Last week without any fanfare, Hans Summers small company QRP Labs, launched the bigger QMX+. 

A full blown 160m-6m CW and Digital modes QRP rig. (SSB to come in a future firmware release).

The radio is available as either a kit, or as a ready built option. With optional metal case and GPS Unit to aid frequency alignment, RTC, and Location.

Anything which Hans designs is tuned for high performance!  With easy step by step documentation for those who are competent enough to understand and build.

Price starts at $125 + case + options + carriage. (Price may also be subject to import charges, duty etc.)

Further details: https://shop.qrp-labs.com/qmxp

QRP Labs forum:  https://groups.io/g/QRPLabs/

 G3XBM informs me he has ordered a fully assembled unit. So it is well worth keeping an eye on his blog for details when it arrives in his shack: https://g3xbm-qrp.blogspot.com/

I have been noticeably absent regarding my recipe series as I was recovering from COVID. Both my wife and I consider ourselves very fortunate as this is the first brush we have had with COVID-19. We are both fully vaccinated and it was like having a bad cold that would just not go away. Now I did lose my sense of smell and taste for about a week which was a bit weird. We did stay at home (about 10 days) until we tested negative. I will humour my readers with one soapbox moment.....a friend of mine mocked us both for staying home telling us it's the new cold bug get over it. My answer to that is "very true" BUT it also is very contagious and that is the problem as I see it. To wander around without taking precautions allows the bug to spread and more get sick. My friend, I would consider selfish in a way as it's all about "him". Wait until he has to go to the hospital but has to wait forever as staff are sick at home, and needs the police but response time is longer as some are off sick and so on. I am retired and could stay home for 10 days but to him I say at least wear a mask if you venture out....it's not all about YOU. 

OK time to step off the soapbox now and get to the meat and potatoes of the next post. In the last few years, there has been an explosion in getting outdoors and operating radios.  We have Park on the air (POTA) summits on the air (SOTA) and then branch-offs from that. One of the main ingredients of this recipe is to love the outdoors. The modes of operation are SSB, CW and digital modes if you operate CW then some practice picking out code in a pileup, being able to pick out a call. I have listened to some POTA and SOTA activations and it can get very busy. It truly is an art to pick out calls in a pileup. Refining this art will help increase your contacts and the needed numbers for an official activation. Another ingredient is Increasing your knowledge about portable antennas and how best to set them up. Learning the ins and outs of your rig (most of the time a small compact unit) as when operating you won't have the luxury of a manual to refer to. Another ingredient is the art of organization it can make or break an activation. A simple BNC to PL-259 connector left at home can bring an activation to a fast end before it even starts. 

If you are doing a summit on the air an important part of the recipe is safety. I would not do it alone, if it's a crazy summit then bring along a sat-phone, GPS locator, and first aid kit as funny things can happen. The technology is there so use it. NEVER NEVER think it could ever happen to me.  

Most activation's are portable and a 100 watts signal is a dream which was left at home. For this reason, your best bang per watt may be CW or digital operations and not to worry SSB will do the trick as well. An important ingredient is to figure out how to spot yourself during an activation. This will get you folks listening for your peanut signal and buy you some contacts for the log. Another ingredient in my humble opinion is to get a good set of headphones. You could be in a park with other people and their noise, the wind and so on. Now having said that let me also include a very important ingredient and that is ham radio ambassadorship. If you are in public then the public is going to wonder what you are up to. Be ready to field questions and be ready to share about the hobby. It could be an onlooker, park ranger, police or who ever. 

Well there you go all done with the recipes of ham radio I  hope you enjoyed this little montage.

Having spent nearly 30 years in the IT industry, I’ve experienced my fair share of all-nighters and multi-day outages. Whether it’s been frantically repairing dead hardware, fixing corrupted databases, or resolving perplexing network issues, these stressful situations have taught me a lot. One of the most critical lessons I’ve learned is the importance of communication during an outage. While the technical team works tirelessly behind the scenes to resolve the issue, it’s equally vital to have a team dedicated to keeping customers and stakeholders informed.

Currently, there’s a lot of speculation surrounding the multi-day ARRL LOTW outage. Without insight into the system architecture or the specifics of the outage, speculating about the root cause or assigning blame is futile. However, one area where ARRL is undeniably falling short is in their communication about the outage.

The ARRL often faces criticism, sometimes unjustly, but frequently due to its own actions. The LOTW outage is a prime example of a situation where effective communication could mitigate criticism and even garner support. Regular, sincere updates with technical details would go a long way in keeping their stakeholders informed and engaged. Given that many of these stakeholders have technical backgrounds, they would appreciate and understand the specifics.

Moreover, humanizing the recovery effort by showcasing the dedication and hard work of the personnel involved could foster empathy and support. Highlighting the individuals and the tremendous effort they are putting into resolving the issue can turn a frustrating situation into an opportunity to build trust and rapport.

In summary, effective communication during IT outages is not just about transparency, but also about building and maintaining trust. The ARRL’s current communication strategy regarding the LOTW outage is lacking, but there is a clear path to improve it. By providing regular updates and humanizing the effort, ARRL can turn this challenge into an opportunity.

This article was originally posted on Radio Artisan.

In this episode, we join  Martin Butler M1MRB, Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT, Edmund Spicer M0MNG, and Ed Durrant DD5LP to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin Butler (M6BOY) rounds up the news in brief and the episode's feature is Your Feedback.

We would like to thank Fadel Derry (M0SFD) and our monthly and annual subscription donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate

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Remembering the amateur radio
account by Gerry Martin W7WFP

On Sunday, March 27, 1980, a series of volcanic explosions and pyroclastic flows began at Mount St. Helens in Skamania County, Washington, United States. A series of phreatic blasts occurred from the summit and escalated until a major explosive eruption took place 44 years ago today, on Sunday, May 18, 1980, at 8:32 am. The eruption, which had a volcanic explosivity index of 5, was the first to occur in the contiguous United States since the much smaller 1915 eruption of Lassen Peak in California. It has often been declared the most disastrous volcanic eruption in U.S. history.

The Role of Amateur Radio - Gerry Martin W7WFP

Gerry, 64, was a volunteer ham radio operator who was monitoring the mountain for the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service. The day before the eruption, he drove his motor home onto a ridge a couple miles north and slightly higher than the geologists’ observation post. When the mountain erupted, he reported to the other ham operators monitoring the volcano, “Gentlemen, the camper and car that’s sitting over to the south of me is covered. It’s going to hit me, too.” As with Dave Johnston, no trace of Martin or his motor home was ever found. The audio account of his observations as the mountain erupted is in an Oregon Public Broadcasting article. The article also has a link to a video of the event.

The eruption claimed the lives of 57 people, mostly through the effects of ash asphyxiation.

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