How do you get yours up? Antenna that is...
Total Voters: 37
Let's go
Weather is forecast to be nice!
We’ll operate next door (about 0900)to Sweet Mama’s at the Pioneers campus at 10123 William Carey Drive, Orlando, FL 32832. Pioneers is just south of Sweet Mama’s restaurant and is located on Narcoosee Road 1/2 mile south of the intersection of 417 and Narcoosee Road/ SR 15 (exit 22). Here’s a link with directions to Sweet Mama’s that shows Pioneers too.
Please bring a camp chair and small table unless you want to operate sitting on the grass.
The site has some nice tall pine trees out in the open and is lakeside on Lake Whippoorwill. These trees are great for hanging that wire antenna you have been itching to try out!
In event of rain, anyone that is up for it can operate in nearby Moss Park where there are shelters. Please contact me if you want more information. I’ll be glad to clarify.
72 es 73, Kelly K4UPG on behalf of the Central Florida QRP Group
45F a bit of sun and a lot of wind! Today I escaped being selected for jury duty so opted to get the oil changed in my car! I called and my shop was not too busy and said, “come on down!” So I packed my 30m SST, BLT+ tuner and accessories and took off. Instead of sitting in the waiting area and reading out of date magazines and watching silly game shows, I walked out to the parking lot and threw some wire into a couple small trees. I only got the main 46 feet wire up about 15 feet on one end and sloped it through another small tree and out to my camping table. I ran a counterpoise of 23 feet to the same small tree and hooked up my trusty BLT+ tuner.
My Oil Change Parking Lot QTH for 30m
A quick tune found a couple week signals. I tuned the antenna a bit, called CQ with no luck, then heard a decent 579 signal calling CQ. Bill, NG3O in Columbia, MD replied and although I wasn’t strong (539) he thought he could copy me. He sure did a great job and we enjoyed a nice QSO for almost 30 minutes. Sure is pleasant to work a good fist without any QRM. He said I was his first Oil Change Parking Lot QSO.
A few minutes later, I connected with Rudy, W8RJW in Columbia, SC. He was a strong 589 and gave me a 559. We had a nice qso for several minutes too. It was a fun way to pass the time while I waited on my car maintenance to be done.
The band got pretty quiet afterwards and though I heard a few more stations, it was time to pull the plug, take down the wire and go home. I think I have figured out a new way to pass time when the opportunity is present. Hope you will give it a try too!
72,
Kelly K4UPG
GatorCon Mascot
WANTED: QRP Ops fer CW or SSB
This Saturday 6 Feb 2010 1400 -2400 UTC
Sylvan Lake Park in Sanford, FL
PLS RSVP if you can make it!
The WX guesser’s are predicting a very nice day for our annual FYBO Event (Freeze Your Buns Off!). RULES HERE
Some of the gang will meet at 0700 for breakfast at the Sanford Cracker Barrel (I-4 & SR 46 on the NE corner)
We could use some operators to fill time slots and loggers to help us keep up with the logging chores. If you like Field Day, you’ll like this event. (it’s just more fun!)
Shifts are available… PLEASE let us know if you can attend and help us in our first Multi-Station Multi-Operator event. The NM QRP guys are offering a PRIZE to the QRP Multi-Multi challengers with the best score.
The GatorCon guys need your help to put us over the top.
Leave a comment or send an email and let us know if you will be attending!
Thanks and 73,
Kelly K4UPG Jim K4AHO Don K3RLL (ex WA3ZBJ)
Wally KG4LAL Larry KJ4BR Matt W1MDG
on behalf of The Central FL QRP Group (aka the GatorCon guys!)
GatorCon Guys Luv QRP! How about you?
Today was Polar Bear Moonlight Madness Event! I wore my new Polar Bear hat and it brought me luck. I setup in the 3 story prayer tower at Pioneers, my ministry headquarters. That kept me out of the weather and got me up in the air a bit which helped my W3EDP antenna do its thing.
Pioneers Headquarters Prayer Tower on left
Bands were pretty good and there were a lot of QRP signals out there as well as SKCC and FIST ops. I worked a few of my fellow Polar Bears:
Then I worked a few non-PB’s and had some good QSO’s with SKCC members.
Next weekend is the FYBO and the Central FL QRP Group will be operating its first multi station- multi operator event at Sylvan Lake Park in Sanford, FL. If you’ll are down this way look us up. If not, give a listen for K4AHO which is the call sign we will be using.
Here’s to many good QSO’s. Thanks to all the good ops with good ears that heard my peanut whistle 2 watts today.
I found this fascinating quote today:
I have read about rain gutter and downspout antennas but never tried loading my own or worked somebody using one, until earlier this week when I had a QSO with Craig, KA1GYB. During our 80m PSK31 chat Craig told me he was using a downspout antenna and had worked 42 countries and 42 states, including Alaska, from his Connecticut QTH with that antenna. His signal gave great copy for me and I was very impressed. He told me he could load it on 160m to 6m, using an antenna tuner.va3stl.wordpress.com, Downspout Antenna
You should read the whole article.
As a condo dweller with antenna restrictions, this approach has appeal. Do you have experience with doing this? Our downspouts are connected to plastic piping leading to an underground drain. I assume if they are wet, it might be a tall dummy load.
Pipe in on this if you have some thoughts.
One thing a QRP operator must have is confidence. To make contacts with a pipsqueak signal takes patience and persistence to be sure. It doesn’t hurt to have good ears and a decent fist either.
Back in the days when bass tournament fishing was my religion, we competitors used to talk about our go-to lure. That was the one bait that we knew we could use to catch a fish, even on days when they seemed to have lock jaw. We recognized confidence was an important part of being a successful catcher of fish.
As a recycled ham, just getting back into my amateur radio hobby after many years of other activities, I feel the same way about my QRP rig. I’m still experimenting, listening to others, but so far, my Wilderness Sierra and Buddistick antenna are my go-to rig!
Ok, now it is your turn. Share with us your go-to setup. When the bands stink and you really want to make a contact, what would you use? Or if you could only use one QRP rig & antenna setup, what would it be?
Leave a comment and share your thoughts with us! I am all ears…
Yahoo! My teammate, Frank, who lives in Alaska sent me a Grrrrrrrr8 new polar bear hat! Being a new PB (#173) member of the Polar Bear QRP Group, I just had to show it off to my fellow bears… Grrrrr! Bound to make more BSO’s when I am wearing this fine hat!
Most awesome Polar Bear Hat! Thanks Frank!
The Central Florida QRP group is hitting the park this Saturday, 23 Jan 2010. If you are interested meet us at Sylvan Lake Park, Sanford, FL around 0900 in picnic pavillion A or B.
Ya’ll come, hear?
The last few days our local news was full of stories about the cold weather that gripped Orlando. I signed up for a shift to operate special station K3Y/4 for the Straight Key Century Club (SKCC) as part of the celebration of the 4th year anniversary of our group. That meant going outside and setting up antennas and sitting out in the sleet and cold rain that was falling. YIKES!
Tough sending even with fingerless gloves
Good thing I have lived in cold weather before. I had to dig a bit, but found my long johns, thermal tee shirt and other cold weather gear. My favorite bear coat, Purdue stocking cap and fingerless gloves finished off my official Polar Bear outfit. I did my duty but nary an answer to my endless CQ’s on 20m, then 40m and eventually 30m! Two hours of calling and zip to show for it. I’ll be back… ya’ cannot discourage a POLAR BEAR QRP Op that easily!
Kelly demonstrates the strong arm method (aka sore arm)
Today a post by an unnamed fellow Polar Bear QRP op (and antenna tweaker) inspired me. His post about multiple sockets and yellow string hanging in the tree in his back yard generated a good bit of fun as others reminisced and told their own funny story about the perils of getting wire up into a tree.
So, in a followup to the favorite antenna poll of the last two weeks, I decided to open a poll to determine the QRP portable operator’s favorite method of getting your portable antenna up in the tree.
Most of us have a sore arm or other memory as we learned our own preferred method… so here’s your chance. Vote for your favorite and leave a comment and share your antenna launching story. Come on now… let it out!
December 7th is a special day to me. It is of course, a memorial to the Pearl Harbor attack, but it always reminds me of the day my novice license arrived in the mail! I had taken my test with Don, my Elmer, and waited what seemed like an eternity for the paper license to arrive in the mail so I could make that first QSO! Mowing lawns, working at a small restaurant washing dishes and other odd jobs helped me make enough money to put together my first station. A Globe Scout 65 watt xmtr and a Hallicrafters SX-140 receiver with a custom ceramic knife switch for the antenna. No QSK for me, just a knife switch to switch the antenna between the xmtr and rcvr! Once in a while, I’d forget to throw that switch, and wonder why I couldn’t hear the other station any more. hi hi
Memory Lane...The First Rig
Magic days… many memories and lots of fun!
I taught my mom how to turn the rig on and she had instructions to turn it on so it would be warmed up and stable by the time I got off the school bus! What a neat day it was when I got home and found my rig turned on and the license propped up next to the key! YAHOO… 80m, 40m and 15m novice rocks and I was hooked. The magic of amateur radio had addicted another young-un! It is still magic for me 45 years later! The gear has changed, we have new bands and modes, but the magic is still there. Shooting electrons and communication through mid-air is still fun. How about you?
What’s your story? How was your first day on the air? What was your first rig? Leave a comment and let’s remember those glorious days…
