Category: Phone

More QSO Party

I worked a few stations on both CW and PHONE in the New York QSO Party on Saturday evening on 40 and 80 meters. Some were pretty strong and I got a couple of comments that I had a good signal into New York. That always makes me feel good when someone makes a comment like that :-).

Earlier, I went to the QCWA Chapter 119 lunch. Met a lot of great guys and matched up some faces and calls. The program was by Stu, WA4JUO, on his trip to China. He really made some interesting points and gave a lot of insight into not just ham radio there, but society in general. It was quite enjoyable. The 80 meter Chapter net is tomorrow (Sunday) morning, so I’ll check in there before heading out to church.

Hope to get a little more air time on the bands tomorrow afternoon and evening. Today has been a gray day with showers, but tomorrow is supposed to be sunny with a high of 64F.

73 de Dick K4FTW

PA QSO Party

The Pennsylvania stations were booming in down here. Forty and eighty had some 59+ signals. I worked quite a few on Phone, and found it to be a fun experience. For every op that sounded like he was in it to win, there were lots of others that were pretty laid back and having a great time. It was a tossup as to mode — cw or phone — but it had been a while since I worked phone and there were a lot more phone stations on than cw.

I’m still working on 80 with a 40 meter antenna, and getting pretty good results, but I think it’s time to bite the bullet and upgrade the Carolina Windom to 80 meters. All it should take is more wire (and some creative ways to support the ends). I think maybe some more fiberglass poles are in my future :-).

So it’s been a pretty fun weekend, and it’s not over yet. We’ve had 5 days and nights of rain, so when that’s over and done, maybe I can work on that antenna. I’m still looking at a Ten Tec Rebel 506, and eventually I should be able to convince myself I really need it :-). The open design and qrp operation do intrigue me though. We’ll see.

73 de Dick K4FTW

Good Weekend

OK, I was pretty happy with the performance of the new vertical. I cleaned up the installation and it looks OK now. I still have to bury the coax, but I did operate with it this weekend. l worked a few new countries/bands/modes and even a couple of US stations on 80-meter CW. I’m quite pleased with it.

The 17-meter band was quite good today. I listened to a Welsh YL working the states for a couple of hours, and she was booming in here. The Scandinavians were coming in well on most bands for the contest. All-in-all, a good weekend for working ham radio.

73 de Dick K4FTW

Post Field Day

I had real intentions of spending the weekend immersed in Field Day, but it was not to be. I was on call and of course, I never get called out … until this weekend. I spent most of Saturday escorting an HVAC tech at one of our radio sites. The A/C decided to pack up and die. By the time I got back home, I was just out of the mood. I think I worked a total of ten QSOs over the weekend, and that was from home, not from the club site. I did work N4BP on three bands. His was the strongest signal on all three when I heard him. I did have a few extended, non-contest style QSOs, and really enjoyed them … more so than the “1D VA TU” style.

I got a nice surprise in the mail this afternoon. The Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club mailed me a certificate for my participation in the Virginia QSO Party earlier this year. It says I was the “High Newport News Phone” entry. I suspect that was because I was the only Newport News city phone entry 🙂 . Hey, you take what you can get, right?

I figured I’d work a few on CW this evening, but conditions are not great. Noise levels are OK, but not a lot of signals on 40. Maybe it’s burnout after the Field Day weekend. I do hear a few, though, so maybe I’ll call a couple before bedtime.

73 es CUL
Dick K4FTW