Author Archive
I had hoped for better results
March 20th, 2016 | 
Author: As planned, I went and activated Morristown National Historical Park (HP28) for NPOTA. Things didn't turn out as well as I had hoped; but it was still a good time nonetheless.
I got to the park on time, right before Noon (1600 UTC). I allowed my TomTom GPS unit to bring me up to Jockey Hollow via a new route which I had never taken before. This brought me up through the Great Dismal Swamp, which is designated as a National Wildlife Refuge. It is truly a beautiful area and as I was driving through, I could see herons and egrets and all sorts of birds in the marshes. Seeing that the Great Dismal Swamp is designated as a National Wildlife Refuge, I was wondering why it's not listed as one of the NPOTA WR entities. A little Googling revealed that the Swamp is administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and not the National Parks Service. That's a shame because that would be a really beautiful area to set up a portable operation from.
Anyway, I got to the Park and got set up, which by now, only takes me a few minutes. After so many lunch time QRP sessions, I could do this in my sleep, or with my eyes shut.
Since I was planning on operating some SSB in case there was a lack of activity, I brought along my big, heavy Werker deep cycle battery. I figured that this way, I could operate for an extended period of time at the 10 Watt SSB level if I needed to. And boy, did it turn out that I needed to!
The first thing I did after setting up was tune to around 14.061 MHz - the neighborhood of the QRP Watering Hole. I was shocked by what I heard - wall to wall CW signals! There was literally nowhere to sit where there wasn't a station calling "CQ TEST". I didn't realize that today was the RUDX, the Russian DX Contest - and boy, it filled the band!
I went on up to 17 Meters and heard some Europeans that were very loud. Knowing that meant the band was wide open, I easily found a clear spot at 18.082 MHz and proceeded to call "CQ NPOTA". The band was wide open, but as it turned out, there wasn't much if any activity. I worked K0IG right off the bat and then ...... nothing.
Not wanting to waste too much time, I got out of the Jeep and switched from the Buddistick to my 40 Meter Hamstick. I went down to 7.037 MHz, called CQ and was greeted by the normal NPOTA pileup. I was stoked and began to work station after station. The only bad thing was that the initial pileup lasted for only a few minutes, and then I began the monotonous routine of calling "CQ NPOTA" and waiting minutes in between answers.
Getting bored, I decided to give 20 Meters another try. Off came the Hamstick and up went the Buddistick. I called CQ for a bit and got a couple of QSO completed on 14.060 MHz, but it was tough. The stations calling me were loud, but their calls were being blanketed by even louder DX stations. Those guys had to be using mondo power. How much do they allow over in Europe, anyway?
Sitting there, disappointed as heck, I was ready to pack it in and head home a bit early. Then an inspiration occurred that maybe I should give 20 Meter SSB a whirl. Even though I'm not an avid fan of SSB, I decided to give it a shot. I was rewarded with a small run of about a dozen stations before that too, ended up petering out.
I had gone up to HP28 with a spiral notebook, thinking I would fill pages with call signs. After all, my outing to TR23 in January netted me over 80 QSOs. For some reason. I was thinking I would break that record easily. Just the opposite happened! I ended up with only 27 QSOs - but you know what? I discovered that a bad day of Amateur Radio is STILL better than a good day at work. So I'm a happy camper, anyway.
This only gives me more incentive to go back up to HP28 later this year, but this time throw a wire into a tree. I know that's kind of verboten, and on Facebook, someone actually related how they were asked to leave a park the other day for doing that. With that in mind, just before I left, I went to the visitor center and explained that I was an Amateur Radio operator and what NPOTA was (she knew what it was, by the way) and asked if there was any prohibition about wires in trees. She said as long as it was temporary, and would cause no damage and would not interfere with anyone else's visit, that they were OK with it.
So when I got back to the car, just for the heck of it, I attempted to launch a line over a limb just to see how it would go. 30 plus feet on the first try.
I'll be back, Jockey Hollow!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
I got to the park on time, right before Noon (1600 UTC). I allowed my TomTom GPS unit to bring me up to Jockey Hollow via a new route which I had never taken before. This brought me up through the Great Dismal Swamp, which is designated as a National Wildlife Refuge. It is truly a beautiful area and as I was driving through, I could see herons and egrets and all sorts of birds in the marshes. Seeing that the Great Dismal Swamp is designated as a National Wildlife Refuge, I was wondering why it's not listed as one of the NPOTA WR entities. A little Googling revealed that the Swamp is administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and not the National Parks Service. That's a shame because that would be a really beautiful area to set up a portable operation from.
Anyway, I got to the Park and got set up, which by now, only takes me a few minutes. After so many lunch time QRP sessions, I could do this in my sleep, or with my eyes shut.
Since I was planning on operating some SSB in case there was a lack of activity, I brought along my big, heavy Werker deep cycle battery. I figured that this way, I could operate for an extended period of time at the 10 Watt SSB level if I needed to. And boy, did it turn out that I needed to!
The first thing I did after setting up was tune to around 14.061 MHz - the neighborhood of the QRP Watering Hole. I was shocked by what I heard - wall to wall CW signals! There was literally nowhere to sit where there wasn't a station calling "CQ TEST". I didn't realize that today was the RUDX, the Russian DX Contest - and boy, it filled the band!
I went on up to 17 Meters and heard some Europeans that were very loud. Knowing that meant the band was wide open, I easily found a clear spot at 18.082 MHz and proceeded to call "CQ NPOTA". The band was wide open, but as it turned out, there wasn't much if any activity. I worked K0IG right off the bat and then ...... nothing.
Not wanting to waste too much time, I got out of the Jeep and switched from the Buddistick to my 40 Meter Hamstick. I went down to 7.037 MHz, called CQ and was greeted by the normal NPOTA pileup. I was stoked and began to work station after station. The only bad thing was that the initial pileup lasted for only a few minutes, and then I began the monotonous routine of calling "CQ NPOTA" and waiting minutes in between answers.
Getting bored, I decided to give 20 Meters another try. Off came the Hamstick and up went the Buddistick. I called CQ for a bit and got a couple of QSO completed on 14.060 MHz, but it was tough. The stations calling me were loud, but their calls were being blanketed by even louder DX stations. Those guys had to be using mondo power. How much do they allow over in Europe, anyway?
Sitting there, disappointed as heck, I was ready to pack it in and head home a bit early. Then an inspiration occurred that maybe I should give 20 Meter SSB a whirl. Even though I'm not an avid fan of SSB, I decided to give it a shot. I was rewarded with a small run of about a dozen stations before that too, ended up petering out.
I had gone up to HP28 with a spiral notebook, thinking I would fill pages with call signs. After all, my outing to TR23 in January netted me over 80 QSOs. For some reason. I was thinking I would break that record easily. Just the opposite happened! I ended up with only 27 QSOs - but you know what? I discovered that a bad day of Amateur Radio is STILL better than a good day at work. So I'm a happy camper, anyway.
This only gives me more incentive to go back up to HP28 later this year, but this time throw a wire into a tree. I know that's kind of verboten, and on Facebook, someone actually related how they were asked to leave a park the other day for doing that. With that in mind, just before I left, I went to the visitor center and explained that I was an Amateur Radio operator and what NPOTA was (she knew what it was, by the way) and asked if there was any prohibition about wires in trees. She said as long as it was temporary, and would cause no damage and would not interfere with anyone else's visit, that they were OK with it.
So when I got back to the car, just for the heck of it, I attempted to launch a line over a limb just to see how it would go. 30 plus feet on the first try.
I'll be back, Jockey Hollow!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
I had hoped for better results
As planned, I went and activated Morristown National Historical Park (HP28) for NPOTA. Things didn't turn out as well as I had hoped; but it was still a good time nonetheless.
I got to the park on time, right before Noon (1600 UTC). I allowed my TomTom GPS unit to bring me up to Jockey Hollow via a new route which I had never taken before. This brought me up through the Great Dismal Swamp, which is designated as a National Wildlife Refuge. It is truly a beautiful area and as I was driving through, I could see herons and egrets and all sorts of birds in the marshes. Seeing that the Great Dismal Swamp is designated as a National Wildlife Refuge, I was wondering why it's not listed as one of the NPOTA WR entities. A little Googling revealed that the Swamp is administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and not the National Parks Service. That's a shame because that would be a really beautiful area to set up a portable operation from.
Anyway, I got to the Park and got set up, which by now, only takes me a few minutes. After so many lunch time QRP sessions, I could do this in my sleep, or with my eyes shut.
Since I was planning on operating some SSB in case there was a lack of activity, I brought along my big, heavy Werker deep cycle battery. I figured that this way, I could operate for an extended period of time at the 10 Watt SSB level if I needed to. And boy, did it turn out that I needed to!
The first thing I did after setting up was tune to around 14.061 MHz - the neighborhood of the QRP Watering Hole. I was shocked by what I heard - wall to wall CW signals! There was literally nowhere to sit where there wasn't a station calling "CQ TEST". I didn't realize that today was the RUDX, the Russian DX Contest - and boy, it filled the band!
I went on up to 17 Meters and heard some Europeans that were very loud. Knowing that meant the band was wide open, I easily found a clear spot at 18.082 MHz and proceeded to call "CQ NPOTA". The band was wide open, but as it turned out, there wasn't much if any activity. I worked K0IG right off the bat and then ...... nothing.
Not wanting to waste too much time, I got out of the Jeep and switched from the Buddistick to my 40 Meter Hamstick. I went down to 7.037 MHz, called CQ and was greeted by the normal NPOTA pileup. I was stoked and began to work station after station. The only bad thing was that the initial pileup lasted for only a few minutes, and then I began the monotonous routine of calling "CQ NPOTA" and waiting minutes in between answers.
Getting bored, I decided to give 20 Meters another try. Off came the Hamstick and up went the Buddistick. I called CQ for a bit and got a couple of QSO completed on 14.060 MHz, but it was tough. The stations calling me were loud, but their calls were being blanketed by even louder DX stations. Those guys had to be using mondo power. How much do they allow over in Europe, anyway?
Sitting there, disappointed as heck, I was ready to pack it in and head home a bit early. Then an inspiration occurred that maybe I should give 20 Meter SSB a whirl. Even though I'm not an avid fan of SSB, I decided to give it a shot. I was rewarded with a small run of about a dozen stations before that too, ended up petering out.
I had gone up to HP28 with a spiral notebook, thinking I would fill pages with call signs. After all, my outing to TR23 in January netted me over 80 QSOs. For some reason. I was thinking I would break that record easily. Just the opposite happened! I ended up with only 27 QSOs - but you know what? I discovered that a bad day of Amateur Radio is STILL better than a good day at work. So I'm a happy camper, anyway.
This only gives me more incentive to go back up to HP28 later this year, but this time throw a wire into a tree. I know that's kind of verboten, and on Facebook, someone actually related how they were asked to leave a park the other day for doing that. With that in mind, just before I left, I went to the visitor center and explained that I was an Amateur Radio operator and what NPOTA was (she knew what it was, by the way) and asked if there was any prohibition about wires in trees. She said as long as it was temporary, and would cause no damage and would not interfere with anyone else's visit, that they were OK with it.
So when I got back to the car, just for the heck of it, I attempted to launch a line over a limb just to see how it would go. 30 plus feet on the first try.
I'll be back, Jockey Hollow!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
I got to the park on time, right before Noon (1600 UTC). I allowed my TomTom GPS unit to bring me up to Jockey Hollow via a new route which I had never taken before. This brought me up through the Great Dismal Swamp, which is designated as a National Wildlife Refuge. It is truly a beautiful area and as I was driving through, I could see herons and egrets and all sorts of birds in the marshes. Seeing that the Great Dismal Swamp is designated as a National Wildlife Refuge, I was wondering why it's not listed as one of the NPOTA WR entities. A little Googling revealed that the Swamp is administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and not the National Parks Service. That's a shame because that would be a really beautiful area to set up a portable operation from.
Anyway, I got to the Park and got set up, which by now, only takes me a few minutes. After so many lunch time QRP sessions, I could do this in my sleep, or with my eyes shut.
Since I was planning on operating some SSB in case there was a lack of activity, I brought along my big, heavy Werker deep cycle battery. I figured that this way, I could operate for an extended period of time at the 10 Watt SSB level if I needed to. And boy, did it turn out that I needed to!
The first thing I did after setting up was tune to around 14.061 MHz - the neighborhood of the QRP Watering Hole. I was shocked by what I heard - wall to wall CW signals! There was literally nowhere to sit where there wasn't a station calling "CQ TEST". I didn't realize that today was the RUDX, the Russian DX Contest - and boy, it filled the band!
I went on up to 17 Meters and heard some Europeans that were very loud. Knowing that meant the band was wide open, I easily found a clear spot at 18.082 MHz and proceeded to call "CQ NPOTA". The band was wide open, but as it turned out, there wasn't much if any activity. I worked K0IG right off the bat and then ...... nothing.
Not wanting to waste too much time, I got out of the Jeep and switched from the Buddistick to my 40 Meter Hamstick. I went down to 7.037 MHz, called CQ and was greeted by the normal NPOTA pileup. I was stoked and began to work station after station. The only bad thing was that the initial pileup lasted for only a few minutes, and then I began the monotonous routine of calling "CQ NPOTA" and waiting minutes in between answers.
Getting bored, I decided to give 20 Meters another try. Off came the Hamstick and up went the Buddistick. I called CQ for a bit and got a couple of QSO completed on 14.060 MHz, but it was tough. The stations calling me were loud, but their calls were being blanketed by even louder DX stations. Those guys had to be using mondo power. How much do they allow over in Europe, anyway?
Sitting there, disappointed as heck, I was ready to pack it in and head home a bit early. Then an inspiration occurred that maybe I should give 20 Meter SSB a whirl. Even though I'm not an avid fan of SSB, I decided to give it a shot. I was rewarded with a small run of about a dozen stations before that too, ended up petering out.
I had gone up to HP28 with a spiral notebook, thinking I would fill pages with call signs. After all, my outing to TR23 in January netted me over 80 QSOs. For some reason. I was thinking I would break that record easily. Just the opposite happened! I ended up with only 27 QSOs - but you know what? I discovered that a bad day of Amateur Radio is STILL better than a good day at work. So I'm a happy camper, anyway.
This only gives me more incentive to go back up to HP28 later this year, but this time throw a wire into a tree. I know that's kind of verboten, and on Facebook, someone actually related how they were asked to leave a park the other day for doing that. With that in mind, just before I left, I went to the visitor center and explained that I was an Amateur Radio operator and what NPOTA was (she knew what it was, by the way) and asked if there was any prohibition about wires in trees. She said as long as it was temporary, and would cause no damage and would not interfere with anyone else's visit, that they were OK with it.
So when I got back to the car, just for the heck of it, I attempted to launch a line over a limb just to see how it would go. 30 plus feet on the first try.
I'll be back, Jockey Hollow!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Weather forecast is looking good
The weather is looking good for Saturday for my planned expedition to Morristown National Historical Park (NPOTA HP28) this coming Saturday. Sunny with high temperatures in the upper 40s (9C) Hopefully, there will be no curve balls out of Left field that will preclude me from going.
The plan is to leave the house somewhere around 11:00 AM (1500 UTC) and be up there and on the air by around 12:00 Noon (1600 UTC). I plan on working 40, 20 and 17 Meters - CW around the QRP watering holes. I'll be packing some water and snacks and hope to stay for three or four hours. I am going to see if I can get the PAR END FEDZ 40/20/10 up in a tree in the parking lot. If not, I'll just rely on the Buddistick for 20 and 17 Meters and a Hamstick for 40 Meters.
Last Saturday, I went to the Cherryville hamfest out in Flemington, NJ which is run by the W2CRA, Cherryville Repeater Association. This was the very first hamfest that I ever went to as a newbie Ham back in 1979, and it's always held a special place for me. Unfortunately, over the years (and especially since the dawn of eBay) the Cherryville hamfest seemed to be on the down slope. Like a lot of hamfests, it suffered from poor attendance, lack of vendors, etc was plaguing it - and seemed to be spiraling towards its death knell.
Happily, between last year and this year, that trend seems to be reversed. Attendance is still nowhere near where it used to be, but it's growing. The number of vendors is still down (but again, growing), and for the most part the really bad junk is gone - and by junk I mean non-ham related garbage. I mean really, who wants to buy a roto-tiller at a hamfest? Sure there's still lots of non-Ham stuff to be seen, but it also seems there are more and more treasures to be found.
I purchased some new SO-239 chassis connectors as well as two old butterfly type variable capacitors that I got for five bucks. The capacitors have long stems on them, so they should be useful in my magnetic loop antenna project. I need to clean them up with some contact cleaner, but some initial testing seems to indicate that they are in the 200 pF range. KJI Electronics was there, and I purchased a Diamond antenna for my VHF/UHF handheld. What a difference when you buy the real brand and not a cheap knock-off!
Before I forget ........ I have a friend who has a "hardly used, very good condition" SGC-2020 QRP radio that he wants to sell. I am not privy to the price. But if you're interested, send an e-mail to [email protected] and I will forward it on to him. He's not looking for eBay type money, but he's not interested in getting taken, either.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
The plan is to leave the house somewhere around 11:00 AM (1500 UTC) and be up there and on the air by around 12:00 Noon (1600 UTC). I plan on working 40, 20 and 17 Meters - CW around the QRP watering holes. I'll be packing some water and snacks and hope to stay for three or four hours. I am going to see if I can get the PAR END FEDZ 40/20/10 up in a tree in the parking lot. If not, I'll just rely on the Buddistick for 20 and 17 Meters and a Hamstick for 40 Meters.
Last Saturday, I went to the Cherryville hamfest out in Flemington, NJ which is run by the W2CRA, Cherryville Repeater Association. This was the very first hamfest that I ever went to as a newbie Ham back in 1979, and it's always held a special place for me. Unfortunately, over the years (and especially since the dawn of eBay) the Cherryville hamfest seemed to be on the down slope. Like a lot of hamfests, it suffered from poor attendance, lack of vendors, etc was plaguing it - and seemed to be spiraling towards its death knell.
Happily, between last year and this year, that trend seems to be reversed. Attendance is still nowhere near where it used to be, but it's growing. The number of vendors is still down (but again, growing), and for the most part the really bad junk is gone - and by junk I mean non-ham related garbage. I mean really, who wants to buy a roto-tiller at a hamfest? Sure there's still lots of non-Ham stuff to be seen, but it also seems there are more and more treasures to be found.
I purchased some new SO-239 chassis connectors as well as two old butterfly type variable capacitors that I got for five bucks. The capacitors have long stems on them, so they should be useful in my magnetic loop antenna project. I need to clean them up with some contact cleaner, but some initial testing seems to indicate that they are in the 200 pF range. KJI Electronics was there, and I purchased a Diamond antenna for my VHF/UHF handheld. What a difference when you buy the real brand and not a cheap knock-off!
Before I forget ........ I have a friend who has a "hardly used, very good condition" SGC-2020 QRP radio that he wants to sell. I am not privy to the price. But if you're interested, send an e-mail to [email protected] and I will forward it on to him. He's not looking for eBay type money, but he's not interested in getting taken, either.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Weather forecast is looking good
The weather is looking good for Saturday for my planned expedition to Morristown National Historical Park (NPOTA HP28) this coming Saturday. Sunny with high temperatures in the upper 40s (9C) Hopefully, there will be no curve balls out of Left field that will preclude me from going.
The plan is to leave the house somewhere around 11:00 AM (1500 UTC) and be up there and on the air by around 12:00 Noon (1600 UTC). I plan on working 40, 20 and 17 Meters - CW around the QRP watering holes. I'll be packing some water and snacks and hope to stay for three or four hours. I am going to see if I can get the PAR END FEDZ 40/20/10 up in a tree in the parking lot. If not, I'll just rely on the Buddistick for 20 and 17 Meters and a Hamstick for 40 Meters.
Last Saturday, I went to the Cherryville hamfest out in Flemington, NJ which is run by the W2CRA, Cherryville Repeater Association. This was the very first hamfest that I ever went to as a newbie Ham back in 1979, and it's always held a special place for me. Unfortunately, over the years (and especially since the dawn of eBay) the Cherryville hamfest seemed to be on the down slope. Like a lot of hamfests, it suffered from poor attendance, lack of vendors, etc was plaguing it - and seemed to be spiraling towards its death knell.
Happily, between last year and this year, that trend seems to be reversed. Attendance is still nowhere near where it used to be, but it's growing. The number of vendors is still down (but again, growing), and for the most part the really bad junk is gone - and by junk I mean non-ham related garbage. I mean really, who wants to buy a roto-tiller at a hamfest? Sure there's still lots of non-Ham stuff to be seen, but it also seems there are more and more treasures to be found.
I purchased some new SO-239 chassis connectors as well as two old butterfly type variable capacitors that I got for five bucks. The capacitors have long stems on them, so they should be useful in my magnetic loop antenna project. I need to clean them up with some contact cleaner, but some initial testing seems to indicate that they are in the 200 pF range. KJI Electronics was there, and I purchased a Diamond antenna for my VHF/UHF handheld. What a difference when you buy the real brand and not a cheap knock-off!
Before I forget ........ I have a friend who has a "hardly used, very good condition" SGC-2020 QRP radio that he wants to sell. I am not privy to the price. But if you're interested, send an e-mail to [email protected] and I will forward it on to him. He's not looking for eBay type money, but he's not interested in getting taken, either.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
The plan is to leave the house somewhere around 11:00 AM (1500 UTC) and be up there and on the air by around 12:00 Noon (1600 UTC). I plan on working 40, 20 and 17 Meters - CW around the QRP watering holes. I'll be packing some water and snacks and hope to stay for three or four hours. I am going to see if I can get the PAR END FEDZ 40/20/10 up in a tree in the parking lot. If not, I'll just rely on the Buddistick for 20 and 17 Meters and a Hamstick for 40 Meters.
Last Saturday, I went to the Cherryville hamfest out in Flemington, NJ which is run by the W2CRA, Cherryville Repeater Association. This was the very first hamfest that I ever went to as a newbie Ham back in 1979, and it's always held a special place for me. Unfortunately, over the years (and especially since the dawn of eBay) the Cherryville hamfest seemed to be on the down slope. Like a lot of hamfests, it suffered from poor attendance, lack of vendors, etc was plaguing it - and seemed to be spiraling towards its death knell.
Happily, between last year and this year, that trend seems to be reversed. Attendance is still nowhere near where it used to be, but it's growing. The number of vendors is still down (but again, growing), and for the most part the really bad junk is gone - and by junk I mean non-ham related garbage. I mean really, who wants to buy a roto-tiller at a hamfest? Sure there's still lots of non-Ham stuff to be seen, but it also seems there are more and more treasures to be found.
I purchased some new SO-239 chassis connectors as well as two old butterfly type variable capacitors that I got for five bucks. The capacitors have long stems on them, so they should be useful in my magnetic loop antenna project. I need to clean them up with some contact cleaner, but some initial testing seems to indicate that they are in the 200 pF range. KJI Electronics was there, and I purchased a Diamond antenna for my VHF/UHF handheld. What a difference when you buy the real brand and not a cheap knock-off!
Before I forget ........ I have a friend who has a "hardly used, very good condition" SGC-2020 QRP radio that he wants to sell. I am not privy to the price. But if you're interested, send an e-mail to [email protected] and I will forward it on to him. He's not looking for eBay type money, but he's not interested in getting taken, either.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Thinking
Even though the long range forecast for Saturday, March 19th is calling for rain and drizzle, I am contemplating doing another NPOTA activation. The weather this time of year is always changing, so I am hoping that next Saturday will actually turn out nice.
This time I have a hankering to go on up to HP28, Morristown National Historical Park, which actually consists of four different areas:
1) The Ford Mansion
2) Washington's Headquarters Museum
3) Jockey Hollow
4) Fort Nonsense
The best area for operating without causing too much undo commotion to anyone else, is from the parking lot at Jockey Hollow. Jockey Hollow is where the Continental Army wintered in 1779-1780 - a winter which turned out to be way more severe than the previous winter, which has become better known as "The Winter at Valley Forge".
That's where Dave KD2FSI activated HP28 back in January (and where I logged for him as he handled his really first big HF pileup). I noticed some pretty tall trees right next to the parking spots (the parking lot is big), so maybe I can quietly throw my PAR END-FEDZ 40/20/10 into one of them. Of course, the main bands for operating will be 40 and 20 Meters. As is always the case for W2LJ, operations will be primarily CW - but I am thinking of perhaps even doing a little QRP SSB if activity on the CW bands gets lax. I'm not sure if HP28 has been activated via CW. Maybe I can be the first.
This weekend, if I get the time, I would like to finally experiment with building a magnetic loop antenna for 40 - 10 Meters. I have some coax in the basement that's too short for anything else and would serve well, I think. I have a 365pF variable cap that I got from eBay. I have been reading some articles lately and it doesn't look like building a rudimentary loop would be all that difficult. If I have success with it, maybe I can eventually come up with a homebrewed version of the AlexLoop WalkHam model that I can use for portable ops. It might prove to be a viable option when I want to be away from the Jeep, and yet I can't hang an EFHW, or doublet.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
This time I have a hankering to go on up to HP28, Morristown National Historical Park, which actually consists of four different areas:
1) The Ford Mansion
2) Washington's Headquarters Museum
3) Jockey Hollow
4) Fort Nonsense
The best area for operating without causing too much undo commotion to anyone else, is from the parking lot at Jockey Hollow. Jockey Hollow is where the Continental Army wintered in 1779-1780 - a winter which turned out to be way more severe than the previous winter, which has become better known as "The Winter at Valley Forge".
That's where Dave KD2FSI activated HP28 back in January (and where I logged for him as he handled his really first big HF pileup). I noticed some pretty tall trees right next to the parking spots (the parking lot is big), so maybe I can quietly throw my PAR END-FEDZ 40/20/10 into one of them. Of course, the main bands for operating will be 40 and 20 Meters. As is always the case for W2LJ, operations will be primarily CW - but I am thinking of perhaps even doing a little QRP SSB if activity on the CW bands gets lax. I'm not sure if HP28 has been activated via CW. Maybe I can be the first.
This weekend, if I get the time, I would like to finally experiment with building a magnetic loop antenna for 40 - 10 Meters. I have some coax in the basement that's too short for anything else and would serve well, I think. I have a 365pF variable cap that I got from eBay. I have been reading some articles lately and it doesn't look like building a rudimentary loop would be all that difficult. If I have success with it, maybe I can eventually come up with a homebrewed version of the AlexLoop WalkHam model that I can use for portable ops. It might prove to be a viable option when I want to be away from the Jeep, and yet I can't hang an EFHW, or doublet.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Thinking
Even though the long range forecast for Saturday, March 19th is calling for rain and drizzle, I am contemplating doing another NPOTA activation. The weather this time of year is always changing, so I am hoping that next Saturday will actually turn out nice.
This time I have a hankering to go on up to HP28, Morristown National Historical Park, which actually consists of four different areas:
1) The Ford Mansion
2) Washington's Headquarters Museum
3) Jockey Hollow
4) Fort Nonsense
The best area for operating without causing too much undo commotion to anyone else, is from the parking lot at Jockey Hollow. Jockey Hollow is where the Continental Army wintered in 1779-1780 - a winter which turned out to be way more severe than the previous winter, which has become better known as "The Winter at Valley Forge".
That's where Dave KD2FSI activated HP28 back in January (and where I logged for him as he handled his really first big HF pileup). I noticed some pretty tall trees right next to the parking spots (the parking lot is big), so maybe I can quietly throw my PAR END-FEDZ 40/20/10 into one of them. Of course, the main bands for operating will be 40 and 20 Meters. As is always the case for W2LJ, operations will be primarily CW - but I am thinking of perhaps even doing a little QRP SSB if activity on the CW bands gets lax. I'm not sure if HP28 has been activated via CW. Maybe I can be the first.
This weekend, if I get the time, I would like to finally experiment with building a magnetic loop antenna for 40 - 10 Meters. I have some coax in the basement that's too short for anything else and would serve well, I think. I have a 365pF variable cap that I got from eBay. I have been reading some articles lately and it doesn't look like building a rudimentary loop would be all that difficult. If I have success with it, maybe I can eventually come up with a homebrewed version of the AlexLoop WalkHam model that I can use for portable ops. It might prove to be a viable option when I want to be away from the Jeep, and yet I can't hang an EFHW, or doublet.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
This time I have a hankering to go on up to HP28, Morristown National Historical Park, which actually consists of four different areas:
1) The Ford Mansion
2) Washington's Headquarters Museum
3) Jockey Hollow
4) Fort Nonsense
The best area for operating without causing too much undo commotion to anyone else, is from the parking lot at Jockey Hollow. Jockey Hollow is where the Continental Army wintered in 1779-1780 - a winter which turned out to be way more severe than the previous winter, which has become better known as "The Winter at Valley Forge".
That's where Dave KD2FSI activated HP28 back in January (and where I logged for him as he handled his really first big HF pileup). I noticed some pretty tall trees right next to the parking spots (the parking lot is big), so maybe I can quietly throw my PAR END-FEDZ 40/20/10 into one of them. Of course, the main bands for operating will be 40 and 20 Meters. As is always the case for W2LJ, operations will be primarily CW - but I am thinking of perhaps even doing a little QRP SSB if activity on the CW bands gets lax. I'm not sure if HP28 has been activated via CW. Maybe I can be the first.
This weekend, if I get the time, I would like to finally experiment with building a magnetic loop antenna for 40 - 10 Meters. I have some coax in the basement that's too short for anything else and would serve well, I think. I have a 365pF variable cap that I got from eBay. I have been reading some articles lately and it doesn't look like building a rudimentary loop would be all that difficult. If I have success with it, maybe I can eventually come up with a homebrewed version of the AlexLoop WalkHam model that I can use for portable ops. It might prove to be a viable option when I want to be away from the Jeep, and yet I can't hang an EFHW, or doublet.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
A very special evening
The South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club has two meeting nights each month. The fourth Wednesday of each month is our "official" business meeting, where we take care of all the normal matters that come before any Amateur Radio club.
Designed by Dave Hackett KD2FSI
The first Wednesday of each month is our informal "Operating Night" meeting. This tradition was instituted by our founding and current Club President, Marv K2VHW. His idea was to have an evening set aside where the older members of the club could meet with the newer Amateur Radio ops and engage with them about some radio or operating related topic.
Marv has been down and out with some back troubles, so at our February meeting, Ron N2LCZ. our Recording Secretary, suggested that for the March operating night, that we should do an NPOTA activation. The Washington-Rochambeau National Historical Trail (TR23) runs right in front of our meeting place, the South Plainfield CERT Building, which is on the corner of Hamilton Boulevard and New Market Avenue - Hamilton Boulevard is part of the trail.
We are, quite literally, only about 25 feet or so from the roadway, and the Trail. Our meeting place was originally a gasoline filling station that was converted by the South Plainfield Police Department into a satellite Community Policing Building. When the SPPD took over the mantle of Emergency Management, they generously offered use of the building to the South Plainfield CERT/RACES team. SPARC is allowed to use the building for its meetings.
So last night we got together to put NJ2SP on the air. Dave KD2FSI set up some equipment, his Yaesu HF transceiver and ran some coax out to the screwdriver antenna on his van. Power was provided by a Werker deep cycle battery. We started out on 20 Meters, where unfortunately, we had a close to S9 noise level. Even so, we made QSOs from the West coast to Suriname.
When 20 Meters dried up, we switched over to 40 Meters where the background noise level was slightly lower, but the incoming signals were much louder. And that's where the bulk of our 51 QSOs were made. We were busy for the better part of an hour.
The best part about it all was that neither Dave or I made the QSOs. I sat there as a logger and "QSO Coach" (and control operator) while some of the other members of SPARC, who have no regular access to HF took over. It was not hard to tell that they had a blast and after one or two QSOs, they were behaving like HF veterans.
The high point of the evening was when a visiting YL sat down and took over the microphone. I scribbled out a brief script for her, so she would know what to say and she took off and hit the ground running. 40 Meters seemed like it was quieting down, but as soon as her voice went over the air, the dam broke loose and we had another pileup on our hands. Lee Ann has visited our club a few times and is deciding whether or not she would like to pursue obtaining her own license.
I am willing to bet that last night sealed the deal.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
The first Wednesday of each month is our informal "Operating Night" meeting. This tradition was instituted by our founding and current Club President, Marv K2VHW. His idea was to have an evening set aside where the older members of the club could meet with the newer Amateur Radio ops and engage with them about some radio or operating related topic.
Designed by Dave Hackett KD2FSI
Marv has been down and out with some back troubles, so at our February meeting, Ron N2LCZ. our Recording Secretary, suggested that for the March operating night, that we should do an NPOTA activation. The Washington-Rochambeau National Historical Trail (TR23) runs right in front of our meeting place, the South Plainfield CERT Building, which is on the corner of Hamilton Boulevard and New Market Avenue - Hamilton Boulevard is part of the trail.
We are, quite literally, only about 25 feet or so from the roadway, and the Trail. Our meeting place was originally a gasoline filling station that was converted by the South Plainfield Police Department into a satellite Community Policing Building. When the SPPD took over the mantle of Emergency Management, they generously offered use of the building to the South Plainfield CERT/RACES team. SPARC is allowed to use the building for its meetings.
So last night we got together to put NJ2SP on the air. Dave KD2FSI set up some equipment, his Yaesu HF transceiver and ran some coax out to the screwdriver antenna on his van. Power was provided by a Werker deep cycle battery. We started out on 20 Meters, where unfortunately, we had a close to S9 noise level. Even so, we made QSOs from the West coast to Suriname.
When 20 Meters dried up, we switched over to 40 Meters where the background noise level was slightly lower, but the incoming signals were much louder. And that's where the bulk of our 51 QSOs were made. We were busy for the better part of an hour.
The best part about it all was that neither Dave or I made the QSOs. I sat there as a logger and "QSO Coach" (and control operator) while some of the other members of SPARC, who have no regular access to HF took over. It was not hard to tell that they had a blast and after one or two QSOs, they were behaving like HF veterans.
The high point of the evening was when a visiting YL sat down and took over the microphone. I scribbled out a brief script for her, so she would know what to say and she took off and hit the ground running. 40 Meters seemed like it was quieting down, but as soon as her voice went over the air, the dam broke loose and we had another pileup on our hands. Lee Ann has visited our club a few times and is deciding whether or not she would like to pursue obtaining her own license.
I am willing to bet that last night sealed the deal.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
