The long anticipated announcement for the 2023 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt - the 12th Annual, if you can believe that!

For all the details - please go to www.qsl.net/w2lj or go to the Skeeter Hunt page of this blog (the next to last tab on the right - located under the KX3 photo up at the top).

A few points to remember:

1) Due to a personal commitment, the Hunt has been moved to the 4th weekend of August - the 27th, for this year only. 

2) New Bonus Point Challenge for 2023:

Eighteen Skeeters have graciously consented to act as Bonus Skeeters. They have been issued numbers that are palindromes (numbers that are the same forward and backward) - Skeeters 11, 22, 33, 44 ...... right through 151.   When you work one, that QSO is worth 100 points - and you can work as many as you can up to 1,000 bonus points. The Bonus Skeeters are highlighted on the roster. A clarification - you can only claim the Bonus Skeeter once - so if you work W2LJ (#181) on 40, 20 and 15 Meters, you can only claim 100 Bonus point (not 300).

3) Skeeter numbers for the rest of you will be issued in the same way as they have since the beginning of this event. Send an e-mail with your name, your call sign and the state you will be operating from to either [email protected], or [email protected] NO SOONER THAN 12:01 AM EDT June 21st, the First Day of Summer. You will receive an e-mail back with your sequential number, or you can check the roster, by clicking here.  Please do not apply for a number via the Facebook page, as I may very well miss your request - and we wouldn't want that to happen, would we? Numbers will be issued right up until the Midnight before the day of the event.

I hope you'll have fun and enjoy the Hunt this year - good luck and happy QRP'ing!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

 We have had our share of rain over the past 8 days as we are in the middle of a low-pressure system that has stalled out over the Maritimes. This low-pressure system brings cooler temperatures and rain. The upside is the wildfire smoke here is non-existent. We see the results on CNN of the wildfire smoke that is blanketing the central and eastern U.S.

On another note, a funny thing happened today while I was doing my daily CW contesting practice with the G4FON software. It sent me my call sign....I took a double take thinking that call sounds familiar. Then I realized because it was my own. The first time this ever happened. Oh well, it's a way to spend just another rainy day but Saturday we are told the sun will be peeking out from the clouds.  Also, I am hearing the wildfire smoke will subside over the U.S. as well.

Hello and welcome to the 505th installment of Linux in the Ham Shack. In this short topics episode, the hosts discuss efforts to mitigate QRM, licensing for eLoran frequencies, Project Boondock, Wine integration with Wayland, Azure Linux, the Dolphin project and much more. Thanks for listening and have a great week.

73 de The LHS Crew

In this episode, we join  Martin Butler M1MRB, Chris Howard (M0TCH), Martin Rothwell (M0SGL), Frank Howell (K4FMH), Bill Barnes (WC3B) and Leslie Butterfields (G0CIB) to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin Butler (M6BOY) rounds up the news in brief and in the episode's feature is Intro to Spectrum Analyzers.

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

• New SO-50 Distance Record
• NCDXF to offer $100k for solutions to deliberate QRM
• Cars Would be Required to Keep AM Radio under a new Bipartisan Bill
• ACMA Licencing Update
• Hamfest India
• Museum Ships On-the-Air Weekend
• AMSAT Orbital Elements Manager Retires

Do we need those inline fuses between our radio and power supply, most if not all radios come with them but are they always needed? There was a time when I thought the more fusing the better and safer, but does it add to the safety or is it just redundant fusing? First off let me begin with, this is my own opinion and I do follow it whether you choose to or not it is absolutely up to you. 

I was having an issue with my Icom 7610 cycling off and then back on again while transmitting . The issue was narrowed down to resistance within the cable from the power supply to the radio. I first replaced the poor terminal connections on my Astron power supply. The issue returned again it was then further determined that the guilty party was the inline fuse/fuse holder connection. I cut out both inline power cable fuses...OMG, you say?
Well, not really if (the big if) you have a power supply with very good built-in protection meaning over-voltage protection (crowbar), over-current protection (fold-back current protection), over-temperature shutdown and an internal AC fuse I believe you are good to go without inline DC fusing between power supply and your rig. Again in the background I hear "OMG, you did what"

I do hear some saying "Wait what if there is an issue in my supply line from the power supply to the rig" This is true BUT keep the power cable as short as possible and if you have worries about overheating cables, moving parts or rodents then you have bigger issues than un-fused power cables. Having said that if something between the power supply to the radio power cable causes a sudden increase in current or voltage the power supply protection will quickly look after that. 

 Some who have a large rig such as the Icom 7610 or other manufacturers could be saying "there is no way this rig will be used as a mobile by the average ham but it has fused leads". My answer to that is the big 5 (Icom, Kenwood, Yaesu, Flex and Elecraft)  have no idea what power supply you are going to use. Also, some may opt to use a deep cycle battery at home on a trickle charge or whatever. 

After everything I have said about fuses I am not against them and as a matter of fact I have a Rigrunner fused rail and use it and I am thankful for it. I connect my external ATU, noise cancelling unit and SWR meter (for the light) to it. 

Now if you have no issue with your supplied power to your radio and things are not acting up like they were with me then by all means keep the fused line but for me, some radical thinking cured the problem and some power supply understanding allows me to sleep at night knowing the radio is in good power supply hands.

Ham College episode 101 is now available for download.

Extra exam questions 39.
E8A AC waveforms: sine, square, and irregular waveforms. AC measurements, average power and PEP of RF signals, Fourier analysis, analog to digital conversion: digital to analog conversion, advantages of digital communications.

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