K2 Project Started

Work has been really, really busy and I have just a little amount of time to dedicate to radio activities. But at least, I started the K2 project and did some soldering of the control board. There are not many pictures to share yet as I only have been able to solder a few components. I have added some new links related to building the K2 and these are really helpful. You can read my K2 page for a detailed update on the project.

Worldwide DX Contest and K2 Project

Two weeks ago or thereabouts was the worldwide DX contest - 2/19 and 2/20. I was able to add 30 new DX entities while working 82 DX stations.

I got Hawaii twice. Once was on 40m QRP and the other time was on 15m QRO.

I have not had too much HF operation of late. I have not even started building the K2. I built a work table on which to build the K2 on. The table is finished and now it is just the time commitment that is necessary.

Closing Out January

I have not posted in a while - 2 weeks. It does not look like I will get the K3Y/6 station as I had wanted. I had taken my rig to PA with a Buddistick Vertical and it appears totally deaf right now. I don't know if it is the snow cover, the atmospheric conditions or what but I could not hear anything. So I miss being on the air. I also missed the CW training net on Saturday mornings.

During the month long event, I have contacted 27 K3Y stations (some are duplicate) and got a bunch of region 7 at QRP power. I have contacted every region except for W6.

On 1/22 I heard WU0L calling CQ. He hails from SD so I was excited to get only my second SD contact. WU0L is vacationing in Weslaco TX so it is not to be a SD contact but a second TX contact with the same station.

On 1/22 I made a phone contact with J79XB1 - Seth Sjostrom (who hails from Sweden) from the DX entity Dominica near Guadeloupe in the Carribean Sea. On the same evening I called Peter Horvath HA8RM in Hungary also on phone. I was at QRO power levels for both at 100 watts.

I worked the NAQCC Sprint on 1/20 and was able to bag a couple more new states at QRP power AR and AL both in region 4. My exchanges were clumsy and inefficient and was only able to muster about 15 QSOs in 2 hours which is a little bit below middle of the pack after having reviewed the Sprint results. It was still a lot of fun though and was cited in the NAQCC newsletter as a first timer.

Recent Contacts

Still Only 41 DX entities now,
33/50 states worked QRP - 5 more than last update
50/50 states worked - waiting QSL from SD - 49 confirmed

SKCC has the 5th Anniversary Special Event during the month of January and 89 operators are calling from all over the country. I made 13 contacts and got 9 out of 10 calling regions. I am only missing region 6 (CA) which would make a complete sweep. I used QRP power for most of the contacts unless QRM or poor band conditions warranted. I did get some hard states QRP - Wyoming and Washington - in the process.

I plan to work more region 7 and region 0 in the coming days to fill the QRP holes and I expect to work AK, HI, CO, UT, ID, NV and of course CA.

I did not work DX the last few days as I concentrated on SKCC special event QSO's

Recent Contacts

1/11/2011 update

Well the logbook is starting to fill out - 41 DX entities now,
28/50 states worked QRP (just sent a massive mailing of QSL cards)
50/50 states worked - waiting QSL from SD

S59A - Drago from Slovenia - only interested in low band DX - got him on 80m CW. Does not QSL unless specifically requested - think will send him one. He has an interesting QTH on a hilltop near the Austrian border. This one send either witha bug or a straight key as he really accentuates the dash in "A".

V5/DH2HD - German Michael Borsch sending from Namibia - broke into a phone pileup on 40m. he was booming in with his beam. Got so excited that he came back to me that I forgot to give him my state - just thanked him for the 59. Tried to chase him as he said he would change modes to RTTY - but could not break thru - not very experienced in RTTY and just did not have the macros to be effective. My PSK macros just would not cut it.

SV1ENG - Antonis from Greece - second contact with this station - both on 40m.

LZ2VU - Peter from Bulgaria and second Bulgarian contact, but Peter is the first on 40m.

YV5DRN - Venezuela and his name is Leandro - first CW contact with this DX 40m, the other 2 were 20m CW and 20m PSK

Worked a couple of K3Y/N special event stations for SKCC - and I got region 1 and region 7 stations - one in MA and the other in WA. There are 8 other stations for all 10 calling regions - if I can find all ten - I get an award from the SKCC.

From a couple of days ago 1/8/2011......

Z35T - Macedonia - his name is Ozren - 40m CW

IS0HQJ - Sardinia - Francesco is his name - 40m CW

EI9JF - Nicky from Ireland - 40m CW

OM1XQ - Patrik from Slovakia - 40m CW

VP9HW - Stephen from Bermuda - 40m CW

Last but not least - KB0KBJ - Steve Olson in South Dakota. This proved difficult but Steve and I were able to connect. First we tried phone - on both the 40 and 20 meter bands - no copy. We tried CW on 40 meters and after much effort we were able to hear very faint signals of each other - call signs and exchanged signal reports. SD is the last state for WAS for me.

Finally Worked Alaska

One day short of the end of the year - KL7J was calling CQ on 7.005. K4MLW sent me a txt message saying thus - dial flew to 7.005. Buttons were pushed to increase power from QRP to full barefoot power and called KL7J. He came back giving a 449 report while I gave him a 559. It was a feeding frenzy during the pile-up. KL7J was pretty quick in reponding to the stations in almost machine gun fashion. Now it is just South Dakota

Recent Contacts

Looking at the Logbook:

224 Log Entries
Worked 48 states Mixed Mode
Worked 21 states QRP (5 watts)
Worked 25 DX Entities (1 QRP Bulgaria)

Recent Contacts:

CO2UE from Havana, Cuba - Band 80m 12/29CW : He must have been putting out some power as he came in loud. He could not copy me very well at 5 watts. Got my call sign though and gave a 325 signal report. I increased power to 70 watts and gave me a 569. Short QSO just a brief exchange of pleasantries.

WA9VEE Wayne from Indiana - 12/29 - Band 40m CW: We exchanged reports then he dropped off when I said I was QRP. I found him later in 80m but did not bother to contact him again

LU7yZ - Alejandro from Argentina - 12/28 - Band 20m CW: This was a contest that I was able to sneak in on

HC6EP - Ernesto - Ecuador - 12/28 - Band 20m PSK:

LU5CAB - Juan - Argentina - 12/28 - Band 20m PSK:

KP4RY - Abimael - Puerto Rico - 12/28 - Band 20m PSK:

HP2SM - Santiago - Panama - 12/28 - Band 20m PSK:

W7GVE - Ed - Arizona - 12/28 Band 20m CW QRP:

ZS2CR - Collette - South Africa - 12/28 - band 20m PSK: This was a notable one in that it took a while for us to make the exchange. She is YL - QSL direct only - plenty of apologies for not doing eQSL or LOTW

O There's No Mode Like Code for the Holidays

Oh, there's no mode like code for the holidays,
'Cause no matter how QRS you go,
When you pine for the rhythm of a friendly fist
For the holidays, you can't beat old Morse code.

I worked a gal who lives in Tennessee,
She was callin' for
Pennsylvania, so we ragchewed for a while.
From Pennsylvania, hams are beamin'
South to work those W4's,
From Atlantic to Pacific,
Gee, the QRM's terrific.

Oh, there's no mode like code for the holidays,
'Cause no matter how QRS you go,
When you pine for the rhythm of a friendly fist
For the holidays, you can't beat old Morse code.
For the holidays, you can't beat old Morse code.

2010 Year in Review

Well another year is about to close on me and it has been a rough year for things other than amateur radio which limited my on the air time (family illnesses mostly). I am thankful that the year is almost behind me.

There are some good things though. Jamboree on the Air (october 16, 2010) with the scouts somewhat forced me to learn CW - although we did not do much CW transmission during the Jamboree itself. I did get a chance to use my new (then) Palm Mini paddle which attaches to the radio via magnets - a real clever design.

Since Oct 16, I managed to learn enough CW to make 56 QSOs in CW - 3 of which were QRP.

We started a CW training net on Saturday mornings on 80m with Dave Watson (W4DJW), Stephen Belknap (KJ4RXY), Tony (N4BDR), and Phil (KG4FQG) as regulars.

Dave (W4KA) gave me a tip on a great logging program from N3FJP - ACLogger.

I also purchased my first quality paddle from Begali with great correspondence from Bruna (the owner's daughter).

I also put in a 500 Hz CW filter to complement the DSP narrow filters into the FT897D.

PSK has taken a back seat and I have not been on HF phone since the spring and summer other than occasionally checking into the Carolina SSB Net on 3915.

I managed to get 48 of 50 states with QSL Cards in hand - just need Alaska and South Dakota

Memberships in FISTS, SKCC and NAQCC have been helpful in being able to log the CW QSOs so far.

I am looking forward to NAQCC Sprint days in 2011 and I am contemplating operating mostly QRP in 2011 especially as we get into the peak of the solar cycle.

I attended my first BRARS Club meeting and have been able to meet most of the club members at the Friday night "Eat and Greet" at the Golden Coral in Cherrydale.

I joined Greenville ARES and attended most of the meetings since joining and the Thursday night training nets on the 146.820 repeater.

As for projects - built an OHR Dummy load and a cantenna type dummy load. I built reverse polarity and overvoltage protection for the Yaesus and put a lightning arrestor onto the feedline.

Thanks to the readers for reading this blog and hope to see you on the air in 2011. Have a Merry Christmas.

NAQCC Sprint Tips

There are ways to operate contests and sprints that are more efficient than others and lead to better results. Since the NAQCC is concerned with proper operating procedures and teaching the joy of contesting to those who are interested in the fun and excitement of contests, we offer this page of tips. These tips were gleaned from over 40 years of contesting and observing the best contesters in the world over that time span.

The overall best tip is to always keep in mind "brevity, brevity, brevity." The quicker you make an exchange, the more time there is to make exchanges and thus a higher score for the operator. This is why you hear in the major contests speeds of 30, 40, even 50 WPM being used.

However in our NAQCC sprints we are concerned with helping newcomers to contesting, and we urge slower speed operation. But you can still be brief even at slow speeds in the following ways.

Make your CQ's brief. Call CQ NA K3WWP - no more, no less. If you don't get an answer, do it again after a few seconds, and keep doing it over and over until you do get an answer or give up and move to another frequency or go search & pouncing.

Search & Pounce or S&P means you go looking for someone calling CQ and 'pounce' on them. When you find a CQ, simply send your call letters, nothing more.

When contact is made, again be brief. Just send what is required, nothing more. If the other station doesn't copy something, it is up to him to ask for repeats. This is much quicker than sending all your info two or more times, as the odds are good the other station will copy you the first time.

Let's look at a typical contact exchange between me (K3WWP) and K4BAI. (1) is what I send, (2) is what K4BAI sends.

First with me calling CQ:

(1) CQ NA K3WWP
(no answer - repeat)
(1) CQ NA K3WWP
(still nil - repeat)
(1) CQ NA K3WWP
(2) K4BAI
(1) K4BAI 569 PA 2
(2) TU 559 GA 644
(1) TU CQ NA K3WWP
(and so on)

And with me answering K4BAI's CQ:

(2) CQ NA K4BAI
(1) K3WWP
(2) K3WWP 559 GA 644
(1) TU 569 PA 2
(2) TU
(and I continue my S&P or go somewhere and call CQ)

If you miss an item in an exchange, let's say the RST, simply ask RST? once. Then the other station should send simply 559. One question, one repeat. If conditions are really horrible, you may have to modify this, but don't take it to extremes.

This is the ideal and quickest way to make an exchange. However our sprints are a little less formal and more relaxed, and in K4BAI's case, John and I generally greet each other by name when we make contact except in the very fastest most intense contests. It's always nice to add a little personal touch whenever it doesn't slow things down too much.

Some more tips briefly. Always make sure the frequency is clear when you call CQ by asking QRL?. You'll have the best chance of making contact if you exactly zero beat the station your are calling. Don't bother with procedure signals like BK, K, AR, etc. They are not necessary and consume time.

Mark K5GQ suggests a tip about getting call signs correct. If someone questions you about your call, as in my case - K3WWP? or K3VWP? - you have a couple options.

If the questioner had your call correct - K3WWP? - DO NOT repeat your call, but simply send 'R' for OK - or - 'C' for YES or CORRECT. If you repeat your call, that confuses the questioner because then he may think that K3WWP is not correct, and will probably ask again, all of which wastes precious contesting time.

If the questioner had your call wrong - K3VWP? - then is the time to send your call once or twice again. Just your call, nothing else.

If you are not sure if the questioner had your call correct because you didn't copy all of what he sent - K3 WP? (the space indicating you didn't copy that letter) - then it is probably best to send your call twice and take it from there.

Mark also suggests when asked to repeat your member number do it as follows in his case - 878 NR 878 - in other words your number, NR, then your number again. I prefer just the number sent once, but Mark's method has merit, and actually with my short number (2), it is better in my case and is what I usually do.

Thanks Mark. K3WWP

NAQCC Slow Speed Net

This is from NAQCC - North American QRP CW Club


Just a quick reminder of our NAQCC QRS Net (NQN) this (Sunday) evening USA
local time which is Monday at 0000Z on 3562.5 kHz +/- QRM. Note that's a new
experimental time that worked fairly well last week.

NCS is WY3H using the NAQCC club call N3AQC.

We are doing our best to expand our list of NCS for the net. We are slowly
starting to get responses from members. Tom WY3H is keeping track of all the
info, and as soon as he gets anything to me, I publish it in the latest
newsletter and on the club web site Elmer page. If you are interested in
helping out, please let Tom WY3H know at wy3h@windstream.net. Thanks.

We are also trying to establish additional regional nets. Tom has reported
one volunteer so far. That's KE7LKW is going to set up a net for the Pacific
Northwest region. More details as they become available will follow in the
upcoming newsletters and in the Elmer section of the web site as I get the
info from Tom.

For those new to the net, here is a brief description of the informal net
procedure.

The call-up is CQ NQN DE N3AQC QNI.

After the NCS sends QNI, send your call once. PLEASE BE SURE to ZERO BEAT
the NCS. Having stations spread out on the band makes it very difficult to
run a net efficiently. When the NCS acknowledges you, just follow his
instructions. All those who check-in will then be given a turn or two to
make comments. That's pretty much it. We're NOT a traffic net nor even all
that formal. You don't even have to learn the special QN signals, as the
only one we use is QNI which basically means check-in. We exist just as a
means of some actual on-the-air slow speed code practice which is different
to a certain extent from computer or tape practice.

Since code practice is so important in becoming a proficient QRP operator,
this is the ONE and ONLY NAQCC activity where we allow use of QRO if
necessary in poor conditions.

I'll be there this evening. Will you?

Finally a note on the NAQCC web site. Hopefully most all of you know now
that the site has moved and we have our own domain name now - naqcc.info. We
now have 1,000 times the web space we had before the move, and will be able
to do a lot more now on the site to help promote CW. The first two things we
have already done is to re-post all our past newsletters in .html format.
That goes back to issue #042 when we switched from an email newsletter to an
on-line one. We've also re-posted all our past featured member pages. Now we
have a great membership database search feature, and in a day or two you can
search ALL results from our 74 sprints we've held. See how many sprints
you've entered with a list of all your scores, look at the results from one
particular sprint, and much more.

* John K3WWP - 100% CW / QRP - Proudly promoting Morse Code:

* As NAQCC VP - # 0002 FC # 1 - http://naqcc.info/

* As FISTS Keynote QRP Columnist - # 2002 - http://www.fists.org/

* With my CW-QRP site - http://home.windstream.net/johnshan/

December 14, 2010

The last few days have been good - as I have worked numerous stations 10 stations since 12/9 all on CW

W5GXV Gene on 80m - Spring Branch, Texas

N2FJ Fred on 40m on the FISTS calling frequency - Ogdensburg NY

WB4PMQ Macon on 40m frm Greenville NC was a very interesting contact. He operated a Small Wonder Labs XCVR putting out 3 watts into a 40m dipole and got a 599 signal report from me. He has an interesting Bio on QRZ

WG0K David from Lincoln NE was a short QSO on 20m band exchanging WX reports. It is cold in Nebraska

N4UEB Paul from Canada KY in 40m band is interested in old gear - operated an old Yaesu FT100 tube radio into a G5RV

WA0USA Victor from Palm Beach Gardens was a long ragchew on 40m

W6DDB Bill Welsh from Lancaster CA on 40m

KC8MFF Bob Cole from Buckhannon WV is a straight key operator and one of the cleanest CW i have seen (not coming from a keyboard) on the FISTS calling frequency on 40m

K3RLL Bob from Bethlehem PA was operating a K2 portable in Florida and gave one of the cleanest signals I have seen from 5 watts - gave him a 579 report

W2XU Steve from East Lyme CT on 80m

K1YS Mike from Barre CT on 80m

N0EK Ed from Bergen ND - is my prize for the week. I have been looking for ND for months now and just fell into my lap on 40m FISTS calling frequency. Now that ND is in the bag, only SD and AK remain for WAS.

Saturday CW Net December 11, 2010

Dave Watson is NCS

Band is 40m and Frequency Is 7.090

latest update

rain all around my vertical portable antenna don't want to risk the coils getting wet

I will not dial in

I will monitor your www.livestream.com/w4djw

so please feel free to choose whatever band works for you

Ariel

Sunrise in Myrtle Beach

Instead of ham and eggs - 20 meter ham

I only had a few seconds to take this picture before the sun peeked out of the clouds at full blast which would have made it impossible to take this picture.

Vacation in Myrtle Beach

We'll I guess this is what a ham does on vacation. Here I am listening to a couple of hams yakking it up on 40m N4QR and AB8EL in my PJs. It was actually warm in the heat of the sun although ambient temperature is about 47F. I had a Buddistick on the railing and the FT817 on my lap. I threw out a couple of CQs but no takers. Better luck next time. The paddle is a Palm Mini Paddle from Palm Radio. The netbook computer is great for PSK QSOs.