfest Committee Chairmen, Drew W2OU and Rich W2PQ and all the members of the RVRC, this comes off flawlessly – year after year.

In between my duties of assisting with the parking and placement of the vendors, and being the lead in administering the VE session, I did get a chance to look at the various wares on the tables.  I purchased some BNC to PL259 adapters and some large alligator clips that we will to connect to batteries that we will be using next weekend during Field Day. Not a big spender much to the discontent of the vendors, but much to the delight of my wife.  😉

I’ve been up way too long and am making way too many typos – even more than I usually make, so it’s off to the sack for W2LJ. (Thank God for spellcheck.)

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
Skeeter #12 for 2014

Summer 2014 starts this coming Saturday at 6:51 EDT.  After this dreadfully long Winter that seems to have lasted into Spring, I just can’t wait! At that bleary eyed time of the morning, I will be busy, helping out at the annual Raritan Valley Radio Club W2QW Hamfest.

But Saturday, being the first day of Summer, is also the day that I will entertain requests for Skeeter Hunt numbers for 2014.  So please feel free to send e-mails to [email protected], and as soon as I can, I will get back to you with your official NJQRP Skeeter Hunt number!

And I can tell you one thing that is 100% certain.  With the Winter of 2013/2014 still vividly fresh in the ol’ memory banks of W2LJ ….. no matter how hot or how humid it might be for this year’s Skeeter Hunt, I for one, will not complain!

72 de Larry W2LJ

1) Worked a few more DX stations today during lunch. The bands were decent again.Had QSOs with TI8/AA1M in Costa Rica, LZ2HR in Bulgaria and F6ALQ in France.  The QSO with Bernard in Soissons, France was a bit more than just your typical “599 TU” DX QSO. We actually conversed a bit! Wow …. Amateur Radio is actually well suited for conversation, don’t ya know?!?  Next few days look like rain, so I probably won’t take the gear with me to work tomorrow.

2) Got skunked in the 80 Meter Fox Hunt tonight. I almost worked Ray K9XE in Illinois as he had three out of the four characters of my call sign several times.  But he stated more than a few times throughout the hunt that he had S9 noise on his end. Oh well, he tried and I tried – no fault in that.

3) The date and time are set for the 2014 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt – Sunday, August 10th. You can check either  http://www.qsl.net/w2lj/, or the Skeeter Hunt page of this blog.  The exchange is a bit different this year. Instead of RST, I decided to go with the op’s first name instead. Just trying to be a little different this year. Oh, and Skeeter numbers will be given out starting on June 21st, the First Day of Summer – so please, don’t try to sweet talk a number out of me before then, OK?

Oh, and I had a Skeeter professionally drawn for this year’s logo. Here he is:

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