Flight of the Bumble Bees 2012

Hi Folks. The Flight Of the Bumblee Bees went well. My flight was a short walk from my parent's home to Solomon Park in Dothan, AL. I was joined by Thomas WD0HBR. We were blessed with some cool breezes and shade so the heat was not too bad. My first setup was with the Alexloop. I snagged NQ2W NY and KX0R CO. Then I switched to an end fed wire and used the BLT tuner and worked N1EU NY. All contacts were on 20 meters. There were lots of Bees buzzing but I had this terrible audio distortion with the HB-1B and the Chill Pill speakers so it made working anything other than the strong signals too hard. I did not have any other headsets or speakers to isolate the problem. I was pleased with all the gear fitting in the pack. Last year I had two bins and a hand truck, So I have come along in minimizing the gear. It was a good outing with Thomas.

73s

Bee 54

LowePro Flipside 300 Backpack

Solomon Park Dothan, AL

Youkits HB-1B and BLT Tuner

N4KGL

Thomas WD0HBR

QRP on the Beach

Sunday, Linda and I took a beach trip to St. George Island, FL. It was hot but no rain. I packed the HB-1B and the Alexloop. As you can see in the photos, the Alexloop is ideal for setting up next to the surf. There are no poles to deal with, just the tripod. My first hour of ops did not yield any contacts. I was getting a little worried. Then we moved to a covered picnic area on the other side of the dunes. There, I snagged a contact with Charles W2SH/1. It was solid copy for thirty minutes. Also, we were both on islands and both running QRP. He was near Sandwich, NH on a small island in a lake. So I have to call that one the QSO of the Day! Then I tried out 40 meters with the loop. I got KF4TJE, Stan, in Burns, TN. I enjoy those 40 meter contacts because who would think such a small antenna would work on 40 meters. 


So it was a good day trip. Linda likes to read and I like to operate QRP. We did get our suits wet in the surf. That's pretty rare even though we live in Florida!

July 8th 2012 Ham Ops

I continue to enjoy the Heathkit HW-8. I checked into the Surnrise CW Net on 7.123 for the second week. WB4JRO says I am a little low in frequency. The Sunrise Net info is at http://qsl.net/srn/  I later worked Bert F6HKA in France on 15 meters CW. This is not bad for less than two watts. I have worked Bert on many bands. He participates in SKCC events and is an outstanding operator..

Heathkit HW-8

I had intentions to operate the QRP ARCI Homebrew Event. Therefore I selected my Wilderness SST-20 as my rig which I built it from a kit. I packed the SST and the Alexloop and headed to a nearby walking park. I did not hear anyone working the homebrew event but it was also the SKCC Weekend Sprint. I worked NY, MA, TX, AZ and OK. Note, I am now using a clipboard instead of a lap desk. The clipboard packs nicely in the LowePro Flipside 300 backpack.

Wilderness SST-20, key, batteries and speakers on clipboard

I was joined at the park by local hams Marv KK4DKT and his wife Melissa, Bob WB4BLX and Ron KK4DWC. Bob gave me a demo his DStar portable gear. His DStar setup sent an APRS report on our location. He accessed DStar via the KK4IQW node nearby at K4GXV Vic's location.

So not a bad day doing ham radio.

73s Greg N4KGL

The Alexloop Takes a Hike

I have a new backpack which is the LowePro Flipside 300. I can fit the HB-1B, Eneloop batteries, key and the Alexloop inside. A nice feature of this backpack is it holds a tripod on the back. Therefore with Alexloop on the tripod I don't require trees or other supports.

To test this out I packed up and took a one mile walk to the nearest park. It all went fine but I did have to work pretty hard for some short contacts. I worked Ontario and San Francisco on 20 meters.

There is a new twist. I mounted the HB-1B to a clipboard along with the batteries and a set of Chill Pill speakers. A CD case is used to mount the HB-1B at an angle. The batteries are between the two sides of the CD case. Also I mounted a MFJ QRP SWR meter to the tripod after it was setup.. This works well for tuning the Alexloop.

This weekend I also packed up the Icom 703, my 10 AH battery, Alexloop and tripod in the Flipside 300. It all fits but it is a bit heavy. I hope the Flight of The Bumble Bees FOBB event is on for July. I am ready!

Good news! the FOBB 2012 Rules are now available at http://arsqrp.blogspot.com/

 

Field Day 2012

I participated in Field day with the Panama City ARC as W4RYZ 2F NFL at the Bay County EOC in Southport, FL. I setup an operating position outside with a 40 meter Off Center Fed (OCF) dipole up 20 feet. The feed point was supported by the military mast sections off a hitch adapter on the truck and the ends were supported by crappie poles. The antenna will tune 40 20 15 and 10 with my IC 703 internal tuner. I had a 10 foot coax section and a choke balun to make it a New Carolina Windom but the coax section was intermittent. I discovered the problem the day prior to FD and went without it. I also had a new EZ Up canopy with screen sides. We never zipped the screen because not one mosquito showed up. The bands from the tropical storm Debby threatened on Saturday but they missed us. It was raining just South of us. The outside conditions were actually pleasant after dark. We were next to some pools of water and had a symphony of croaking frogs. 

Outside we started out on 10 meters and heard some stations but could not be heard. We switched to 15 and picked up a few and on to 40 and 20 later where the bulk of the contacts were made. I had the pleasure of sitting in with some proficient CW ops Jim ND9M and Bob WB8PAF. I have a long way to go to be proficient.  We traded out my Icom 703 for Bob's Yaesu 100 watt rig and a paddle. Those two racked up contacts all through the night. Sunday AM while I was napping, the outside operating position was disassembled due to some bands of rain coming in. It rained pretty good that morning through pack-up of the gear. Since I was out of business for outside ops I tried the AlexLoop setup just outside the door of the EOC. I made a NM and a PA contact on 20 meters. I was very pleased with that.

The inside operating position in the EOC used 80 meter OCF  dipole outside supported by military masts setup as tripods. Marv KK4DKT made a good number of PSK-31 contacts inside.  Marv, our FD chairman, coordinated the bonus activity and we got credit for 12 bonuses. ND4M made a satellite contact. I charged a battery with my solar panel and we used it to make 5 natural power contacts. The preliminary QSO count is 476. The whole team did a great job and we did have about a dozen visitors. We hope they get on the air. 

Bob WB8PAF in front of EZ-Up

Rigs for outside ops

Solar Setup

Military mast tripods for 80 meter OCF

AlexLoop In the Living Room

The AlexLoop arrived in the mail Saturday about 11 AM. It comes in a nice bag and the setup is easy. I found all I had to do was flip the post on my camera tripod and the loop fits nicely. Then well it is rainy outside and I'll just have to try it out in the living room. Expectations were low of course. My first QSO was N4UED in NC on 20 CW. Well not so solid but OK. Then why not try 40 meters. I had a great QSO with WB4BFO in Milton FL about 90 miles away. Then back to 20 and had a solid QSO with KF4TJE Burns TN  followed by KG5WY Fort Worth TX. I am feeling good at this point because  they say 40 and 20 are not even the best bands for the loop. All these contacts were with the Youkits HB-1B at 5 watts.

It just happened that the SKCC Weekend Sprint was under way. So continuing from the couch on 20 meters, I worked MI, NY, AZ, and UT. Then this AM on 40 meters I made calls to AZ and MI with no luck. Then I worked Joe K4NVJ in Calera AL. I think the closer they are increases the chances on 40 meters.

The loop is expensive but the payback was fast. Credit due to Alex PY1AHD for a great product. The loop is available in the US from Ralph W4RT. This opens up many venues to operate. I am pleased with the the portability, ease of setup and yes performance as well.

Have Loop Will Travel!

Greg N4KGL

Alabama QSO Party as K6JSS Op in Alabama

I volunteered to operate as K6JSS from Alabama in the Alabama QSO Party. I was one of several in the team headed up by Craig NM4T. My Alabama QTH was my parents in Dothan. AL. I have an off center dipole in the very tall pines there on Pinetree Drive.  My rig was the Icom 703 at 5 watts.

One goal was to make K6JSS available to QRPers in the QRP ARCI 2012 State QSO Party Challenge. So I just called CQ. In my three hour slot I had 13 contacts around 14.060 and 6 on 7.050. There was one exception I worked a special event station on 20 meters SSB. So the total was 20 Qs. I know W2KJ was QRP in a park in NC and Don K3RLL was was on his FT 817 in PA. It was a pleasure to work my friend Mike K4MTI back in Panama City. I also worked Jim W4QO in Georgia who is heading up the challenge.

Of course all QRP contacts are fun! I look forward to meeting the QRP folks at the Huntsville Hamfest August 18 and 19.

Greg N4KGL