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I have imposed a deadline for myself with regards to Skeeter Hunt results. I want to have both the “scorecard” and the soapbox published to the Skeeter Hunt website this coming Sunday, after the log submissions deadline.

The “scorecard” itself is a piece of cake.  It’s simply an Excel spreadsheet that I have composed, with formulas that do all the menial calculating chores for me.  I simply plug in the values and the spreadsheet calculates the final score for me. I will upload the completed spreadsheet to Google Sheets and it will be available for all to see on the Web, once it’s completed. This was a good exercise for me, as I was very weak with regards to using formulas in Excel. I’m still no expert by any means, but I know a lot more than I used to, which was practically nil.

The soapbox page is another animal.  That is “simple” HTML composition, but it’s more time intensive. I have about one half of the soapbox comments and pictures placed on the unpublished Web page.  At the rate I am going, if I can add about 5 more soapbox comments to the page each evening, over the next 4 or 5 evenings, it will be ready for publishing on time.

All this leads me to a worrisome discovery.  This year we had a record number of Skeeters sign up.  But I am lagging behind in receiving log summaries. Last year I received a total of 71 summaries. As of this minute, I have only received 54. I guess a “Que Sera, Sera” attitude is in order, but I sure would love to see more log summaries submitted.

It’s very important to me that these results get published on time this coming Sunday.  You folks are kind enough to participate, and I know how much you like to see results.  I do myself!  It’s not so important for me to see where I place, I want to see how my friends did, what their setup looked like, and I like to read about the fun they had.  The results and soapbox are a crucial part of any of these “special” QRP events, in my most humble opinion.  No one wants to make an effort and then wait months or more to see how things stacked up.

So, God willing and the creek don’t rise, you’ll see the finished results this Sunday at www.qsl.net/w2lj
I am just hoping I get a few more log summaries and soapbox comments before then.

And then the final phase will begin, which is the certificates.  I have to give myself more time for those, but hopefully, everyone who will qualify for one will have it by the end of September.

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

from Tim, W3ATB.  Not only a beautiful location, but an answer to those new to portable QRP ops who are wondering, “How do they do it?”

Thanks, Tim and I’m glad you enjoyed yourself! THAT is the whole point of this event – for folks to get out and enjoy themselves (Skeeter bites, and all!).

Oh ….. I also added Tim’s blog to the blogroll. Make sure to check it out!

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

First off, I don’t know who was hunting who. I thought I was hunting Skeeters, but I think they had other ideas – and I was the hunted:

And that was nothing compared to my legs! I didn’t think the little buggers would be so active during the day, so I didn’t bring my OFF wipes with me. I’ll remember this for next year!

I set up in my favorite park here in South Plainfield – Cotton Street Park.  There are plenty of 50 – 60 foot trees which just beg to have wire strung through them. It’s a quiet park and there’s not the overwhelming amount of traffic that Spring Lake Park (our Field Day site) gets. There were people walking through and playing, but no one came over to investigate what I was doing. I guess I’ve become a fixture – “Hey, it’s that crazy guy with the radio again!”

Off to the right, you can see the coax going up , up , up.  Here’s a better shot:

Today, I ended up using the PAR END FEDZ. I stayed on 20 and 40 Meters only, so it turned out to be the ideal antenna for the event.  The antenna launcher worked flawlessly again, and I would dare say that the end of the wire was up at the 60-65 foot level.  I don’t know if it was just me, but there was bad QSB and it seemed like one second, a station would be 599 and ESP the next second. As far as stations worked per band,  I ended up with almost a 50/50 split between 20 and 40 Meters. I listened briefly on 15 Meters, but it seemed like it was dead.

The equipment was the usual, but you might take notice of the new paddles. That’s a set of Pico Palm paddles that I recently bought from Rick K7MW.  The magnets hold the paddles securely to the Velamints tin that I use to store my earbuds.  They worked flawlessly!  If there were any CW mistakes (and there were) it was my fault, not the paddles.  They feel and work just as nicely as any full sized set of paddles.

I ended up working 41 different stations. 35 Skeeters, 6 Non- Skeeters, no DX, 19 different S/P/Cs, and I did work enough stations to spell out “SKEETER” for the 100 point bonus.  I ended up with 5,876 points. The loudest stations I heard were K3LRR, KX9X, N0SS and WA0ITP.  I worked my bud, Bob W3BBO and he was about 569. Later in the day, I heard him again on the same band, this time working WB3T. Bob’s signal had increased to an honest 589/599.  Tha bands seemed a little crazy today.

I’d like to thank not only the stations I worked, but ALL of you who participated.  This is so much fun for me – not only the event itself, but the planning and the corresponding back and forth with all of you. You guys really make this event worthwhile. My mailbox is already filling up with log summaries and I will work on those during the coming evenings.

There WILL be a Skeeter Hunt in 2015!  Hey, what better way is there to spend a beautiful Summer day than by being outside with your radio, making contacts with all your friends?

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