France With 3 Watts

I've enjoyed the Straight Key K3Y Century Club event this year. I have a total of 10 contacts now. Although they have not been in 10 different call districts, I've worked this French station (F6HKA)  twice for the K3Y Anniversary event. On January 5th, I worked Bert on 15 meters, with my indoor dipole. This afternoon I worked him again on 20 meters, with the indoor Isotron antenna.

I've worked Bert (F6HKA) a total of five different times now, so when I heard a good strong signal from him this afternoon, I immediately reduced my power to 3 watts.  Surprising to me, I caught him "first time" as he finished up a contact with another American station.

Bert always remembers me when he hears my QRP signal and made a comment about this being the "second band" we've worked during the K3Y event. He also found it amazing when I told him that I was using only three watts of power.

Although I haven't been "chasing" the K3Y stations, whenever I have some extra time, I tune around the SKCC frequencies to see if anyone is on the air. I've worked a Michigan station (K3Y/8) several times. I have to commend Bob (K8MXC) for a tremendous job with the Straight Key Century Club. He makes a fantastic effort to be on the air with the club call sign.

On the DX side, I've also worked the K3Y/KP4 station in Puerto Rico.

Politics on Radio Sites

QRZ.com is one of the most visited Ham Radio sites in the world. I use it every day I'm on the air to view FCC license information. It enables me to learn about the lives, and often diverse hobbies, of my fellow radio enthusiasts. It's a GREAT website.

A few days ago, I made a post about QRZ.com being in danger of being dismantled because of new "internet piracy" laws, but I removed it because the threat, at least for now, has been diluted due to public outrage. When Wikipedia shut down in protest, I was actually depressed.

I would prefer to not have "political discussions” on a radio blog because one thing I've learned, in this short life on earth, is there are two issues which are the most divisive things on the face of the planet; namely politics and religion.  But speaking of such, (out of necessity) has anyone noticed the "political advertisements" on QRZ.com?

I'm seeing daily PAC advertisements from "Restore our Future Inc". Not only is it promoting (who else) Mick Romney, it's also bashing Newt Gingrich.

I hate seeing this on their site. I hope they take steps to quickly eliminate this before it migrates to the ARRL site, or Buckmaster, or personal web blogs?

This forces me to look for alternatives.

Anastasia Island

I enjoyed working W0RW/PM/4 this morning from Anastasia Island in Florida. Paul is one of those operators that really loves the outdoors, and is a master of the art of "pedestrial mobile".

I saw him posted on "QRP Spots" and heard him VERY well here in the Kanawha Valley of West Virginia. He gave me a 599 signal report and said it was a lot "warmer" in sunny Florida than the mountains of WV today. This morning in Charleston, it was a crisp 32 degrees.

I've worked Paul a few other times from his home location in Colorado. Always a favorite station in the QRP circles, everyone tries to work him when he's on the air.

Some people say the Anastasia Lighthouse is "haunted". Although I don't believe in this kind of stuff, it makes interesting conversation and especially good campfire stories. You should take a few minutes to "google" it. (and W0RW).

I love to "surf the web" and learn about the places and people I've contacted on the air. I'm sure glad to see the Wikipedia site back up and running. I can't imagine a world without it since I use a lot of "graphics" from there. (the above picture of the lighthouse).

It's a wonderful thing when amateur writers and photographers allow their work to placed in the public domain and be shared with others in the world. It makes the world a better place for all.....

Hungary for DX

It was another delightful morning on 15 meters today. I added six new DX contacts to the log book! I was hearing several Italian stations and worked I2PJA. I also worked OK7O in the Czech Republic.

The card doesn't match because this was a "engineering school club station". 

I was very pleased when UW5ZM from the Ukraine answered me. Eugene had worked me before on 20 meters, and responded with "hello John, nice to hear you again. I remember Charleston WV". When there's a contest going on and an operator takes a moment to say HI, it really makes a person feel good. 

I desperately tried to work PJ4C in Bonair , E77DX, and a super station in Hungary (HA4XH) but couldn't do it. I don't hear strong stations in Hungary often, so really wanted that one. I didn't give up....

I made a contact with DL5AXX in Germany soon afterwards. 

Just when I thought the band was closing, I heard (and worked) these two good stations  (HA0LC and HA5SE) in Hungary. I considered these my "best" catches.

I continue to be amazed with the results of my 15 meter dipole which is stretched out in the upstairs rooms. It's SO simple and yet very effective.

Today makes my 166th DX contact with "simple wire antennas" and QRP power. 

Michigan Automobile Contact

As I've written before, I often take a look at the cities where the stations I've worked live, work, or retire. For me, this is another "fun" part of the radio hobby. This mornings contact with W8RP in Ypsilanti, Michigan led me to this interesting car.

Ypsilanti Michigan is the place where the Tucker automobile was designed.

I was born in year 1948 when the car was first produced. If you don't know about the 1948 TUCKER , take a few minutes and look at this machine. It had three headlights. The center "headlight" actually moved in the direction the steering wheel to help night driver vision. The engine was in the "rear" and there's an interesting "radio" in the dash. Look for it when you view the above link.

All my contacts today were on 40 meters.

Another interesting contact was NT8P in Ohio. Ron was also QRP @ 5 watts and using a dipole. He's also a  member of the North American QRP Club. It's my favorite club because everyone uses CW and is also QRP.

Ron has some interesting information on his QRZ bio. http://www.qrz.com/db/nt8p

I still get an enormous "kick" out of working another QRP operator, whether they be 100 miles or 1000 miles from me.  The "brass key" on his desk looks very much like mine. If so, it's a Brunnell key made in Long Island NY and a little over 100 years old.

9A204W Isle of Brac in Croatia

Today was my second contact with a station on this Croatian Island. My earlier contact on the Isle of Brac (9A4W) was made on 10 meters a few weeks before Christmas.

Although 15 meters wasn't in good shape today, I always like working islands, so was very happy to make this contact. This Croatian station is another one of many, celebrating 20 years of Ham radio (the 9A call sign) in Croatia. I've heard a lot of these stations on the air recently, and worked seven of them.

I had high hopes of working another Sweden station, (SM5CZQ) but a Canadian station was having a long QSO with him. I wasn't able to follow up afterwards, even though I had a good signal on him.

I also heard two new countries this morning. One in Estonia, and much to my disbelief, a station in Qatar (A7ICT) . The Qatar station was much too weak for me to even think of working, but I could hear him.

I finished off this morning with a German contact. DO4DXA was near Munich. 

The 15 meter dipole continues to be the best DX antenna I use here in the house. I really don't mind taking a few minutes every morning, to set it up, and take it down. Only 22 feet long, it's a "piece of cake" to get on the air. I wonder what it would do, hung outdoors, in the clear, where there's no electrical noise. So far, I've found it quite "easy" to work a DX station every morning.  Even with 5 watts (or less) of power.....

SM5CAK with 4 watts

Lars (SM5CAK) and I have worked before, (2-11)  but this time, I had my power reduced to 4 watts and it's always nice when someone remembers me and my QRP station on a contact. I was surprised when he mentioned my name when I returned his call on 21.033. It's the same frequency we worked last year. 

The band wasn't very good this morning. I was hearing a strong HA3FTA in Hungary (SSB) but my choice was to work only CW today. 

I felt good about working this station in Sweden. He's a little over 4,200 miles from me and qualifies for another "1000 MPW" contact. It's always fun to work a station with a great pair of ears like him. He has a lot of aluminum in the air....