How do you get yours up? Antenna that is...
Total Voters: 37
Grrrrrr!
Tuff day on the ice floes in Central Florida. I was not able to use my target location because of rain and wind direction, so I operated from the back porch of our condo with my Sierra and SST working through my Buddistick up about 15 ft on a painter’s pole. Temp hovered in mid to upper 40’s but with the wind and dampness it felt colder at times.
Band condx were poor with brief bright spots when the QSB let up and signals sounded fairly decent. I started on 30m but it was pretty quiet so I tweaked the antenna in the rain for 20m and found it even quieter… Back to 30m after checking 40m which also was noisy and almost no signals heard.
First QSO was K9DP Dan in Smithville, TN… He was 569 until QSB hit hard but we had a 25minute ragchew that was nice. He gave me a 599 and a couple others did later making me wonder why they could hear me better than I was hearing them? Then read the mail for a bit on a few other stations but didn’t get a rise when I tried to connect. Tried to connect with K9QB but after a few weak QRZ’s we both moved on for better luck.
Finally heard a PB on 20m, WD4MSM, Barry in Indiana working someone else. When they finished the QSO I called Barry and we had a short QSO although the QSB was up and down and made copy tough at times. It was good to be able to Grrrrowllll. Tried to find others and even using the QRP Spots and K3UK spotting pages could not connect. Then I called CQ and Guy rose out of the Band N7UN was in the log… Good to connect with another Bear but the copy deteriorated quickly so we kept it very short. Thanks Guy for digging my signal out. Next was Frank,, KB3AAG to finish my day. His signal totally got lost in the noise and so it was a short QSO to end the day.
Whew… many antenna changes, tweaks and lots of tuning, listening, trying to hear today. I think the bands were pretty void of activity except for us QRP types. Not often that happens, eh?
Thanks to all who went out and gave it a go. Missed talking to our Canadian and West Coast guys this time… let’s keep trying. Also quiet without Ken Bear raising a ruckus from MI and no Alpha Bear on the AT… See ya in March… Grrrr!!!!
72, Kelly K4UPG PB #173
Yahoo! This weekend is another outing of the Polar Bear QRP Group. Who will venture out into the winter weather and once again seek to contact fellow Polar Bears for a nice BSO?
Which of the intrepid bunch of QRP crazed Polar Bears will overcome the cold and actually enjoy the challenge of punching a peanut whistle signal through another weekend’s RTTY contest bunch?
Will the sunspots be with us and bounce our signals out of the neighborhood and enable us to contact our Polar Bear cuzzins in Canada (VG3SIE/P) on the mountain tops, in Alaska on the ice floes( KL7WP & KL8DX ) , in Scotland in the highlands ( MM0CWJ & MM0FMF ), outside Buckingham Palace ( 2E0RKY ), in Spain’s coastal range ( EB3EPR ), or in a dark snow den in New Jersey ( N7UN/2 ) On a windy slope in Utah ( AD7KG )?Will our Ohio Bears freeze their acorns off in the park ( WB2DFC ) ? What will it take to get a signal into the Goat Den to our pals Rooster and Peanut and the old Goat himself ( WGØAT )? Will the Revenuers catch up to Hillbilly Bear in the park at Chickasaw ( AF4O ) ? Who will connect with K3YTR and the 2m HT from the hospital bed in Pottstown? Can anyone guess which antenna trick will be used by our Illinois Bear (N9SKN) ? How will the Florida Bears fare with the rain and cool wind from the northwest can it dampen their signals ( K4UPG & KC4TM ) ? And how about the Alpha Bear ( WB3AAL )on the Appalachian Trail with his snowshoes and 4 wheel drive truck for backup?
STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES… Grrrrrr!
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.
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?
Having fun playing radio in the backyard at my in-laws! Extra fun since I cannot keep an antenna up full time so being able to get on the air when I can is a treat.
Entered my first SKCC SKS Sprint and the rain drove me to cover but managed to make a decent first showing for a QRP guy with rusty CW.
I put together a W3EDP antenna of 84 feet and a parallel 17 foot countepoise that sloped up to about 35 foot high branch. I used #24 teflon wire and some 1/4 in plastic tubing cut into 7 in pieces which I taped to the wires as spacer. Lightweight and nearly invisible in the air makes it a good candidate for QRP portable ops. It’s long, but seems to hear well and worked even after I bent it into an L when I had to get under cover from the rain! Hope to do more testing with this one.
Earning my Polar Bear wings by being out in the COLD. This Florida Bear ain’t used to below 40 degree wx. Brrrr and Grrrrrr!
Nite Ops from the backyard
Nite Ops from the Deck
Several Polar Bears gathered at Lake Sylvan Park, Sanford, Florida and heated up the airwaves with their beary strong QRP signals! Grrrrrrr! Who says global warming is upon us?
Central Florida QRP Group members, Jim Diggs K4AHO, Don McBride WA3ZBJ, and Kelly McClelland K4AHO are also known as PB#185, PB #183 and PB #173 and were looking for BSO’s with fellow Polar Bear QRP Club members. We are still working on some of the other guys including Wally Crew KG4LAL, Matt W1MDG, and Larry to get PB numbers and get involved with the pack on the ice floes of Central Florida.
The Novembear Polar Bear Moonlight Madness Event turned out to be a fun time. Our group had our traditional very early breakfast and headed out to Sylvan Lake Park in Sanford, FL. Our normal pavillion was already taken so we moved to the B (for BEAR) area and setup shop. It was a bit more difficult to setup antennas but we managed to get 3 verticals, a 40m inverted V and a mini-bac delta loop into the air. We also managed to stomp on each other with cross mod from time to time.
Almost time for another Polar Bear Moonlight Madness Event! Grrrrrrrrr! This coming weekend, Saturday 14 Nov 2009, Polar Bears will be clamoring for position in the ice field and slammin pawerful signals into the air. Bring a rig and join us.
K4UPG Bear pounding brass and gittin' ready for the PBMME!
K4UPG Bear #173 is excited because some other bears is gonna be gathering with the Central Florida QRP Group which is scheduled to meet that same day! So come on out to the Cracker Barrel in Sanford, FL for some sammin pancakes or sumpin else at 0730 EDT breakfast time. If you cannot make the feeding, then meet up with the rest of us bears at Sylvan Lake Park in the A Pavillion area at around 0900 EDT. Ya’ll come, hear??? Grrrrrrrrr!
I took my radio with me to St Louis and tried my hand at Hotel Portable ops. The conference schedule did not allow me much time, but I did get a break one afternoon and took 30 min to play radio in the courtyard. I threw my Coleman Clothesline reel over a tree limb at about 15 feet and paid out about 30 feet of wire and placed about 16 feet of wire on the ground as a counterpoise. It loaded well on 40m with my BLT+ and I worked three stations in about 20 min. Not bad!
St Louis Hotel Portable Airport Hilton
St Louis Airport Hilton Loading the Window frame!
After returning home, the weather in Orlando was great and I hit the nearby lake park for some antenna testing with a Mini Bac in various configurations. I was really happy with the Delta Loop which loaded well on 20m and 40m. This antenna is a keeper and I’ll be doing more testing and learning about how to deploy it.
Lake Fredrica operating position
Buddistick deployed for comparison
Here is the Delta Loop! Can you see the 26 gauge teflon coated wire? Here is a link to an outlined view of the Delta loop. CLICK HERE. The Red line is the feed line which is twisted 1 turn per foot and held together with masking tape. Pretty slick. The “insulator” I used is also masking tape, as are the corner point markers and peak of the Delta. As I measured it I stuck a small piece of tape on the wire.
Mini Bac antenna in 14MHz Delta Loop Configuration
