Well, my WAS totals are getting closer by the day. I got a surprise QSL card from Maryland, a contact I simply forgot to log even though I had the QSO written down in my notebook! That same day, I was on the SKCC SKED page and saw a station from Wyoming. Five minutes later we were chatting on 40 meter CW. A few days before that, I met up with a nice ham from Minnesotta on 80 CW. Three states down in a matter of days! I will update my official state QSO count when the cards arrive but I suspect that will happen soon enough!
In the mean time, I built a dummy load. I used 20, 1K Ohm resistors in parallel. I used a pickle jar and filled it with mineral spirits. It works great and has a 1:1 match from 1.8-28MHz. I am going to add a circuit that will inidicate my peak voltage which will then allow me to calculate power. I'll try to get a picture of this and my station when I get around to it.
I received my crystals I ordered on eBay for 30 and 40 meter QRP. The only problem is I haven't gotten around to order the rest of my parts for my homebrew QRP transmitter. There just isn't enough time in the day!
Take care all, I'm going to try to work some CW. 73 Joe N0NS
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
The bands lately...
Well, as of the past few days, there have been very few thunderstorms within 300 or so miles of my QTH and the bands have quieted down from a noise perspective. For a while there, I had a hard time contacting anyone.
Just over the past two nights, I worked Montana on 20 meters , Austrailia on 20 meters, Ohio on 30 meters running QRP, and Alabama on 40 meters, initially QRP then QRO for better communication.
I've been in a mode where I will be studying for my school homework and am sending CQ at the same time. Usually I am sending QRP or less then 50 watts so my hit rate has not been the greatest. The majority of my time I'm calling CQ on 20 meters even though the band sounds dead. Why? Well every time I've worked Austrailia or New Zeland the band seemed locked down tight but the DX would call me out of nowhere! That's a good enough reason for me!
I'm working on my SKCC "C" title which means I need to work 100 SKCC members. I'm up to 22 so far. I'm not in a rush but it's just another thing to log and slowly work towards!
73 for now... Joe N0NS
Just over the past two nights, I worked Montana on 20 meters , Austrailia on 20 meters, Ohio on 30 meters running QRP, and Alabama on 40 meters, initially QRP then QRO for better communication.
I've been in a mode where I will be studying for my school homework and am sending CQ at the same time. Usually I am sending QRP or less then 50 watts so my hit rate has not been the greatest. The majority of my time I'm calling CQ on 20 meters even though the band sounds dead. Why? Well every time I've worked Austrailia or New Zeland the band seemed locked down tight but the DX would call me out of nowhere! That's a good enough reason for me!
I'm working on my SKCC "C" title which means I need to work 100 SKCC members. I'm up to 22 so far. I'm not in a rush but it's just another thing to log and slowly work towards!
73 for now... Joe N0NS
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Hey, thank you Alaska!
Ah, the sweet victory of another state checked off my WAS totals! Thanks to Phil, KL8DX in Alaska for the confirmed QSL that my radio signals landed in the great state to the northwest.
It all started when I joined the SKCC club. This club was arranged for straight key enthusiasts to practice and use their straight keys on the air. Well, the SKCC club has a SKED page (http://www.obriensweb.com/sked/index.html) of which I linked up with Phil. For fun, I called Phil using QRP power and was pleased to find out he could copy me! Since that QSO, we have had several other QSO's and it goes to proove that amateur radio links people together all around the world/country.
As of today, I need QSL confirmations from the following states for my multi-mode WAS: DE, GA, MD, MN, MO, MS, NH, RI, VT, and WY. Of those, I have had QSO's with hams in MD, MO, MS, NH, and WY but have not received QSL confirmation. I believe I am over the major difficulty stage on WAS by nailing down ND, SD, AK, HI so now it's more a matter of trying to get more active to wrap this award up.
I have been doing a little CW here and there. Not as much as I would hope. School has been very exhaustive lately! I worked quite a few guys when they were running QRP power but lately it seems like the band are not doing well and I have a hard time getting responces from my CQ's at 100 watts. Part of the problem is my homework pushes my operating pretty late into the evening so I'm sure many hams are asleep when I am calling CQ.
I worked a QRP station in Canada, VE7SL Steve.. He was running a very neat homebrew copy of a WWII radio called a Paraset. Here is a description of his radio (http://imagenisp.com/jsm/PARASET.html) It was a very neat QSO and it will be a memorable QSO for a long time!
Take care all, Joe N0NS
It all started when I joined the SKCC club. This club was arranged for straight key enthusiasts to practice and use their straight keys on the air. Well, the SKCC club has a SKED page (http://www.obriensweb.com/sked/index.html) of which I linked up with Phil. For fun, I called Phil using QRP power and was pleased to find out he could copy me! Since that QSO, we have had several other QSO's and it goes to proove that amateur radio links people together all around the world/country.
As of today, I need QSL confirmations from the following states for my multi-mode WAS: DE, GA, MD, MN, MO, MS, NH, RI, VT, and WY. Of those, I have had QSO's with hams in MD, MO, MS, NH, and WY but have not received QSL confirmation. I believe I am over the major difficulty stage on WAS by nailing down ND, SD, AK, HI so now it's more a matter of trying to get more active to wrap this award up.
I have been doing a little CW here and there. Not as much as I would hope. School has been very exhaustive lately! I worked quite a few guys when they were running QRP power but lately it seems like the band are not doing well and I have a hard time getting responces from my CQ's at 100 watts. Part of the problem is my homework pushes my operating pretty late into the evening so I'm sure many hams are asleep when I am calling CQ.
I worked a QRP station in Canada, VE7SL Steve.. He was running a very neat homebrew copy of a WWII radio called a Paraset. Here is a description of his radio (http://imagenisp.com/jsm/PARASET.html) It was a very neat QSO and it will be a memorable QSO for a long time!
Take care all, Joe N0NS
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