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Propagation numbers baffle me sometimes. Yesterday, when the numbers looked so good, I thought I was going to end up getting skunked. I did end up working Oleg UR3IFD, in the Ukraine, and I also had a very brief, QSB busted QSO with Paul WA9PWP. But other than those two very brief contacts, it was pretty grim. There wasn’t else much to be heard and my CQs on several bands went unanswered. Advance the clock 24 hours, to find the SSN is down to 35 and the SFI is only at 110. Not great numbers. But despite the numbers, I had a great outing.

I started out on 17 Meters with a brief QSO with Ted LZ1ND, who was calling CQ. Ted was a good 599+ here in New Jersey, and I got a 549 in return. Not a bad report, and Ted got all my basic information, so I was definitely copy-able in Bulgaria. And it looks like Ted is quite comfortable behind the dial of a QRP rig himself. Here’s an old photo I dug up of him on the Web, taken while he was participating in Bulgaria’s HF QRP Field Day.

After Ted, I switched on over to 20 Meters and called CQ. I was answered by Ron W5VYN, from Whitesboro, TX. Ron had a magnificent signal into New Jersey. The fact that he was using home brewed gear made it all the sweeter. Ron had asked me if he was generating any key clicks, and I was happy to be able to tell him that he had a perfect, solid and stable 9 in the “T” portion of RST. His home brew rig sounded just as good as any commercial rig out there. That was a nice QSO.

That was followed up by a “quickie” QSO with Greg N4KGL. Greg, who’s down in Florida, was using one of those new PAR ENDFEDZ Trail Friendly antennas, which was generating a nice 579 signal for him. It’s always nice chatting with Greg, and I wish I could have stayed on longer. But as always, time flies when you’re having fun, and it was time to break down and head on back to work.

So it just goes to show …. you can have a great QRP day, even when the solar conditions say, “Maybe not”.

Even so, I had to laugh on the way home from work.  As I was driving, I was listening to two Hams on a local 2 Meter repeater bemoan the current sunspot cycle.  One was complaining about “How you just can’t work any decent DX without at least a 500 Watt amplifier!”.  I almost lost it right there, I started chuckling so hard.

Lots of QRPers, including N8ZYA, K3WWP, W2LJ and many, many others have log books that attest to the direct opposite!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

I know that band conditions aren’t the best.  And I also know that this Sunspot Cycle 24 maximum, as compared to other sunspot cycle maximums has been kinda “meh”.  But you know what?  I’m having fun despite the band conditions!

You can sit around and pee and moan about “How this sure wasn’t like the cycle we had back in ’57 when you could work the world with a 1/2 Watt and a wet string!”, or you can get on the air and choose to operate.  I choose the latter.

Today was another successful lunchtime QRP session.  The KX3 and Buddistick successfully netted S564EB, which is a special event station commemorating the European Basketball Championships in Slovenia.  A little later, still on 17 Meters, I bagged IS0GQX, Bruno in Sardinia for that country on a new band.

When the sunspot cycle does finally dwindle to weeks and months of little or zero spots, I’m sure that this “not so great” maximum is going to look mighty fine from the rear view mirror.  As long as it lasts, I am going to keep at it.  5 Watts to a Buddistick plopped on top of my Jeep – every QSO amazes me!

Now, to another matter.  The period for submitting log entries for the Skeeter Hunt is entering the halfway mark.  Next Sunday, August 25th at 11:59 PM EDT, is the absolute final deadline for log submissions.  So far, I’ve received 55 log summaries.  That’s about 1/3 of the people who signed up for Skeeter numbers.  In fact, I’ve received two log summaries from Non-Skeeters!  So if you participated, please send me a log summary.

For some VERY preliminary results, you can go to – http://www.qsl.net/w2lj/index%20page%205

If you submitted a log and you don’t see your numbers next to your call, then I didn’t get them. Please send them again!  Soapbox comments and photos will appear after next Sunday.

So far here are some standings:

Top 5 finishers:
KX9X
N5GW
KX0R
NK9G
N0SS – who is also top multi op finisher so far.

Top multi op, multi transmitter is WQ4RP (so far).

Top mixed (SSB and CW) – W9LR

Top SSB – a tie between KK4NWC and KC5FM.

Hope to see your numbers soon!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

Subtitle – It pays to know your prefixes!

My lunchtime QRP session today looked like it was going to be no big deal. 15 Meters seemed to be dead as a doornail. I heard some activity on 20 Meters, but not much to write home about.

So I popped on over to 17 Meters, where there seemed to be some activity. The first station that I heard and worked was EC7CW from Seville, Spain. After I nabbed him, I tuned around the band and heard a huge pileup.

Lots of times when you hear a pileup, the station that is the quarry is very weak. Today that was not the case. The station that everyone was chasing was JW/LY2KW, and he was very loud. A quick look at the IARU prefix list told me that JW is Norway, but something didn’t seem quite right. Such a huge pileup for Norway?

Well, since the DX was loud, and I had time to kill, I figured, “Why not?” I figured out the split rather quickly, and this time, luck and the good ears of JW/LY2KW were on my side. After about a half dozen calls or so, the DX station came back to W2LJ.

I always feel great when a DX station comes back to me, but it’s even more special when I’m using the KX3 and Buddistick at lunchtime. And it’s even better when that combination helps me bust a pileup. So I went back to work a very happy camper, knowing that I got Spain and Norway in the log.

But as I was walking back in, I was wondering….. why the massive pileup? It’s not like Norway is the rarest of the rare DX, after all. So I decided a Google search was in order. Unbeknownst to me, JW is indeed issued to Norway, but for Svalbard. Holy cow, this was a brandy new DXCC entity via QRP for me! I am constantly amazed by the performance of the Buddistick on the top of my Jeep. A compromise antenna for sure, but a compromise that I can seem to live with.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

My lunchtime QRP session stalled for a day.  I went out to the car yesterday, and could not get the KX3 to tune the Buddistick.  If I twisted the coax near the radio connector, it would intermittently tune, but would not stay tuned. A SWR of 25:1 is certainly not desirable.

I brought my magmount into the house when I got home.  With some time to kill before the 20 Meter QRP Foxhunt, I checked out the PL-259 with my VOM, and found an intermittent short between center connection and shield.  So I snipped the cable back a few inches and soldered on a bright and shiny new PL-259.  Viola`!  Problem solved! And this is exactly the reason why, that one of my yearly purchases at some local hamfest is a small bag containing PL-259s. You never know when the need for one will arise.

Today, my results were like night and day.  The Buddistick tuned today with not even a blip of the KX3’s autotuner.  I had 1:1 matches on both 20 and 15 Meters.  20 Meters yielded two nice QSOs, one with John K9DX down in Lakeland, FL and the other with Scotty KG3W in PA.  Scotty and I have worked many, many times before.  A few rag chews but mostly brief QRP Sprint QSOs.  It was good to spend a few minutes with him.

The coup de grace, came on 15 Meters however, after I had finished up with Scotty.  There was an extremely loud PY0F/PP1CZ on 21.023 MHz with quite a pile up chasing him.  He was soooo loud, though, that I knew if I could figure out the split he was using, I stood a good chance.  Trying to figure out the split can be tricky on 15 Meters, though, because you can’t always hear the station the DX is working.  If you’re patient and give it enough time, sooner or later the DX station is going to work someone that you can hear, too.

That was the case today.  I waited long enough until I heard him go back to a European station that I was also able to hear.  I figured out the split and within a few minutes, I had Fernando de Noronha in my log. Worked with 5 Watts to a Buddistick plopped on the roof of my Jeep.  Don’t let ANYONE tell you that QRP doesn’t work!

By the way, did you know that tomorrow is “Respect the QRP Frequencies Day”?  The QRP Respect Committee (an Italian organization) is running a day long QRP QSO Party tomorrow. A non-competetive event on or about the QRP Watering Holes.  Check out their Webpage here.

So spend some time around those frequencies tomorrow if that’s not something you already do.  You just might find more DX than you might otherwise expect!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

My lunchtime QRP session had that ominous look, like it was going to end up being a bust.  The bands were nowhere near as hearty and robust as they were the past few days.  15 Meters had one strong signal, HA9RT booming in.  I’ve worked Jozsef several times in the past, and even though he was coming in like gangbusters, I figured I’d let him get some new stations in his log.

20 Meters was a ghost town and 17 Meters seemed to be the liveliest of the three bands.  Still, there wasn’t much activity and the signals I was hearing weren’t the strongest.  I didn’t feel like going back into the building, so I decided to call CQ on 17 Meters.

Much to my surprise, I was answered by George KX0R who was the first place finisher in last year’s NJQRP Skeeter Hunt. George had a nice 579 signal into New Jersey. He was using an ATS3B at 5 Watts into an inverted “L” on a mountain in Colorado.  Bald Mountain, SOTA peak W0/FR174, to be exact. 9,190 feet above sea level to be even more exact.

If you really, really, really, REALLY want to stretch the truth ….. you could say we had a mountain to mountain QSO.  But that would be stretching the truth almost to the point of breaking it!

Warren, the town where I work, is located on the second ridge of the Watchung Mountains here in New Jersey. My height above sea level there is all of about 500 feet or so.  Not much, by mountain standards, but since most of New Jersey is coastal plain and Piedmont, 500 feet is pretty high up there for a relatively flat state.

Now, according to geologists, if we went back in time, say about 200 million years or so, the Watchungs were about as tall as the present day Rockies or even the Alps. Just goes to show what time, rain, ice and wind can do to you, eh?  So in essence, compared to the Rockies, and even the farther western Appalachians, the Watchungs are more or less just “hills”.  But they’re our hills and the original settlers of New Jersey called them mountains, so who are we to argue?

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

Not the weather (for once) although, it’s still pretty warm.  No, I meant 15 Meters at lunch time was sizzling hot!

Besides telling you who I worked,  let me tell you about “the one that got away” a bit later. (As if I ever stood a chance!). First things first, though. I got to the car and set up the station. A quick scan of 17 Meters left me feeling – “meh”.  20 Meters was a little better, but not all that much to write home about, either.  That’s when I got the inspiration to check out 15 Meters.

At 1614 UTC, I heard and worked a very loud OL2013CM from the Czech Republic.  Later, when I looked OL2013CM up on QRZ, it turned out to be a very big deal for this Ham, considering my background.  You see, OL2013CM is one of several Special Event Stations from the Czech Republic honoring the 1150th anniversary (Yes, the 1150th!) of the arrival of Saints Cyril and Methodius to that area.

Saints Cyril and Methodius were the two men responsible for bringing Catholicism to the Slavic nations. Today this area includes the following countries – Bulgaria, Croatia, Belarus, the Slovak Republic, the Czech Republic, Belarus, Russia, the Ukraine, Macedonia, Lituania and Latvia, Estonia, and yes, Poland – the land of my ancestors.

There is a big seminary in Orchard Lake, Michigan named after Saints Cyril and Methodius.  Almost all the priests that were in the Polish ethnic parish that I attended while growing up, graduated from that seminary. For me, working OL2013CM held a lot of sentimental value, and was a big deal.

And as always, there’s a diploma that’s available for working stations associated with the Special Event.  For the details, you can visit: http://award-cm.ok2kyd.cz/en/award-rules.html   Now, time for a bit of trivia. Besides introducing Catholicism to that part of the world, this duo also developed the Glagolitic alphabet, which was used to transcribe the Gospels into the Slavonic languages.  While that alphabet is no longer in use today – one of its descendant scripts is still very much in use today – the Cyrillic alphabet.  Wonder where they got that name !!!

After working OL2013CM, I also worked 4O/UA3RF in Montenegro and HA8QZ in Hungary.  Indeed,
15 Meters was open and very hot to Europe. Three solid QSOs to Europe in the span of minutes. Priceless!

But now for the one “that got away”.  Down towards the bottom of the band (just above where CO8LY was calling CQ), I heard a very loud (extremely loud!) BY4IB/4.  China!  Holy cow, I never heard a station from China so loud. 599+ loud!  Insanely, I thought I stood a chance.  He was working split, and with the KX3’s Dual Watch feature, I was very handily able to figure out the split, in no time.  I was determined to keep on throwing my call out until either:

1) I worked him
2) He faded away
3) I had to break down to go back inside to work.

Well, Door Number Two opened first, as he slowly faded away into oblivion.  And I never made contact, despite my best efforts. But if I had, how cool would that have been?  NJ to China on 5 Watts with a Buddistick!  I’d still be doing the ecstatic dance (never mind the happy dance) if I had been able to pull that off!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

I just came inside from outdoors. There’s a small cell with a thunderstorm approaching. In fact, it’s just on the other side of town, according to the weather radar at weatherunderground.com. Nothing large enough to break the back of this heatwave, and will probably just make it feel steamier than it already does.

The backbreaking thunderstorms are supposed to arrive tomorrow. By Sunday afternoon, it is supposed to be at least 10 degrees cooler than it has been.

Today during lunch, I headed out to the Jeep once again, even though today has been the hottest day of the week, by far. 17 Meters yielded a QSO with OE3DXA, Werner near Vienna Austria, while 20 Meters was good for a QSO with N5URL, Bob in Oklahoma. The QSO with Bob fell victim to QSB. Like two old soldiers, we both just faded away.

I am going to be mixing things up a bit on the blog in the very near future. I will be having occasional guest posters. Every now and then, I get an e-mail from a QRPer who has had an interesting adventure or radio related experience. They don’t have blogs of their own, but yet are eager and willing to share. I will make the “Do More With Less” blog available to them. I think you’ll all love these guest posts and I am looking forward to them.

The other new item that you will see shortly is a new series that I have decided to call “Profiles in QRP”. These will appear once a month, where different QRPers will answer a set of questions, related to how they got started in Amateur Radio, what drew them to QRP, etc. Some of the profiles will hopefully be from some very prominent QRPers, while other profiles will be from people you may never even heard of.  I hope to get profiles from the QRP gamut …  builders, contesters, designers, everyday Joes, HOFers, etc.

I’m sure you guys have had enough of me and my situation. This blog is supposed to be about QRP and CW. Hopefully, I can bring you some interesting reading in the near future.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!