Posts Tagged ‘Weather’
Weekend plans go semi awry.
September 18th, 2016 | 
Author: I had planned on two Amateur Radio activities this weekend. I almost ended up going 0 for 2, but ended up batting .500 instead.
My first planned activity was to participate in the NJ QSO Party on Saturday. The work party that I attended at the Middlesex County Office of Emergency Management went longer than I anticipated. I'm glad we got the work done that we did, though, as it was important that it got done before the Simulated Emergency test in October. When I got home, there was still plenty of time to participate in the contest - no doubt. Other chores had to be taken care of first, though; and I made sure I got those done. End result? One very tired W2LJ and no NJQP on Saturday.
After dinner, I sat down with the tablet and saw on the ARRL NPOTA Facebook page that Peter K0BAK was doing a sweep of NJ activations this weekend, including AA17, the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail. My heart sank a bit because he's such a superb operator and activator - does AA17 really need to be activated twice the same day? And if you had the chance to work either me or Peter .... heck, even I'd rather work Peter than me !!!
My first planned activity was to participate in the NJ QSO Party on Saturday. The work party that I attended at the Middlesex County Office of Emergency Management went longer than I anticipated. I'm glad we got the work done that we did, though, as it was important that it got done before the Simulated Emergency test in October. When I got home, there was still plenty of time to participate in the contest - no doubt. Other chores had to be taken care of first, though; and I made sure I got those done. End result? One very tired W2LJ and no NJQP on Saturday.
After dinner, I sat down with the tablet and saw on the ARRL NPOTA Facebook page that Peter K0BAK was doing a sweep of NJ activations this weekend, including AA17, the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail. My heart sank a bit because he's such a superb operator and activator - does AA17 really need to be activated twice the same day? And if you had the chance to work either me or Peter .... heck, even I'd rather work Peter than me !!!
When I went to bed last night, I was really iffy about making the effort. The weather was supposed to be suspect but I decided to sleep on it, thinking perhaps that maybe it might be better to wait for another weekend.
Sunday morning dawned muggy and overcast. Not exactly the greatest of weather conditions. But then the thought occurred to me that K0BAK normally does most of his operating on SSB, and mine was to be CW; so I decided to throw caution to the wind and decided to go to Cheesequake State Park, anyway.
I left the house a little after 9:00 AM and got to the park just around 9:30 AM. I found the Spring Hill Picnic Grounds to be deserted, save for a few parked cars. The occupants of those cars were all going off on hikes as the lot also served as the starting point for one of the park's many trailheads. With the picnic tables all to myself, I set up the PAR ENDFEDZ 40/20/10. The line went up over a 60 foot tree with ease thanks to my trusty Joplin MO ARC Antenna Launcher. I literally had the antenna up within minutes. I've had enough practice with the launcher to now get a good shot on the first try, at least 90% of the time.
The setup was the usual, KX3 to antenna, the Power Werk deep cycle battery, the Palm Micro paddles and a set of ear buds. The ear buds turned to be a life saver, as the picnic area turned out to be pretty gosh darn close to the Garden State Parkway, and there was lots of highway noise. In some cases, there were also some ignition noise moments. I thought I was far enough away where that wouldn't be a concern; but there must be a few vehicles out there that are close to being spark gap transmitters!
I got on the air at 1400 UTC, calling "CQ NPOTA" on 40 Meters at 7.034 MHz, and had my first QSO with W3JRR at 1415 UTC. I stayed on 40 Meters for about 45 minutes before taking a break to stretch my legs and to use the rest facilities. Thank the Lord they were open! I came back to the ear buds, and I could have sworn that I heard "BBO". I thought that was my good friend W3BBO looking for me; as I spotted myself on the Cluster. I called him a few times and heard no come back; so I decided to move on up to 20 Meters.
20 Meters turned out to be the better band. My farthest DX QSOs happened there with S58AL in Slovenia and ON4RO in Belgium. I also ended up working Arizona and Washington state on 20 Meters. So even though I made it to Europe, this is where the Reverse Beacon Network picked me up:
Just before 1600 UTC, I was visited by a Park Ranger who came to put up a sign showing that the picnic grounds had been reserved by a Baptist Church group for a BBQ. It was booked for 1:00 PM local or 1700 UTC. I decided to pack it in, anyway. My original plan was to put in about two hours, so that I wouldn't be away from the family for the entire day; and I put in my two hours, so I was happy.
The highlights of the day were working Kay Craigie N3KN, Dave Benson K1SWL of Small Wonder Labs and Rockmite fame, as well as Paul Signorelli W0RW, of QRP and Paraset Pedestrian Mobile fame. It's always cool when you go on an outing like this and hear the call signs of people you regard as friends. Not to say that ALL of you aren't friends ........ but you know what I mean!
37 QSOs later, my activation of AA17 was in the books for the day. I still hope to join up with Dave Hackett KD2FSI to activate the Pine Barrens and the Delaware Water Gap and the Appalachian Trail before NPOTA comes to a close - so stay tuned!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Weekend plans go semi awry.
I had planned on two Amateur Radio activities this weekend. I almost ended up going 0 for 2, but ended up batting .500 instead.
My first planned activity was to participate in the NJ QSO Party on Saturday. The work party that I attended at the Middlesex County Office of Emergency Management went longer than I anticipated. I'm glad we got the work done that we did, though, as it was important that it got done before the Simulated Emergency test in October. When I got home, there was still plenty of time to participate in the contest - no doubt. Other chores had to be taken care of first, though; and I made sure I got those done. End result? One very tired W2LJ and no NJQP on Saturday.
After dinner, I sat down with the tablet and saw on the ARRL NPOTA Facebook page that Peter K0BAK was doing a sweep of NJ activations this weekend, including AA17, the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail. My heart sank a bit because he's such a superb operator and activator - does AA17 really need to be activated twice the same day? And if you had the chance to work either me or Peter .... heck, even I'd rather work Peter than me !!!
My first planned activity was to participate in the NJ QSO Party on Saturday. The work party that I attended at the Middlesex County Office of Emergency Management went longer than I anticipated. I'm glad we got the work done that we did, though, as it was important that it got done before the Simulated Emergency test in October. When I got home, there was still plenty of time to participate in the contest - no doubt. Other chores had to be taken care of first, though; and I made sure I got those done. End result? One very tired W2LJ and no NJQP on Saturday.
After dinner, I sat down with the tablet and saw on the ARRL NPOTA Facebook page that Peter K0BAK was doing a sweep of NJ activations this weekend, including AA17, the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail. My heart sank a bit because he's such a superb operator and activator - does AA17 really need to be activated twice the same day? And if you had the chance to work either me or Peter .... heck, even I'd rather work Peter than me !!!
When I went to bed last night, I was really iffy about making the effort. The weather was supposed to be suspect but I decided to sleep on it, thinking perhaps that maybe it might be better to wait for another weekend.
Sunday morning dawned muggy and overcast. Not exactly the greatest of weather conditions. But then the thought occurred to me that K0BAK normally does most of his operating on SSB, and mine was to be CW; so I decided to throw caution to the wind and decided to go to Cheesequake State Park, anyway.
I left the house a little after 9:00 AM and got to the park just around 9:30 AM. I found the Spring Hill Picnic Grounds to be deserted, save for a few parked cars. The occupants of those cars were all going off on hikes as the lot also served as the starting point for one of the park's many trailheads. With the picnic tables all to myself, I set up the PAR ENDFEDZ 40/20/10. The line went up over a 60 foot tree with ease thanks to my trusty Joplin MO ARC Antenna Launcher. I literally had the antenna up within minutes. I've had enough practice with the launcher to now get a good shot on the first try, at least 90% of the time.
The setup was the usual, KX3 to antenna, the Power Werk deep cycle battery, the Palm Micro paddles and a set of ear buds. The ear buds turned to be a life saver, as the picnic area turned out to be pretty gosh darn close to the Garden State Parkway, and there was lots of highway noise. In some cases, there were also some ignition noise moments. I thought I was far enough away where that wouldn't be a concern; but there must be a few vehicles out there that are close to being spark gap transmitters!
I got on the air at 1400 UTC, calling "CQ NPOTA" on 40 Meters at 7.034 MHz, and had my first QSO with W3JRR at 1415 UTC. I stayed on 40 Meters for about 45 minutes before taking a break to stretch my legs and to use the rest facilities. Thank the Lord they were open! I came back to the ear buds, and I could have sworn that I heard "BBO". I thought that was my good friend W3BBO looking for me; as I spotted myself on the Cluster. I called him a few times and heard no come back; so I decided to move on up to 20 Meters.
20 Meters turned out to be the better band. My farthest DX QSOs happened there with S58AL in Slovenia and ON4RO in Belgium. I also ended up working Arizona and Washington state on 20 Meters. So even though I made it to Europe, this is where the Reverse Beacon Network picked me up:
Just before 1600 UTC, I was visited by a Park Ranger who came to put up a sign showing that the picnic grounds had been reserved by a Baptist Church group for a BBQ. It was booked for 1:00 PM local or 1700 UTC. I decided to pack it in, anyway. My original plan was to put in about two hours, so that I wouldn't be away from the family for the entire day; and I put in my two hours, so I was happy.
The highlights of the day were working Kay Craigie N3KN, Dave Benson K1SWL of Small Wonder Labs and Rockmite fame, as well as Paul Signorelli W0RW, of QRP and Paraset Pedestrian Mobile fame. It's always cool when you go on an outing like this and hear the call signs of people you regard as friends. Not to say that ALL of you aren't friends ........ but you know what I mean!
37 QSOs later, my activation of AA17 was in the books for the day. I still hope to join up with Dave Hackett KD2FSI to activate the Pine Barrens and the Delaware Water Gap and the Appalachian Trail before NPOTA comes to a close - so stay tuned!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
NPOTA – Brrrrrrrrr!
Of course, W2LJ picks one of the coldest, windiest days of the Winter season (so far) to do an NPOTA activation. Of course! But it was a blast (of cold air) nonetheless - even if I still haven't warmed up some hours later.
We got a light dusting of snow yesterday, which was a prelude to today. It was sunny and clear, but the winds were blustery and our high temperature for the day was reached last night at Midnight. Ever since then, the temperatures have been dropping. As I type this, it's currently 16F (-9C) outside. While I activated NPOTA, it was 24F (-4C).
I headed out at 11:40 AM to the Washington-Rochambeau National Historical Trail TR23, which we know as Old Raritan Road in Scotch Plains, NJ. I wanted to set up at the historic Frazee House, but that part of Old Raritan Road is currently blocked off for repaving. I settled for operating at the entrance to the Ashbrook Country Club golf course in steady. It's right on the trail, as you can see from the photo above. At the entrance to the golf course is the remnants of a cannon that was used in the Battle of Short Hills in June 1777, as seen in the photo below.
Set up was easy, I've done it so many times at lunchtime at work that I could do it in my sleep. The cold made things a tad more difficult, though; but I was ready to get on the air at Noon (1700 UTC), just as I had planned.
I started out on 20 Meters, using the Buddistick. It really helps to bring a cell phone along on these kind of outings. Having a smart phone enabled me to go onto the DX Summit Website and self spot. Within a few seconds of sending the spot, I was busy handling QSOs. There was never a really deep pileup, but there weren't many lulls either. When a lull hit, I used the opportunity to either change bands, or turn on the car to warm it up a bit. As an experienced QRPer, and being used to working weak signals, you get into the mindset to avoid as much background noise as possible. While I was operating, the engine was off. I would rather be a bit cold than miss another QRPer because of engine noise.
After 20 Meters, I operated on 17 Meters for a while. I had wanted to use 18.086 MHz, but I could tell that was pileup territory for one of the DXpeditions. So I "QRL"ed on 18.072 MHz, and not hearing any answer, I camped out there for a while.
When the Jeep interior cooled down as to start becoming uncomfortable (I'm ALL about comfort!), I took the opportunity to warm the interior up, and to switch from the Buddistick to the 40 Meter Hamstick. I get a better match with the Hamstick, only 1.3:1, which is lower that the 1.8:1 that I get with the Buddistick. I still have to work on finding the ideal combination of arms and whip length for 40 Meters on the Buddistick. 40 Meters was as productive as 20 Meters. Most of the QSOs were made on those two bands, although 17 Meters was not a slouch by any means.
I called it a day at 3:00 PM (2000 UTC) just as I had planned. In the end, I made 88 QSOs, which is actually way better that any Bumblebee or Skeeter outing that I have had, and is not bad for 5 Watts to less than full sized antennas. My best DX was California, Arizona, Puerto Rico and two stations from Belgium. I worked a few of you readers that I know from here, and I thank you heartily for those Qs. I also worked my best friend and Ham Radio mentor, Bob W3BBO. I worked QRP notables Steve WG0AT, Guy N7UN, fellow QRP Fox hunter Chris KQ2RP, and I also worked Kay Craigie N3KN, outgoing President of the ARRL.
But the best QSO of the day was when I worked Dave KD2FSI, who I logged for at Jockey Hollow on Saturday. This was perhaps Dave's second or third CW QSO, maybe? It was a blast to be there and to hear his fist on the air!
All the QSOs have been uploaded to LoTW. I can't wait to activate another NPOTA entity. The bug has really bit now. As the seasons change, and the weather gets warmer, the strategy will change from antennas mounted on the Jeep, to perhaps wires tossed in the trees. The best is definitely yet to come! Thank you Sean KX9X and the ARRL for sponsoring this great program!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
We got a light dusting of snow yesterday, which was a prelude to today. It was sunny and clear, but the winds were blustery and our high temperature for the day was reached last night at Midnight. Ever since then, the temperatures have been dropping. As I type this, it's currently 16F (-9C) outside. While I activated NPOTA, it was 24F (-4C).
I headed out at 11:40 AM to the Washington-Rochambeau National Historical Trail TR23, which we know as Old Raritan Road in Scotch Plains, NJ. I wanted to set up at the historic Frazee House, but that part of Old Raritan Road is currently blocked off for repaving. I settled for operating at the entrance to the Ashbrook Country Club golf course in steady. It's right on the trail, as you can see from the photo above. At the entrance to the golf course is the remnants of a cannon that was used in the Battle of Short Hills in June 1777, as seen in the photo below.
Set up was easy, I've done it so many times at lunchtime at work that I could do it in my sleep. The cold made things a tad more difficult, though; but I was ready to get on the air at Noon (1700 UTC), just as I had planned.
I started out on 20 Meters, using the Buddistick. It really helps to bring a cell phone along on these kind of outings. Having a smart phone enabled me to go onto the DX Summit Website and self spot. Within a few seconds of sending the spot, I was busy handling QSOs. There was never a really deep pileup, but there weren't many lulls either. When a lull hit, I used the opportunity to either change bands, or turn on the car to warm it up a bit. As an experienced QRPer, and being used to working weak signals, you get into the mindset to avoid as much background noise as possible. While I was operating, the engine was off. I would rather be a bit cold than miss another QRPer because of engine noise.
After 20 Meters, I operated on 17 Meters for a while. I had wanted to use 18.086 MHz, but I could tell that was pileup territory for one of the DXpeditions. So I "QRL"ed on 18.072 MHz, and not hearing any answer, I camped out there for a while.
When the Jeep interior cooled down as to start becoming uncomfortable (I'm ALL about comfort!), I took the opportunity to warm the interior up, and to switch from the Buddistick to the 40 Meter Hamstick. I get a better match with the Hamstick, only 1.3:1, which is lower that the 1.8:1 that I get with the Buddistick. I still have to work on finding the ideal combination of arms and whip length for 40 Meters on the Buddistick. 40 Meters was as productive as 20 Meters. Most of the QSOs were made on those two bands, although 17 Meters was not a slouch by any means.
I called it a day at 3:00 PM (2000 UTC) just as I had planned. In the end, I made 88 QSOs, which is actually way better that any Bumblebee or Skeeter outing that I have had, and is not bad for 5 Watts to less than full sized antennas. My best DX was California, Arizona, Puerto Rico and two stations from Belgium. I worked a few of you readers that I know from here, and I thank you heartily for those Qs. I also worked my best friend and Ham Radio mentor, Bob W3BBO. I worked QRP notables Steve WG0AT, Guy N7UN, fellow QRP Fox hunter Chris KQ2RP, and I also worked Kay Craigie N3KN, outgoing President of the ARRL.
But the best QSO of the day was when I worked Dave KD2FSI, who I logged for at Jockey Hollow on Saturday. This was perhaps Dave's second or third CW QSO, maybe? It was a blast to be there and to hear his fist on the air!
All the QSOs have been uploaded to LoTW. I can't wait to activate another NPOTA entity. The bug has really bit now. As the seasons change, and the weather gets warmer, the strategy will change from antennas mounted on the Jeep, to perhaps wires tossed in the trees. The best is definitely yet to come! Thank you Sean KX9X and the ARRL for sponsoring this great program!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Get crackalackin’
As Fall is here, it is time to put together a To Do list of everything I have been putting off all Summer and the beginning of the school year.
TM-D710A
I have four of these rigs and they need some TLC. I need to make sure they have the updated firmware on the main unit, TNC, and operating panel.
The latest versions:
TNC: 1.02 – May 2011
Operating Panel: 2.12 – Janurary 2015
Main unit: 2.10 – May 2011
For the benifit of emergency operations, I have been performing the modificiation to the TM-D710As to open the frequency range.
Standard frequency plan. I developed a spreadsheet of the repeaters in the greater Kansas City area, frequecies for FRS/GMRS, the Kansas City Airport (MCI), Sherman Army Airfield, and various national park frequency plans. This is the first step in standardizing the configuration across all four of the TM-D710As. I can additionally take the spreadsheet and use it for programming my HTs. This should allow for a memory channel standardization that will make my life easier.
Weather Station
The current Davis Vantage Pro2 I have installed on the roof needs maintenance. Wouldn’t it be nice to get the top of the line version?
For some time I have been talking about finding a weather station setup that will work with a linux-based computer. That quest continues. I have read about a piece of software called Meteo that is suppose to work with Xastir.
And if I can’t get Xastir to work with the Vantage Pro2… is there another comparable weather station that WILL work with Xastir? Life would be a lot easier without Windows.
HF Antenna for home
I need to string up the Carolina Windom I have had sitting on the shelf for the last few years. The G5RV that is up now is showing its age (not to mention one of the legs is drooping badly). Now that the leaves have fallen, I should be able to get the Windom up there without too many problems (… famous last words).
HF setup in the mobile
Time to get going. I have all the materials I need. What I don’t have is an installation plan… mainly for the Tarheel antenna. I can’t do a hitch mount because I need the hitch for pulling my travel trailer. Two possible options: (a) get a swinging gate for the back bumper where you could mount a spare tire and a water can or (b) find some way to afix a mount coming out behind the left rear tire.
On a scale of 1 to 10
Today was about a 30 - maybe even more.
The day started sunny and bright. As soon as I walked outside at 7:00 AM, it was easy to tell it was going to be a hot one. Summer! I love it!
I set out one of my 12 Volt SLA batteries on a patio chair in the backyard and hooked up one of my small solar panels to get it charged up. I had used the battery as a power source so I could program the Juentai VHF/UHF radio in the house, as well as to do some test transmissions. At 20 Watts out, I depleted the battery rather quickly, so I took the opportunity to use sunny days both yesterday and today to get it back up to full capacity.
I had gone to Mass on Saturday evening, so I used the quiet time (and "cool" morning) to install the Jeuntai into the Jeep. I mounted it "sideways" to the front console in the Patriot, where the transmission gear shift stick is. This is a really lousy photo, but it will show you what I mean:
I had to go to Home Depot to get some shorter sheet metal screws. The ones that came with the unit were about 3/4" long. I put my hand up and in behind the housing/fairing and could not feel anything vital behind my proposed mounting area, but I still wanted shorter screws. I got some 3/8" ones that did the job magnificently. The unit will sit a few inches from my right knee, but it is completely out of the way and non-interfering with the operation of the car. Not that I use it that much, bit it's great to have VHF/UHF in the car again.
Shortly after, I went down the basement shack to see if I could work any lighthouses during International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend. The bands were terrible! I managed to hear and work one - W8F, the Fort Gratiot lighthouse at Port Huron. Michigan. QSB was terrible, but I gave Stan a 579 and he gave me the same.
Then at 1:30 PM, I left to take a short drive over to Dave KD2FSI's house. Dave was hosting the South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club's Digital Rookie Roundup effort. He had his two Yaesu's hooked up and raring to go. He also had on display a Heathkit transciever that he recently bought at the Sussex County Amateur Radio Club Hamfest in July. Talk about pristine! Dave "lifted the hood" and let us take a look inside - it looked like it was built yesterday. It is immaculate, and looks like brand spanking new. And on the table next to it was an HW-8.
The bands were as terrible at Dave's house as they were at mine (surprise!). There wasn't a lot of Rookie RTTY activity, so Dave graced us with demos of PSK31 and the other digi modes and we had a great time shooting the breeze. Marv K2VHW and Drew W2OU were there in addition to a couple of Dave's neighborhood friends. I think between Dave, Marv, Drew and I, we gave his friends a good enough rundown on Amateur Radio that they could have passed the Tech test had we given it to them!
I had to leave at around 3:30 PM as I had promised my son Joey and my wife Marianne that I would accompany them to the community pool this afternoon. They've made use of the pool a lot this summer, and I haven't - so I promised I would go today. As I was leaving Dave's house and saying my good-byes, Dave says to me, "Make sure you don't leave without your radio." All I could do was shoot him a "?????" look. "The HW-8 ..... it's yours."
I was speechless. He had said that he had read somewhere (guess where?) that the HW-8 was my first QRP rig and that I had very much regretted parting with it years back. He had his son scour eBay for a good deal and acquired it for me. I was still speechless. I managed to croak out a "Thanks, Dave - you shouldn't have". But that is soooooooo inadequate. Dave has a heart of gold and as much as that HW-8 means to me, Dave's frienship means even more. I can't ever re-pay his generosity, but that sure doesn't mean that I'm not going to try - somehow, someway, someday.
As you can see, the rig is in pristine condition, besides the writing on the power supply, there's not a mark or scratch on it. Whoever had it made one modification that I can tell, they traded out the original RCA connector that was used for the antenna connection with an SO-239 - so that's perfect! This baby is going to get a lot of use. Yes, it's a HW-8, but I now have one back in my hands, and it's also a testament to the generosity of a great Ham and better yet, a great friend.
I did go to the pool with Marianne and Joey and even went in the water. I stayed at the shallow 3 foot end as I never learned how to swim as a kid. Even so, Marianne, Joey and I stayed there for about two hours, enjoying the cool water and we played a game of catch with this "Wubba" pool ball (small, soft, floats, unsinkable) that Joey had purchased when we were up at Lake George.
The evening was rounded out with a delicious dinner of grilled Teriyaki chicken, baked taters and corn, all consumed while leisurely sitting around the patio table in the back yard. We were able to enjoy the cooler evening air and each other's company.
So, yeah, on a scale of 1 to 10, today was about a 30 - heck, maybe even a 50!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
The day started sunny and bright. As soon as I walked outside at 7:00 AM, it was easy to tell it was going to be a hot one. Summer! I love it!
I set out one of my 12 Volt SLA batteries on a patio chair in the backyard and hooked up one of my small solar panels to get it charged up. I had used the battery as a power source so I could program the Juentai VHF/UHF radio in the house, as well as to do some test transmissions. At 20 Watts out, I depleted the battery rather quickly, so I took the opportunity to use sunny days both yesterday and today to get it back up to full capacity.
I had gone to Mass on Saturday evening, so I used the quiet time (and "cool" morning) to install the Jeuntai into the Jeep. I mounted it "sideways" to the front console in the Patriot, where the transmission gear shift stick is. This is a really lousy photo, but it will show you what I mean:
I had to go to Home Depot to get some shorter sheet metal screws. The ones that came with the unit were about 3/4" long. I put my hand up and in behind the housing/fairing and could not feel anything vital behind my proposed mounting area, but I still wanted shorter screws. I got some 3/8" ones that did the job magnificently. The unit will sit a few inches from my right knee, but it is completely out of the way and non-interfering with the operation of the car. Not that I use it that much, bit it's great to have VHF/UHF in the car again.
Shortly after, I went down the basement shack to see if I could work any lighthouses during International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend. The bands were terrible! I managed to hear and work one - W8F, the Fort Gratiot lighthouse at Port Huron. Michigan. QSB was terrible, but I gave Stan a 579 and he gave me the same.
Then at 1:30 PM, I left to take a short drive over to Dave KD2FSI's house. Dave was hosting the South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club's Digital Rookie Roundup effort. He had his two Yaesu's hooked up and raring to go. He also had on display a Heathkit transciever that he recently bought at the Sussex County Amateur Radio Club Hamfest in July. Talk about pristine! Dave "lifted the hood" and let us take a look inside - it looked like it was built yesterday. It is immaculate, and looks like brand spanking new. And on the table next to it was an HW-8.
The bands were as terrible at Dave's house as they were at mine (surprise!). There wasn't a lot of Rookie RTTY activity, so Dave graced us with demos of PSK31 and the other digi modes and we had a great time shooting the breeze. Marv K2VHW and Drew W2OU were there in addition to a couple of Dave's neighborhood friends. I think between Dave, Marv, Drew and I, we gave his friends a good enough rundown on Amateur Radio that they could have passed the Tech test had we given it to them!
I had to leave at around 3:30 PM as I had promised my son Joey and my wife Marianne that I would accompany them to the community pool this afternoon. They've made use of the pool a lot this summer, and I haven't - so I promised I would go today. As I was leaving Dave's house and saying my good-byes, Dave says to me, "Make sure you don't leave without your radio." All I could do was shoot him a "?????" look. "The HW-8 ..... it's yours."
I was speechless. He had said that he had read somewhere (guess where?) that the HW-8 was my first QRP rig and that I had very much regretted parting with it years back. He had his son scour eBay for a good deal and acquired it for me. I was still speechless. I managed to croak out a "Thanks, Dave - you shouldn't have". But that is soooooooo inadequate. Dave has a heart of gold and as much as that HW-8 means to me, Dave's frienship means even more. I can't ever re-pay his generosity, but that sure doesn't mean that I'm not going to try - somehow, someway, someday.
As you can see, the rig is in pristine condition, besides the writing on the power supply, there's not a mark or scratch on it. Whoever had it made one modification that I can tell, they traded out the original RCA connector that was used for the antenna connection with an SO-239 - so that's perfect! This baby is going to get a lot of use. Yes, it's a HW-8, but I now have one back in my hands, and it's also a testament to the generosity of a great Ham and better yet, a great friend.
I did go to the pool with Marianne and Joey and even went in the water. I stayed at the shallow 3 foot end as I never learned how to swim as a kid. Even so, Marianne, Joey and I stayed there for about two hours, enjoying the cool water and we played a game of catch with this "Wubba" pool ball (small, soft, floats, unsinkable) that Joey had purchased when we were up at Lake George.
The evening was rounded out with a delicious dinner of grilled Teriyaki chicken, baked taters and corn, all consumed while leisurely sitting around the patio table in the back yard. We were able to enjoy the cooler evening air and each other's company.
So, yeah, on a scale of 1 to 10, today was about a 30 - heck, maybe even a 50!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
I’m going out on a limb
and creating more work for a QRP friend, Steve Fletcher G4GXL, over at QRP-ARCI (as if he doesn't have enough to do already - sorry, Steve!).
But did you know that if you're a paid up member of QRP-ARCI, that you can get QRP Quarterly as a .pdf file, sent to you? Yes. you can! And it's real easy to do - here's the actual snippet from the QRP-ARCI Website:
Personally, I think this is fantastic and I offer kudos to Steve and QRP-ARCI. I already get QST, CQ and the K9YA Telegraph in digital format, and now I can get the "Best of the Best" in digital format, too.
I know a lot of you prefer to have actual paper in your hands, but I like being able to have all four publications easily with me on my tablet. It takes up a lot less physical space, and I don't have to store back issues after the fact. And I've read so many books on my kindle and via the kindle app on other devices that swiping, enlarging, and dragging motions are almost like second nature to me now.
I suppose the fact that we save some trees in the process is a bonus too. Although, selfishly, I'm all in for the convenience! As far as storage goes, I have a dedicated USB memory stick where I already store back issues of the K9YA Telegraph. There's plenty of space on there for issues of QRP Quarterly.
Yes, I know there are downsides to digital formats of magazines. Of course, you need "juice" for the device's battery, and it's not as easy (or possible) to share or donate old issues to libraries or friends. But again, IMHO, these "cons" are minor compared to the "pros". Whether we like it or not, it's more economical for the providers not to have to purchase paper, ink, binding, postage, etc. I would never say that actual paper publications will disappear forever, but this is (to use an overused phrase) "the wave of the future". And besides, if you're as old as I am (or older) who can forget the astronauts in "2001: A Space Odyssey" reading their news on a tablet like device. Back in the 60s, when the movie came out, we all thought that would be so neat. That time is now, baby!
On another topic, remember how I mentioned in yesterday's post about FOBB that the weather forecast for Sunday would probably change between yesterday and then? It already has! Now it's looking like only clouds with no rain forecasted until well after FOBB 2015 is in the books. Looking better and better for heading out to Washington Rock State Park.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
But did you know that if you're a paid up member of QRP-ARCI, that you can get QRP Quarterly as a .pdf file, sent to you? Yes. you can! And it's real easy to do - here's the actual snippet from the QRP-ARCI Website:
Personally, I think this is fantastic and I offer kudos to Steve and QRP-ARCI. I already get QST, CQ and the K9YA Telegraph in digital format, and now I can get the "Best of the Best" in digital format, too.
I know a lot of you prefer to have actual paper in your hands, but I like being able to have all four publications easily with me on my tablet. It takes up a lot less physical space, and I don't have to store back issues after the fact. And I've read so many books on my kindle and via the kindle app on other devices that swiping, enlarging, and dragging motions are almost like second nature to me now.
I suppose the fact that we save some trees in the process is a bonus too. Although, selfishly, I'm all in for the convenience! As far as storage goes, I have a dedicated USB memory stick where I already store back issues of the K9YA Telegraph. There's plenty of space on there for issues of QRP Quarterly.
Yes, I know there are downsides to digital formats of magazines. Of course, you need "juice" for the device's battery, and it's not as easy (or possible) to share or donate old issues to libraries or friends. But again, IMHO, these "cons" are minor compared to the "pros". Whether we like it or not, it's more economical for the providers not to have to purchase paper, ink, binding, postage, etc. I would never say that actual paper publications will disappear forever, but this is (to use an overused phrase) "the wave of the future". And besides, if you're as old as I am (or older) who can forget the astronauts in "2001: A Space Odyssey" reading their news on a tablet like device. Back in the 60s, when the movie came out, we all thought that would be so neat. That time is now, baby!
On another topic, remember how I mentioned in yesterday's post about FOBB that the weather forecast for Sunday would probably change between yesterday and then? It already has! Now it's looking like only clouds with no rain forecasted until well after FOBB 2015 is in the books. Looking better and better for heading out to Washington Rock State Park.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
LHS Episode #149: Coming Up Lemons
Hello again, and welcome to Episode #149 of Linux in the Ham Shack. In this episode we tackle a number of interesting and diverse topics: Starting with Field Day and an online course on Climate Change, we move to software patent legislation, deep topics like buildroot and custom Linux images, and then to hardware reverse engineering for your benefit and a utility for helping you save battery power on your laptop. We even manage to get in an interview with our ambassador to SELF, Darrell, KI4LLA. Don't miss one action-packed second.
73 de The LHS Guys
