Disappointing weekend

Not only were the bands kaput, but also were the nighttime skies.

Only in NJ could the skies be cloudy Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights during the geomagnetic storm of the decade.  Saturday night, the clouds were thin enough that they turned pink, so the aurora must have been pretty intense behind them. But rather than thin out from that point, they got even thicker and just an hour or two later, there was no color to be seen.

The weekend was for the most part raw, damp and rainy. There were some outbreaks of sun, but they were far and few in between. I got on the air on Saturday and all the HF bands were quiet. I did hear some raspy aurora affected CW on 6 Meters, but that was it.

I hope the bands are on their way to recovery. The K Index is down to 4 and the geomagnetic activity is described as "active" and not "stormy". So maybe we've seen the worst.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

In Layman's Terms

 You've seen the numbers, you've viewed the graphs, you've read the articles, and have watched all the videos about this weekend's Geomagnetic storm.

Count on someone on Facebook to sum it all up nicely:

Currently, the K Index is down to 3. We are in recovery ....and we survived! The world did not come crashing to an end.

72 de Larry W2LJ 

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Must have been a slow news day!

Yesterday, in my "weekend" post, I mentioned the upcoming solar weather conditions for the weekend. No big deal, right?

Well, if you went on the internet yesterday you got treated to apocalyptical, end-of-the world-as-we know-it warnings and messages.

"Worst geomagnetic storm to hit the Earth in 20 years!" - You know what we said 20 years ago?? "Boy, the bands sure sucked today!".

While CNN was calling for the breakdown of civilization as we know it, what was even more disturbing to me was the number of Hams who were freaking out.

One in particular - "Boy! This is NOT good!" - Why? Were you planning a POTA activation or rove? I mean, really, it's not like we're having another Carrington event. Now THAT would be newsworthy! Wake me up for THAT!

Color me disappointed that this storm has generated more clickbait than aurora, while at the same time shutting the bands down for a period of time. But I'll let you in on a little secret ......... THEY RECOVER! In the meantime melt some solder, or get caught up on QSLing, or re-organizing that portable ops bag, or something! Sheesh!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

This was always cool!

From the ARRL:

05/09/2024

The US Department of Defense (DOD) is hosting this year’s Armed Forces Day (AFD) Crossband Test on Saturday, May 11.

For more than 50 years, military and amateur stations have taken part in this event, which is an interoperability exercise between amateur and government radio stations. The event is open to all licensed amateur radio operators and will not impact any public or private communications.

The AFD Crossband Test is a unique opportunity to test two-way communications between military communicators and radio stations in the Amateur Radio Service (ARS), as authorized in 47 CFR 97.111. 

The annual DOD message will be transmitted via RTTY on 14.667 kHz at 1400 and 2000 UTC. These tests provide opportunities and challenges for radio operators to demonstrate individual technical skills in a tightly controlled exercise scenario. Military stations will transmit on selected military frequencies and announce the specific ARS frequencies monitored. All scheduled times will be in Zulu, and all scheduled frequencies will be upper sideband (USB), unless otherwise noted. Information on frequencies, times, and other technical information can be found at DoD MARS - Armed Forces Day. 

The Battleship IOWA Amateur Radio Association (BIARA) and the ship’s Innovation, Engineering and Technology Team will activate NEPM, which was the ship’s original radio station call sign from 1942 until 1997. It was reassigned to the ship in 2015. The activation will begin at the same date and time as the Armed Forces Day Crossband Test, from 1400 to 2000 UTC. All SSB operations are USB only for transmit and receive. 

Assigned transmit and expected receive frequencies are: 

4.0435 to 3.943 MHz USB

6.9035 to 7.295 MHz USB

9.9440 to 10.113 MHz CW

14.4635 to 14.343 MHz USB

18.2930 to 18.143 MHz US 

Information for QSL cards and contact information is available at Armed Forces Day QSL request form.

I've worked this several times and have the QSL Cards hanging on the shack wall!

For the rest of the weekend:

Contests:

FISTS Saturday Sprint - https://fistsna.org/operating.html#sprints

Canadian Prairies QSO Party - https://cpqp.ve6hams.ca/ (Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan)

CQ-M International DX Contest - https://cqm.srr.ru/en/rules/

SKCC Weekend Sprintathon - https://www.skccgroup.com/operating_activities/weekend_sprintathon/

4 States QRP Group Second Sunday Sprint - http://www.4sqrp.com/SSS/sss_rules.pdf

Special Events - Lots!

05/10/2024 | Golden Spike Celebration

May 10-May 11, 1500Z-2300Z, W7G, Corinne, UT. Ogden Amateur Radio Club (OARC) - W7SU. 14.255 7.235 14.040 7.040. QSL. Ogden Amateur Radio Club, - W7SU, PO Box 3353, Ogden, UT 84409. Commemorating the anniversary of the 1869 Driving of the Golden Spike completing the Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah. Golden Spike National Historical Park. www.ogdenarc.org, www.nps.gov/gosp/index.htm, or w7g.org

05/11/2024 | Armed Forces Day Crossband Test 2024

May 11, 1400Z-2300Z, NEPM, San Pedro, CA. Battleship Iowa Amateur Radio Association. DOD message will be broadcast via RTTY on 14.667 at 1400 and 2000 UTC USB/J3E or CW/A1A: 7.469 14.667 18.444 21.856 21.918. QSL. Battleship Iowa ARA, Inc., c/o NEPM QSL Manager, 250 S. Harbor Blvd. Berth 87, San Pedro, CA 90731-2830. See website for complete information. The annual DOD message will be BROADCAST via RTTY on 14.667 KHz at 1400 and 2000 UTC. 7.469 KHz USB/J3E or CW/A1A listening on 7.261 KHz or 7.061 KHz. 14.667 KHz USB/J3E or CW/A1A listening on 14.261 KHz or 14.061 KHz. 18.444 KHz USB/J3E or CW/A1A listening om 18.161 KHz or 18.061 KHz. 21.856 KHz USB/J3E or CW/A1A listening on 21.361 KHz or 21.061 KHz. 21.918 KHz RTTY listening on 21.150 KHz. https://biara.org

05/11/2024 | Commemorating Armed Forces Day

May 11, 1600Z-2300Z, NI6IW, San Diego, CA. USS Midway Museum Ship. 7.250 14.320 14.070 PSK31 DSTAR on Papa system repeaters. QSL. USS Midway Museum Ship COMEDTRA, 910 N Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92101. www.qrz.com/db/ni6iw

05/11/2024 | Jamestown Landing Day Event

May 11, 1400Z-2000Z, K4RC, Williamsburg, VA. Williamsburg Area Amateur Radio Club. 7.265 14.265. Certificate & QSL. QSL Manager, WAARC, PO Box 1470, Williamsburg, VA 23187. Celebrating the 417th anniversary of the founding of the first permanent English settlement in North America on Jamestown Island in Virginia in May 1607. FOR CERTIFICATE: The Virginia Historic Triangle Certificate is available for contacting the Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown Special Event Stations. You don’t need to contact these stations in the same calendar year. For a Certificate send QSO info from the three stations to qslmgr@k4rc.net. https://www.k4rc.net/events/special-event-stations

05/11/2024 | Minnesota Fishing Opener

May 11, 1400Z-2000Z, N0F, Anoka, MN. Anoka County Radio Club. 7,255 ssb 14,255 ssb 7.056 ft8 14.091 ft8. QSL. Anoka County Radio Club, PO Box 982, Anoka, MN 55303. Instead of catching fish we will be at Ham Lake Park in Ham Lake,MN making contacts and enjoying spring. We will also send out gsl cards. anokaradio.org

05/11/2024 | National Train Day

May 11, 1400Z-1930Z, W4LX, Fort Myers, FL. Fort Myers ARC. 14.050 14.240 14.070 7.240. Certificate & QSL. FMARC W4LX, PO BOX 061183, FORT MYERS, FL 33906-1183. CW, PSK31, SSB SASE for QSL/Cert Info on website. fmarc.net

05/11/2024 | National Train Day at the Hearne Depot

May 11, 1500Z-1900Z, W5BCS, Hearne, TX. Bryan Amateur Radio Club. 7.050 14.050 21.050 14.325. QSL. Bryan Amateur Radio Club, PO Box 4442, Bryan, TX 77805. National Train Day event in cooperation with the Hearne Depot Museum, Bryan Amateur Radio Club and Robertson County ARES. w5bcs.radio

05/12/2024 | National Police Week - To Honor Our Fallen Heros

May 12-May 18, 0001Z-2359Z, K3FBI/0-9, Fredericksburg, VA. FBI Amateur Radio Association. 14.275 7.060. Certificate. Jay Chamberlain - NS4J, 27 Fox Run Ln, Fredericksburg, VA 22405-3303. To honor all Law Enforcement members who have died in the line of duty. All bands and all modes. Multiple stations from around the U.S. Downloadable PDF certificate by the end of June at QRZ, https://www.qrz.com/db/K3FBI k3fbi@arrl.net

05/12/2024 | Police Services Week

May 12-May 18, 0000Z-0000Z, N4P, Gainesville, FL. W. Travis Loften High School Amateur Radio Club - K4WTL. 14.335. Certificate. Robert Lightner, 3435 NW 34th Terrace, Gainesville, FL 32605. www.qrz.com/db/k4wtl

All of the above might be for naught if the bands crap out this weekend:

NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center has issued a WATCH in anticipation of a potential G4-Severe Geomagnetic Storm or greater which is expected to impact the earth May 11, 2024.  The effects of a storm of this intensity may last from six hours up to a day.  During periods of very high solar activity, geomagnetic storms can persist for days.

Potential Impacts: Area of impact primarily poleward of 45 degrees Geomagnetic Latitude.

Induced Currents - Possible widespread voltage control problems and some protective systems may mistakenly trip out key assets from the power grid. Induced pipeline currents intensify.

Spacecraft - Systems may experience surface charging; increased drag on low earth orbit satellites and tracking and orientation problems may occur.

Navigation - Satellite navigation (GPS) degraded or  inoperable for hours.

Radio - HF (high frequency) radio propagation sporadic or blacked out.

Aurora - Aurora may be seen as low as Alabama and northern California

PSA: Might not be a good weekend for a POTA Activation or Rove.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP  - When you care to send the very least1

Stuph

I looked at the QMX order list yesterday. I am # 670 in line. If QRP Labs continues to manufacture around 200 pieces a month, I figure I should see mine maybe in August or September. I can live with that.

For my birthday, Joseph and Marianne asked me what I wanted. My no name cheapie bargain basement mobile VHF/UHF antenna just isn't doing the job. I was coming home from a club meeting a few weeks ago and tried hooking up with Marv K2VHW on the way home. He was in and out and I was in and out and neither of us should have been. I had to chalk it up to poor performance from my off brand bargain basement purchase. I sent Joseph a link for a Hustler MX-270 antenna from GigaParts. It arrived last Sunday? Who delivers on Sunday besides Amazon? Anyway, it arrived late last Sunday and I'll put it on my car this weekend, if weather permits.

This means that I'll have to park in the parking lot at work, going forward, as the 36" radiator is just too tall for the parking deck. I bought the smaller antenna that's on the Jeep now, specifically because it doesn't hit the ceiling of the parking deck. However, it doesn't perform nearly as well as I had hoped ..... so I'll deal with the inconvenience of parking outside in order to get better antenna performance.

First World problem, right? But it's nice not having to get into a car that's been baking in the sun all day during the summer; or brushing off snow in the winter.

Other than that, not much new radio-wise. We're having typical May weather here, where it's sizzling one day and chilly the next - which of course makes the possibilities of thunderstorms a daily event.  The antennas have been disconnected since the weekend. I'm at the point in life where replacing expensive Ham Radio gear is not an option, so I have to be super careful with what I have.

I've always marveled at guys who change rigs like they change underwear. I've never been fortunate enough to be able to do that. And I guess that helps me to appreciate what I have maybe a bit more than most.

Today's "Blondie" comic strip kind of sums up my situation:

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Field Day Plans Coming Together

Thanks to the due diligence and the yeoman efforts of Dave KD2FSI, our Field Day location has been secured. We are returning to Spring Lake Park, which is in South Plainfield, but is part of the Middlesex County Park System.

This was our Field Day home from 2014 to 2019. Of course in 2020, there wasn't much of a Field Day because of the pandemic - we all participated from home and submitted our aggregate scores. We had planned to return to Spring Lake in 2021, but we did not receive our approval of request from the County until the day before Field Day! We had secured a Boro park, Putnam Park in the meantime and had pre-planted all our Field Day logistics there beforehand. 

We occupied Putnam Park with the Boro's blessing in 2021, 2022 and 2023, and it was a great location! A lot of public "traffic", but at the same time, quiet enough that we weren't getting in the public's way. But all good things must come to an end. In the Autumn of 2023, Putnam Park was closed for major renovations and improvements. The space we had occupied is now pickle ball courts. There is still space at the opposite end of the park that would be a perfect Field Day site, but members of the club felt it was too long of a walk to the "facilities", especially in the middle of the night. So to Spring Lake Park we return.

In the past, we've set up to the left of those three red markers in the photo. That's one of the corners of the park and we should have ample room. I'm a little concerned or "worried" about antenna placement as Dave and I each need about 135 feet of free space at right angles to each other in order to set up our MFJ-1982's. There's a lot more pedestrian traffic in this park compared to Putnam and I worry about setting up the antennas in a manner so that will not be disturbed by someone walking through the park while not paying attention to where they are going. It seems no one pays attention anymore as they're too busy looking at their screens. I think there's going to have to be a lot of Caution Tape and traffic cones deployed this year. Also, for each leg of my MFJ-1982LP, I'm going to get some wooden stakes and paint them fluorescent day-glo orange so no one accidentally walks into an antenna support.

I've added our location to the ARRL's Field Day Locator - do a search on Zip Code 07080 and you'll find NJ2SP and the South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club. If you're in the area, please come and join us if you can - ESPECIALLY if you're a CW operator, because we all know that this is what the CW operators look like on Field Day!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

First weekend in May

It's May already! Where's the time going? Here's to warmer weather, outdoor cookouts, possible POTA activations and all the other stuff associated with warm weather.

Contests this weekend:

16 State QSO Parties this weekend! A lot of states are grouped into two area QSO Parties - specifically

7th Call Area QSO Party - http://7qp.org/ (AZ, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY)

New England QSO Party - https://neqp.org/rules/ (CT, ME, MA, RI, VT, NH)

Delaware QSO Party - https://www.fsarc.org/

Indiana QSO Party - http://www.hdxcc.org/inqp/rules.html

10-10 Int. Spring Contest, CW - http://www.ten-ten.org/index.php/activity/2013-07-22-20-26-48/qso-party-rules

ARI International DX Contest - https://www.ari.it/

And Monday Night is the May 2024 ARS Spartan Sprint - http://arsqrp.blogspot.com/2009/02/so-whats-spartan-sprint-and-how-do-i.html

Special Event Stations:

05/03/2024 | 10th Annual Jiggy with the Piggy- Barbecue Cook off

May 3-May 4, 1200Z-2300Z, K4C, Concord, NC. Cabarrus Amateur Radio Society. 7.230 14.310 28.430. Certificate. Cabarrus Amateur Radio Society, P.O. Box 785, Concord, NC 28026. www.facebook.com/cabarrusars/ or www.cabarrusars.org

05/04/2024 | Blind Willie McTell Birthday Celebration

May 4, 0900Z-1600Z, W4M, Statesboro, GA. STARS/SARA. 7.250. Certificate & QSL. Douglas Hess, 108 Greenwood Ave , Statesboro, GA 30461. Will be Phone only on HF bands. Will self-spot on Dx Summit. Check club webpage or QRZ page for QSL card/certificate info and for history on Blind Willie McTell and his song he wrote "Statesboro Blues" that put the Allman Brothers on the map and Statesboro for that matter. www.qrz.com/db/W4M or https://statesboroamateurr.wixsite.com/home

05/04/2024 | Frank Conrad Sesquicentennial

May 4, 1300Z-2100Z, KD3KA, Wexford, PA. Allegheny Valley Radio Association. 7.040 7.240 14.040 14.240. QSL. Allegheny Valley Radio Association, P.O. Box 550, Wexford, PA 15090. Commemorating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Dr. Frank Conrad, engineer and technical founder of KDKA-AM Radio, Pittsburgh, PA. Please see the qrz.com page of KD3KA for details. www.alleghenyvalley.net

05/04/2024 | Homage to Josephine BAKER the voice of the Paris Olympics Games 2024!

May 4-Jul 21, 0000Z-0000Z, TM24JB, Fort Blackmore, FRANCE. F1SXC. 7.124 14.154 18.124 28.424. QSL. David, F1SXC/Radio-club de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, F6KRK, 1 bis avenue des Frênes, MONTIGNY le BTX 78180, FRANCE. Homage to Josephine BAKER the artist, militant, and member of the French resistance. https://www.qrz.com/db/TM24JB

05/04/2024 | N0T - Milwaukee Road Railroad - Newport Tower, 120th Anniversary

May 4, 1400Z-2000Z, N0T, Newport, MN. South East Metro Amateur Radio Club (SEMARC). 7.040 Mhz CW 14.035 Mhz CW 7.220 Mhz Phone 14.260 Mhz Phone. Certificate. David Blume, 8791 77th Street South, Cottage Grove, MN 55016. Questions or comments can be sent to KD0IRF@yahoo.com. Certificates will be available for download 30 days after the event. www.semarc.org

05/04/2024 | NJ Knights of Columbus 128th State Convention

May 4-May 18, 0000Z-2359Z, K0C, Brick, NJ. NJKCARC (N2AJO). 7.225 14.240 21.350 28.340. Certificate & QSL. Art Olson, 339 18th Ave, Brick, NJ 08724. For domestic contacts: QSL card, send SASE; for QSL card and certificate, send two dollars. For DX contacts: QSL card, send two dollars; for QSL card and certificate, send five dollars. For more information, visit K0C on QRZ.com or Email: olson339@comcast.net www.qrz.com/db/K0C

Looks to be a busy weekend on the airwaves!

In closing today's post, I'd like to cross-post something here that appeared on the SPARC Facebook page, from my good friend Dave KD2FSI:

Learn a New Language with just 15 Minutes Per Day!

I’ve been hearing these commercials on the radio lately for the language program Babbel and that you can learn a new language in a few weeks by studying for just 15 minutes a day.

Well, I decided to use that approach towards finally learning the Morse code well enough to use it. So, I have been practicing the code for at least 15 minutes each day for the last month or so and it might be finally starting to sink in. I still have a long way to go, but this time I am going to stick with it.

And with today being the birthday of Guglielmo Marconi, I thought it would be a very fitting day to try and make my first DX CW contact.

3G0YA, the Easter Island DXpedition was working 12-meter CW this afternoon and had a good pile-up going. But after calling at up 1K for about 15 or 20 minutes, I was more than thrilled to hear KD2FSI 5NN! However, it took seeing my call on their Clublog before I believed that I really got them.

So for today I’ll be signing off as 73, DE KD2FSI

So happy for you, Dave! I know you've wanted this for a long time - so happy for your accomplishment!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

3G0YA in the log

But not without some drama.

I had to turn off HamAlert until I got home from work yesterday. It was going off so frequently that it was driving me nuts! I also got a few stares from people who heard Morse Code originating from my pocket! But in the back of my mind, that gave me hope, as I was pretty sure I'd work them sometime yesterday.

I arrived home and had dinner and then turned HamAlert back on and my phone started chirping immediately! They were spotted on two frequencies 24.896 MHz on 12 Meters and 14.025 MHz on 20 Meters. I decided to try 12 Meters first and was rewarded with a loud signal. I mean like sitting-across-the-room-from-me-with-a-code-practice-oscillator loud! The op announced he was listening up, so I set up the KX3 for split operation and set the transmit frequency up 1 kHz, and decided to try with the W3EDP.

Got him on the first try! And that's when it happened! That's when I noticed, to my horror of horrors, that I hadn't turned down the KXPA100 from 85 Watts after the St. Max Net was over on Sunday evening.  I had just worked Easter Island with 85 Watts!

What's a QRPer to do? I decided to try going over to 20 Meters and give a listen and the signal coming from the DXpedition was nowhere near as loud on 20 Meters as it was on 12 Meters. That was when I decided to go back to 12 Meters and give it another shot, this time at 5 Watts.  I called again and they came back to me again fairly quickly. This time however, I sent a "599 NJ QRP TU" as my part of the exchange. I don't know if that matters or not, but when they see my callsign on the same band twice, maybe a note will have been made that the second QSO was a QRP contact. That's the one I'm going to reference for a QSL card.

A bit later, my friend Marv K2VHW, sent me a message that 3G0YA had gotten louder on 20 Meters. I went back to 14.025 MHz and the pileup was much more fierce than on 12 Meters. Heck, there basically was no pileup on 12 Meters! At times they would call CQ and they remained listening at 1 kHz up.  On 20 Meters, the op was running a race track pattern, moving up a bit after each QSO until he got to about 4 kHz up and then he would work his way down again. I had to pump up the KXPA100 and when he finally heard me, I got "W2L??" three times before he finally copied my call correctly.

12 Meters was like shooting fish in a barrel. 20 Meters was more like being in the middle of the pack during a fishing derby.

Anyway, I got them in the log and now I have to figure out what their QSL procedure is. (I went to ClubLog - found my QSOs and paid the proper $$$ for the QSL cards.)

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

HamAlert - 3G0YA

I've set up HamAlert to let me know when the Easter Island DXpedition is on the CW portion of the bands. I worked Easter Island probably about 15 or so years ago, but I never got a QSL card or a confirmation via LOTW. Time to set that straight.

Several of my friends have worked them already, so hopefully I can work them as well. My luck, my phone will start buzzing during a meeting or something at work!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Why the need?

I come across this so many times on the internet;

"Stations won't work me because I'm QRP!"

Dude ..... why the heck are you even telling them you're running QRP?  That is the biggest mistake you can make, especially in a contest. Don't wear a "QRP Badge of Honor". It's not going to get you much, if anything. You are just another station in an ocean of stations. Maybe a dolphin swimming in a pod of Humpback whales, but you're just another sea creature. Don't obsess about your signal or project to yourself how you're going to be heard at the other end.

For all you know, propagation may be such that you're 59 or 599 at the receiving end. I once worked a station in Madison, WI with a Rockmite at 250 milliWatts. He would not believe me when I told him what my rig was, and told me I was 599+++. Other times you may be 55 or 559, or worse, at the other end. YOU DON'T KNOW, YOU'RE NOT THERE! 

So if you hear a station you want to work .......call them! If they hear you, fine. Work them and move on. If they don't hear you after a number of tries, move on and work someone else and come back at a later time. Propagation may change and maybe you stand a better shot later. As Kenny Rogers famously sang, "You've got to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em!" Don't frustrate yourself needlessly just because that 30 over 9 station can't hear you.

Telling the world you're running QRP is not going to give you an edge or win you any friends or influence people. Be happy with your accomplishments AFTER you've made them and just keep plugging away.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Were the bands cruddy or what?

 Yesterday.. I got the chance to get on in the early afternoon.. I did not hear anyone on any band save for a few Florida QSO Party participants Other than those guys', the bands were just noise. I went to the POTA spotting page and saw my friend Brian KB9BVN listed as doing an activation - could not hear him. I heard a few weak signals that must have been working him, but I did not hear him.

Also, I normally have a pipeline down into Georgia and Virginia. I couldn't hear anyone from those states. The St. Max Net at 8:00 PM wasn't much better. I heard Lloyd K3QNT, the Net Control  Station alright, but most of the net participants were down in the mud.

I had planned to go over to the Edison Memorial over in Menlo Park to do a POTA activation as the weather was so beautiful yesterday. I'm glad I checked the bands, first. It would have been an exercise in frustration. Maybe next weekend, if the weather holds up.

I took the opportunity to hook my bug up to the computer and let the Ham Radio Solutions bot decode my CW.  Surprisingly, I didn't do all too badly and after about 1/2 hour pf practice I was sending without hardly any errors at all. I'm still not ready to go "live on the air" with it yet, but I'm happy that I'm not too far off.  The hardest part was to remember that the Dahs are not automatically made like with a paddle and keyer. Once you remember that, it becomes a lot easier. 

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!  

Letting you in on a secret! (Shhhhhhhhhhhhh!)

Wanna be successful in QRP?

Wanna be really, really successful in QRP?

Wanna be really, really successful in QRP with a minimum of frustration and anxiety?

Wanna really, really enjoy QRP and keep coming back for more - just like Lays potato chips?

Shhhhhhhhhhh!

Don't tell anyone who doesn't answer yes to any of the above questions!

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Learn Morse Code!

Happy Morse Code Day!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

It's Friday! (And some important news at the bottom of the post)

 You know what that means!

Contests:

SP DX RTTY Contest -  http://www.pkrvg.org/strona,spdxrttyen.html

Helvetia Contest -  https://www.uska.ch/events/uska-helvetia-contest-concours-helvetia-hf/

Florida QSO Party - http://floridaqsoparty.org/rules/

BARTG Sprint 75 - http://bartg.org.uk/wp/bartg-sprint75-contests/

10-10 Int. Spring Contest, Digital - http://www.ten-ten.org/index.php/activity/2013-07-22-20-26-48/qso-party-rules

Special Events: (Lots this weekend!)

04/27/2024 | Bolivar Lighthouse

Apr 27, 1600Z-2300Z, K5S, Port Bolivar, TX. Beaumont Amateur Radio Club. 7.220 14.250 28.405 146.520. Certificate. Beaumont Amateur Radio Club , 4839 Hwy 326N, Kountze, TX 77625. w5rin.com

04/27/2024 | Celebration of the Club's 85th Anniversary at the Cox Science Center

Apr 27, 1400Z-2100Z, W4HAW, West Palm Beach, FL. West Palm Beach Amateur Radio Group. 7.250 14/250 21.250 28.250. QSL. WPBARG, P.O. Box 7623, West Palm Beach, FL 33405-7623. wpbarg.org

04/27/2024 | HAMS for PanCAN

Apr 27-Apr 28, 0200Z-2300Z, N3P/PanCan, New Kensington, PA. Skyview Radio Society. 3.960. 7.172. Certificate. Skyview Radio Society, N3P, 2335 Turkey Ridge Rd., New Kensington, PA 15068. This special event's purpose is to raise awareness of the PanCAN resources for patients and families affected by pancreatic cancer. All contacts are on SSB. rybar1949@gmail.com or https://www.skyviewradio.net

04/27/2024 | International Marconi Day 2024

Apr 27, 1700Z-2300Z, W1M, Rochester, NY. ROC-HAM RADIO NETWORK. 20M/14.313 10M/28.405 Allstar2585,47620,47918,531310. QSL. W2JLD/JOHN DERYCKE, 85 AMHERST ST, APT2, Rochester, NY 14607. roc-ham.net

04/27/2024 | International Marconi Day Award Station

Apr 27, 1300Z-2100Z, K3S, Baltimore, MD. Nuclear Ship Savannah ARC. 7.1 14.1 21.1 28.1. QSL. K3LU, 980 PATUXENT ROAD, Odenton, MD 21113. Single transmitter SSB and CW aboard N/S Savannah. Please check spotting networks for frequencies. Info on QRZ.com qrz.com/db/k3s

04/27/2024 | MERT20 Special Event

Apr 27, 1200Z-2359Z, KG4NXO, Ocala, FL. Marion County Emergency Management. 14.262 7.262; D-STAR 146.790 REF-037; 3.862. Certificate & QSL. Kraig Pritts, 6637 NE 5th Lane, Ocala, FL 34470. www.mert20.org

04/27/2024 | N1D - Number One Dawgs

Apr 27-Apr 28, 1700Z-1700Z, N1D, Athens, GA. Radio Club at the University of GA. 3.925 7.250 14.200. QSL. Athens Radio Club, P.O. Box 782, Athens, GA 30603. Celebrating the National Championship University of Georgia football team. We will be operating from the Tate Center, adjacent to Sanford Stadium. https://www.athensradioclub.org

04/27/2024 | N3P/WQ3Q Bonus Station of HAMS for PanCAN

Apr 27, 0900Z-1700Z, N3P/WQ3Q, New Kensington, PA. Skyview Radio Society. 3.960. 7.172. Certificate & QSL. Skyview Radio Society - N3P/WQ3Q, 2335 Turkey Ridge Rd., Upper Burrell, PA. This special event's purpose is to raise awareness of the PanCAN resources for patients and families affected by pancreatic cancer. This bonus station is for an additional contact recognition for participants who can make contact with this remote station's location. All contacts are on SSB. rybar1949@gmail.com or https://www.skyviewradio.net

And now for some news - last night, Martin Jue K5FLU put out the following announcement;

Dear Fellow Hams and Friends,                   

It is with a sad heart as I write this letter.

As many of you have heard by now, MFJ is ceasing its on-site production in Starkville, Mississippi on May 17, 2024.  This is also the same for our sister companies’ Ameritron, Hygain, Cushcraft, Mirage and Vectronics.

 Times have changed since I started this business 52 years ago.  Our product line grew and grew and prospered.  Covid changed everything in businesses including ours.  It was the hardest hit that we have ever had and we never fully recovered. 

I turned 80 this year.  I had never really considered retirement but life is so short and my time with my family is so precious.

 I want to thank all of our employees who have helped build this company with me over the years.  We have many employees who have made MFJ their career for 10, 20, 30, 40 and more years. 

 We are going to continue to sell MFJ products past May 17, 2024.  We have a lot of stock on hand. We will continue to offer repair service work for out-of-warranty and in-warranty units for the foreseeable future. 

 Finally, a special thanks to all of our customers and our dealers who have made MFJ a worldwide name and a profitable business for so many years.  You all are so much appreciated.

         

                                                                                            Sincerely Yours, 73s

                                                                                            Martin F. Jue, K5FLU

I've owned various MFJ products in over 40 years of operating. In fact, the antenna tuner for my Novice station back in 1979 was my first MFJ product purchase. In all the MFJ products that I have owned, I only had problems with two and both were self-fixable. An antenna switch where I had to reposition one of the contacts, and my MFJ-1982LP antenna where I had to re-solder a connection in the UNUN. Despite having to do that, the 1982LP remains my favorite "go to" antenna for portable operations (if there's enough room! Hi!)  I would never call any MFJ product that I've ever owned "a lemon". 

Over the past few years, my MFJ-1982LP has been THE antenna for the CW station in SPARC Field Days. Our results and our placement in the standings are in no small way due to the MFJ-1982 LP that I own and the MFJ-1982HP that Dave KD2FSI owns and deploys for the SSB station. Basically, it comes down to this - if we can hear' 'em, we can work 'em - and in the end, what more can you ask for?

If you've ever visited any Amateur Radio e-mail reflector, or visited any Amateur Radio social media site, you know that MFJ has not always received kind treatment. I've always cringed at the moniker "Mighty Fine Junk" and I often felt that a lot of the disparaging comments posted and published about MFJ were to fulfill the need for retaliation or revenge by dissatisfied customers rather than being constructive in any shape, way or form. If you search this blog for "MFJ", you'll find nary a single post in twenty years worth of posts that disparages MFJ or their products.

So far, all I've seen are condolences about the passing of MFJ. I hope it stays that way and that the nay-sayers and Negative Nancy's have the decency to keep their mouths shut and take the high road - but you and I both know that won't happen.

Personally, I'd like to thank Martin and his company for their dedication and service to the Amateur Radio community for so many years. Enjoy your retirement, Martin - you certainly deserve it!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

How this all started!

 

Thanks to Drew W2OU, Rich W2PQ, Bob WB2UDC and Rich W2VU for being part of that with me that day. It was an honor to give that presentation with them that day and who knew it would give birth to a blog that's lasted some 20 years!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least1

Bad boys, bad boys .....watcha gonna do?

 

Abbot and Costello were a favorite of my childhood, right up there with Laurel and Hardy. I always get a chuckle when I hear Lou Costello tell Bud Abbot, "I've been a baaaaaad boy!".

So what did W2LJ do that's so bad? Depends on your point of view. If you're a brother or sister Ham - nothing! To the uninitiated ..... "What do you need another radio for?"

I buckled under last night and ordered a QMX transceiver from QRP Labs. Not the kit, but a fully assembled-in-the-enclosure-80-to-20 Meter version. I've got too many kits in the pipeline that are waiting to be built. I don't need another. For that matter, I don't need another radio, either! But it's so tiny and can do so much and I've been wanting to get one for so long. I just couldn't sit on the fence any longer and last night I took the plunge. I figured I might as well order one while I'm still working full time. With retirement looming in the not too distant future, purchases like these might not be as easy to justify. I have no idea how long it will take to get here, but I'll wait. Oh, I know that it will be worth the wait!  (Just looked at the waiting list - if I'm lucky maybe September or October).

So in that way, some would say that "I've been a baaaaaad boy!' To which I might reply, "It's a Ham Radio thing ....... you wouldn't understand!"

By the way ....... Happy Marcon's birthday! The ol' boy would be 150 years old today. Better than lifting a glass - get on the air in his honor today! 

And I just stepped out of my office for a second or two to see that today is "Bring Your Kid to Work Day". It was exactly for this "day" back in 2005 that a bunch of us put on a presentation about Amateur Radio at the IEEE in Piscataway, NJ. Talking about "day" was my impetus for starting this blog - going on it's 20th year this year! 

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

RFTB / W8DIZ Memorial Sprints

Dan Shepard N8IE has announced that the Flying Pigs QRP Club will be holding combined RFTB / W8DIZ Memorial Sprints each month through March 2025 to honor the memory of Diz Gentzow SK.

These Sprints will feature participation of the Club call sign W8PIG/# from as many call sign areas as possible each month. If you would like to volunteer to be W8PIG from your call area, please send an e-mail to w2ljqrp@gmail.com.

Terms and conditions:

1) You must be a member of the Flying Pigs (It's fun and free and I have no idea why you wouldn't want to be a member!) Our motto is "No Dues, No Rules, Just Fun - and if we don't like it we fix it!"

2) Your call sign doesn't have to match, you just have to live in that call area. Let's say your call sign is WB2XYZ but you live in Illinois - you can volunteer for W8PIG/9.

3) Right now I'll be looking to fill spots for May, June and July of 2024.

If you're not a Piggie and wannabe - you can join by going to https://www.fpqrp.org/join.php

There's a great quarterly newsletter which has once again taken up publication - "Bacon Bits" - https://www.fpqrp.org/baconbits.php

In addition to the monthly "Run For The Bacon", there are also two monthly "Walks For The Bacon" on 40 and 20 Meters. These are slower paced Sprints with a maximum code speed of 13 WPM, designed expressly for those who are new to CW and/or are working up their code speed. No "buzz saw" CW to be found here! And if all you can do is 5 WPM, please join us anyway - we'll slow down for you!

There are also weekly SSB Piggie nets  that are taking wing on the HF bands. In short, becoming a member of the Flying Pigs costs nothing, grabs you a ton of fun, and lets you make a lot of great friendships within the QRP community. Please consider joining .......ESPECIALLY if you're new to QRP. You won't regret it!

72 de Larry W2LJ / FP# 612

QRP - When you care to send the very least!