Posts Tagged ‘Weather’
ETH068 – Are You Weather Aware?
May 11th, 2017 | 
Author: 
Photo by Curtis Mohr, K5CLM
While having access to your local RADAR wherever you are is great, you shouldn’t depend on it totally. You should be able to look at the sky, feel the wind, and see other clues to have an idea of what could be coming your way.
This brings up the question:
Are You Weather Aware?
In episode 68, we talk about this question and some things that you need to learn and do to help yourself be weather aware. Things like knowing what to look for in the clouds, why the wind suddenly changed directions, what to have in your emergency kit and having a plan with your family in case you need to vacate your home or seek shelter inside.
We dive into several weather events like tornadoes, flash floods, hail and even the event with the highest average of fatalities, which might surprise you.
We talk about W5KUB with the Amateur Radio Roundtable as he does his Hamvention coverage including the drive to and from. We also talk about some other hamfests that are coming up over the next two weeks.
If contesting is you thing, we talk about all the upcoming contests/on-the-air events for the next two weeks as well.
Check out the show notes and listen to the episode at:
Matthew
To all my friends/readers in Florida, Georgia and The Carolinas ........
Earnest prayers that Matthew leaves you as un-battered and un-bruised as possible - AND that all your antennas stay up in the air.
Be safe; and have those batteries charged and those "Go Kits" locked and loaded!
And special prayers go out for our friends in the Carribean nations who are dealing with the aftermath.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Earnest prayers that Matthew leaves you as un-battered and un-bruised as possible - AND that all your antennas stay up in the air.
Be safe; and have those batteries charged and those "Go Kits" locked and loaded!
And special prayers go out for our friends in the Carribean nations who are dealing with the aftermath.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Matthew
To all my friends/readers in Florida, Georgia and The Carolinas ........
Earnest prayers that Matthew leaves you as un-battered and un-bruised as possible - AND that all your antennas stay up in the air.
Be safe; and have those batteries charged and those "Go Kits" locked and loaded!
And special prayers go out for our friends in the Carribean nations who are dealing with the aftermath.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Earnest prayers that Matthew leaves you as un-battered and un-bruised as possible - AND that all your antennas stay up in the air.
Be safe; and have those batteries charged and those "Go Kits" locked and loaded!
And special prayers go out for our friends in the Carribean nations who are dealing with the aftermath.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
NPOTA success – WR03
The day dawned gray. misty and chilly, but it wasn't downpouring. So I collected this bag of bones out of bed. I showered, shaved, got dressed and packed the Jeep with everything necessary for a ride to NPOTA land.
As stated a few days ago, the destination was WR03, the Delaware National Scenic River, via Washington's Crossing State Park, in Titusville, NJ. Thanks to the fact that there was hardly any traffic on an early Sunday morning, I arrived in about 45 minutes.
This is a re-creation of one of the "boats" that were in use during Colonial times to ferry people and supplies across the river. It's really not much more than a glorified raft. So the painting IS right. Washington stood ...... and do did everyone else!
As stated a few days ago, the destination was WR03, the Delaware National Scenic River, via Washington's Crossing State Park, in Titusville, NJ. Thanks to the fact that there was hardly any traffic on an early Sunday morning, I arrived in about 45 minutes.
Everything was wet from the light rains and heavy mist that fell throughout the night. I made the decision to forgo using a soggy, leaf covered picnic table and used my camping table and folding chair from the parking lot, instead. This was not the main parking lot, but a smaller one, farther in the park. It was literally a stone's toss from the river.
You can see the 25' piece of coax going up to the PAR in the tree.
The set up was the usual, the KX3 at 5 Watts to a PAR END FEDZ 40/20/10 in a tree. I got really good height this time. The PAR was easily 50 -60 feet up in the air this time. And that was evident with the results - 43 QSOs in under 90 minutes. 20 Meters was LONG! I worked Belgium, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia, Mexico, California, Montana and appropriately enough, Washington State. 40 Meters got me up and down the east coast and as far west as Minnesota.
I called it quits after about 90 minutes as the QSOs were drying up and I was starting to get a bit chilled. Oh, and there were skeeters! But NOT the kind that I like. I was swatting at them the whole time I was there. Who would have thought that mosquitoes would be out and about on a damp, and chilly day in the high 50s? After I packed up, but before leaving, I walked around to snap a few more photos.
The house owned by the "ferry operator".
Later, when I had time to think about all of this, it was truly amazing. 2,400 men, some horses and artillery began silently crossing the river as soon as it got to be dark (There were British spies all over). Once they all reached the New Jersey side,they all marched the 20 or so miles to Trenton throughout snowy fields and made it there by daybreak. The effort just to get to Trenton must have been exhausting given the distance, the cold and the snow. Then they surprised the Hessians and won the battle without one Continental soldier being lost. Astounding!
All in all, it was another good NPOTA day. I thank all the chasers who worked me and I look forward to another adventure in a few more weeks - this time, maybe the NJ Pine Barrens.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
NPOTA success – WR03
The day dawned gray. misty and chilly, but it wasn't downpouring. So I collected this bag of bones out of bed. I showered, shaved, got dressed and packed the Jeep with everything necessary for a ride to NPOTA land.
As stated a few days ago, the destination was WR03, the Delaware National Scenic River, via Washington's Crossing State Park, in Titusville, NJ. Thanks to the fact that there was hardly any traffic on an early Sunday morning, I arrived in about 45 minutes.
This is a re-creation of one of the "boats" that were in use during Colonial times to ferry people and supplies across the river. It's really not much more than a glorified raft. So the painting IS right. Washington stood ...... and do did everyone else!
As stated a few days ago, the destination was WR03, the Delaware National Scenic River, via Washington's Crossing State Park, in Titusville, NJ. Thanks to the fact that there was hardly any traffic on an early Sunday morning, I arrived in about 45 minutes.
Everything was wet from the light rains and heavy mist that fell throughout the night. I made the decision to forgo using a soggy, leaf covered picnic table and used my camping table and folding chair from the parking lot, instead. This was not the main parking lot, but a smaller one, farther in the park. It was literally a stone's toss from the river.
You can see the 25' piece of coax going up to the PAR in the tree.
The set up was the usual, the KX3 at 5 Watts to a PAR END FEDZ 40/20/10 in a tree. I got really good height this time. The PAR was easily 50 -60 feet up in the air this time. And that was evident with the results - 43 QSOs in under 90 minutes. 20 Meters was LONG! I worked Belgium, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia, Mexico, California, Montana and appropriately enough, Washington State. 40 Meters got me up and down the east coast and as far west as Minnesota.
I called it quits after about 90 minutes as the QSOs were drying up and I was starting to get a bit chilled. Oh, and there were skeeters! But NOT the kind that I like. I was swatting at them the whole time I was there. Who would have thought that mosquitoes would be out and about on a damp, and chilly day in the high 50s? After I packed up, but before leaving, I walked around to snap a few more photos.
The house owned by the "ferry operator".
Later, when I had time to think about all of this, it was truly amazing. 2,400 men, some horses and artillery began silently crossing the river as soon as it got to be dark (There were British spies all over). Once they all reached the New Jersey side,they all marched the 20 or so miles to Trenton throughout snowy fields and made it there by daybreak. The effort just to get to Trenton must have been exhausting given the distance, the cold and the snow. Then they surprised the Hessians and won the battle without one Continental soldier being lost. Astounding!
All in all, it was another good NPOTA day. I thank all the chasers who worked me and I look forward to another adventure in a few more weeks - this time, maybe the NJ Pine Barrens.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Weekend plans go semi awry.
I had planned on two Amateur Radio activities this weekend. I almost ended up going 0 for 2, but ended up batting .500 instead.
My first planned activity was to participate in the NJ QSO Party on Saturday. The work party that I attended at the Middlesex County Office of Emergency Management went longer than I anticipated. I'm glad we got the work done that we did, though, as it was important that it got done before the Simulated Emergency test in October. When I got home, there was still plenty of time to participate in the contest - no doubt. Other chores had to be taken care of first, though; and I made sure I got those done. End result? One very tired W2LJ and no NJQP on Saturday.
After dinner, I sat down with the tablet and saw on the ARRL NPOTA Facebook page that Peter K0BAK was doing a sweep of NJ activations this weekend, including AA17, the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail. My heart sank a bit because he's such a superb operator and activator - does AA17 really need to be activated twice the same day? And if you had the chance to work either me or Peter .... heck, even I'd rather work Peter than me !!!
My first planned activity was to participate in the NJ QSO Party on Saturday. The work party that I attended at the Middlesex County Office of Emergency Management went longer than I anticipated. I'm glad we got the work done that we did, though, as it was important that it got done before the Simulated Emergency test in October. When I got home, there was still plenty of time to participate in the contest - no doubt. Other chores had to be taken care of first, though; and I made sure I got those done. End result? One very tired W2LJ and no NJQP on Saturday.
After dinner, I sat down with the tablet and saw on the ARRL NPOTA Facebook page that Peter K0BAK was doing a sweep of NJ activations this weekend, including AA17, the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail. My heart sank a bit because he's such a superb operator and activator - does AA17 really need to be activated twice the same day? And if you had the chance to work either me or Peter .... heck, even I'd rather work Peter than me !!!
When I went to bed last night, I was really iffy about making the effort. The weather was supposed to be suspect but I decided to sleep on it, thinking perhaps that maybe it might be better to wait for another weekend.
Sunday morning dawned muggy and overcast. Not exactly the greatest of weather conditions. But then the thought occurred to me that K0BAK normally does most of his operating on SSB, and mine was to be CW; so I decided to throw caution to the wind and decided to go to Cheesequake State Park, anyway.
I left the house a little after 9:00 AM and got to the park just around 9:30 AM. I found the Spring Hill Picnic Grounds to be deserted, save for a few parked cars. The occupants of those cars were all going off on hikes as the lot also served as the starting point for one of the park's many trailheads. With the picnic tables all to myself, I set up the PAR ENDFEDZ 40/20/10. The line went up over a 60 foot tree with ease thanks to my trusty Joplin MO ARC Antenna Launcher. I literally had the antenna up within minutes. I've had enough practice with the launcher to now get a good shot on the first try, at least 90% of the time.
The setup was the usual, KX3 to antenna, the Power Werk deep cycle battery, the Palm Micro paddles and a set of ear buds. The ear buds turned to be a life saver, as the picnic area turned out to be pretty gosh darn close to the Garden State Parkway, and there was lots of highway noise. In some cases, there were also some ignition noise moments. I thought I was far enough away where that wouldn't be a concern; but there must be a few vehicles out there that are close to being spark gap transmitters!
I got on the air at 1400 UTC, calling "CQ NPOTA" on 40 Meters at 7.034 MHz, and had my first QSO with W3JRR at 1415 UTC. I stayed on 40 Meters for about 45 minutes before taking a break to stretch my legs and to use the rest facilities. Thank the Lord they were open! I came back to the ear buds, and I could have sworn that I heard "BBO". I thought that was my good friend W3BBO looking for me; as I spotted myself on the Cluster. I called him a few times and heard no come back; so I decided to move on up to 20 Meters.
20 Meters turned out to be the better band. My farthest DX QSOs happened there with S58AL in Slovenia and ON4RO in Belgium. I also ended up working Arizona and Washington state on 20 Meters. So even though I made it to Europe, this is where the Reverse Beacon Network picked me up:
Just before 1600 UTC, I was visited by a Park Ranger who came to put up a sign showing that the picnic grounds had been reserved by a Baptist Church group for a BBQ. It was booked for 1:00 PM local or 1700 UTC. I decided to pack it in, anyway. My original plan was to put in about two hours, so that I wouldn't be away from the family for the entire day; and I put in my two hours, so I was happy.
The highlights of the day were working Kay Craigie N3KN, Dave Benson K1SWL of Small Wonder Labs and Rockmite fame, as well as Paul Signorelli W0RW, of QRP and Paraset Pedestrian Mobile fame. It's always cool when you go on an outing like this and hear the call signs of people you regard as friends. Not to say that ALL of you aren't friends ........ but you know what I mean!
37 QSOs later, my activation of AA17 was in the books for the day. I still hope to join up with Dave Hackett KD2FSI to activate the Pine Barrens and the Delaware Water Gap and the Appalachian Trail before NPOTA comes to a close - so stay tuned!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Weekend plans go semi awry.
I had planned on two Amateur Radio activities this weekend. I almost ended up going 0 for 2, but ended up batting .500 instead.
My first planned activity was to participate in the NJ QSO Party on Saturday. The work party that I attended at the Middlesex County Office of Emergency Management went longer than I anticipated. I'm glad we got the work done that we did, though, as it was important that it got done before the Simulated Emergency test in October. When I got home, there was still plenty of time to participate in the contest - no doubt. Other chores had to be taken care of first, though; and I made sure I got those done. End result? One very tired W2LJ and no NJQP on Saturday.
After dinner, I sat down with the tablet and saw on the ARRL NPOTA Facebook page that Peter K0BAK was doing a sweep of NJ activations this weekend, including AA17, the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail. My heart sank a bit because he's such a superb operator and activator - does AA17 really need to be activated twice the same day? And if you had the chance to work either me or Peter .... heck, even I'd rather work Peter than me !!!
My first planned activity was to participate in the NJ QSO Party on Saturday. The work party that I attended at the Middlesex County Office of Emergency Management went longer than I anticipated. I'm glad we got the work done that we did, though, as it was important that it got done before the Simulated Emergency test in October. When I got home, there was still plenty of time to participate in the contest - no doubt. Other chores had to be taken care of first, though; and I made sure I got those done. End result? One very tired W2LJ and no NJQP on Saturday.
After dinner, I sat down with the tablet and saw on the ARRL NPOTA Facebook page that Peter K0BAK was doing a sweep of NJ activations this weekend, including AA17, the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail. My heart sank a bit because he's such a superb operator and activator - does AA17 really need to be activated twice the same day? And if you had the chance to work either me or Peter .... heck, even I'd rather work Peter than me !!!
When I went to bed last night, I was really iffy about making the effort. The weather was supposed to be suspect but I decided to sleep on it, thinking perhaps that maybe it might be better to wait for another weekend.
Sunday morning dawned muggy and overcast. Not exactly the greatest of weather conditions. But then the thought occurred to me that K0BAK normally does most of his operating on SSB, and mine was to be CW; so I decided to throw caution to the wind and decided to go to Cheesequake State Park, anyway.
I left the house a little after 9:00 AM and got to the park just around 9:30 AM. I found the Spring Hill Picnic Grounds to be deserted, save for a few parked cars. The occupants of those cars were all going off on hikes as the lot also served as the starting point for one of the park's many trailheads. With the picnic tables all to myself, I set up the PAR ENDFEDZ 40/20/10. The line went up over a 60 foot tree with ease thanks to my trusty Joplin MO ARC Antenna Launcher. I literally had the antenna up within minutes. I've had enough practice with the launcher to now get a good shot on the first try, at least 90% of the time.
The setup was the usual, KX3 to antenna, the Power Werk deep cycle battery, the Palm Micro paddles and a set of ear buds. The ear buds turned to be a life saver, as the picnic area turned out to be pretty gosh darn close to the Garden State Parkway, and there was lots of highway noise. In some cases, there were also some ignition noise moments. I thought I was far enough away where that wouldn't be a concern; but there must be a few vehicles out there that are close to being spark gap transmitters!
I got on the air at 1400 UTC, calling "CQ NPOTA" on 40 Meters at 7.034 MHz, and had my first QSO with W3JRR at 1415 UTC. I stayed on 40 Meters for about 45 minutes before taking a break to stretch my legs and to use the rest facilities. Thank the Lord they were open! I came back to the ear buds, and I could have sworn that I heard "BBO". I thought that was my good friend W3BBO looking for me; as I spotted myself on the Cluster. I called him a few times and heard no come back; so I decided to move on up to 20 Meters.
20 Meters turned out to be the better band. My farthest DX QSOs happened there with S58AL in Slovenia and ON4RO in Belgium. I also ended up working Arizona and Washington state on 20 Meters. So even though I made it to Europe, this is where the Reverse Beacon Network picked me up:
Just before 1600 UTC, I was visited by a Park Ranger who came to put up a sign showing that the picnic grounds had been reserved by a Baptist Church group for a BBQ. It was booked for 1:00 PM local or 1700 UTC. I decided to pack it in, anyway. My original plan was to put in about two hours, so that I wouldn't be away from the family for the entire day; and I put in my two hours, so I was happy.
The highlights of the day were working Kay Craigie N3KN, Dave Benson K1SWL of Small Wonder Labs and Rockmite fame, as well as Paul Signorelli W0RW, of QRP and Paraset Pedestrian Mobile fame. It's always cool when you go on an outing like this and hear the call signs of people you regard as friends. Not to say that ALL of you aren't friends ........ but you know what I mean!
37 QSOs later, my activation of AA17 was in the books for the day. I still hope to join up with Dave Hackett KD2FSI to activate the Pine Barrens and the Delaware Water Gap and the Appalachian Trail before NPOTA comes to a close - so stay tuned!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
