Contesting | N4BC

CQ WW CW 2015

Well, I spent a lot of time (for me) working this contest. Conditions were OK, but nothing spectacular. Probably a lot of that has to do with my antennas. But I did manage to work about a hundred stations … a lot of search and pounce. I put N1MM+ logger to good use. I remember the old days of dupe sheets and paper logs … I don’t even want to go back to that.

I think I worked a few ATNOs, but I’m not sure. I did hear some, but couldn’t break the pileups … Senegal, Mozambique, 3B9 … mostly African stations. The only pacific station I heard was Hawaii, and he was steaming in here with a 59+.

All in all, it was a nice weekend to get my hand back into some hard-core CW.

73 de k4ftw, Dick

CQ WW SSB

Well, I dabbled in the CQ WW SSB this weekend. Not seriously, just for fun and to get back on the air after a long break. It was lively, to say the least. Ten and Fifteen meters were SMOKIN’ most of the time I was on … actually crowded. The HF bands are not dead yet!

Last week, QCWA Chapter 119 held its monthly meeting here on the Peninsula. Had a great meal, and watched a presentation about the Virginia Air and Space Museum Ham Radio exhibit.

Fall is in the air now. Cooler days and even cooler nights. Good weather for antenna work or staying in the house to “play radio!”

73 de Dick K4FTW

I’m Back …

I feel like I’m waking up from a winter hibernation, it’s been so long since I posted here. I guess I had one of those “slump” periods, where I rarely turned the rig on.

I did work a few stations in the Virginia QSO party last weekend, and enjoyed it quite a bit. This weekend is the CQ WW WPX SSB test, which I usually work, but Saturday I am delivering mulch with the Boy Scout troop. This is one of our major fundraisers, so I really need to be there to help. Maybe I’ll have time in the evening to work a few new ones, and then again on Sunday after church.

Well, it was Spring for a day or two, and now it’s back to Winter. They’re predicting a chance of flurries tomorrow morning, and it’s wet and cold outdoors now, so we just can’t win. The next warm day, I want to get an end-fed half-wave for 80 meters up in the back yard. I’ve been meaning to do that for several months now, but no joy. Something always seems to come up on the nice days.

Well, as I said … I’m back. Hopefully I’ll have the time to spend on the hobby that I need to. I really do enjoy myself when I’m operating. I just don’t seem to have the time I used to have to devote to it. I know … my loss, isn’t it 🙁

73 de Dick K4FTW

Field Day 2014

I had hoped to help more with the club Field Day, but too many other things going on this weekend. I did get down to help set up on Saturday morning, but unfortunately, wouldn’t make it back to operate. I had my granddaughter’s fifth birthday party to attend, and that’s very important. I also had to buy a new dryer for the wife, since our 20+ year-old drier finally reached the dreaded “point of no repair”. I did get a good deal, though :-).

W4MT Field Day Site, Northampton Church of Christ, Hampton, VA

I did get a chance to operate some from home as a 1D station, but it’s not quite the same. I worked probably 75 stations, mostly on 20M CW, but also some on 40M and 80M CW. It was a good run, but alas, no elusive ND section :-). Propagation was good … I can’t complain.

73 de Dick K4FTW

Computer Crashes and Antennas

I spent a bit of time last night working the various QSO parties (IN, NE, 7QP) and had a pretty good time. N1MM kept crashing the computer, and I couldn’t figure out what had changed since I last used it. I was using the FT-450 hardware file for my FT-450D, and had had the occasional crash before, but it was getting worse, so I decided to try the FT-950 file. Night & day, folks. I haven’t had a crash since I changed, and everything seems to work OK. I guess the FT-450D is a lot more like the FT-950, since they are both SDR digital DSP boxes. I’m not sure how the FT-450 is different in how the computer sees it.

I want to say a couple of words about the W1SFR End-Fed 40 – 6 m Antenna that I bought from Steve at kx3helper.com and used for the first time last weekend. This is a quality product and Steve really stands behind what he sells. Just because the website says kx3helper, there’s plenty there that’s useful for other small portable rigs, too. Yeah, sure … I could have built the matching network in a box myself and cut some wire and had something functionally equivalent, but what I didn’t spend was TIME. Between work, family, scouting, and church, I don’t have a lot of time. I treasure the (too few) moments that I have to myself to do ME things (like ham radio). To me, it’s worth buying it ready to go. Visit Steve’s site and see what he has to offer, especially if you like portable operation.

Well, that’s about it for now. 72 and 73 de Dick K4FTW