How do you get yours up? Antenna that is...
Total Voters: 37
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!
We enjoyed decent weather, though cold for us southern types at 60F. The bands were in pretty good shape too but we had a good bit of competition in the QRP section of the bands with several state QSO parties on the air at the same time.
Setup started a bit before 9 am local time.
KJ4BR K3RLL KG4LAL setting up 40m SSB Station
Wally calling CQ on 40m SSB
Jim K4AHO is ready to go on 20m CW
Jim's got one for the log!
Don K3RLL (ex-WA3ZBJ) working 20m on Kelly's Sierra
Kelly K4UPG working 20m CW
We spent more time talking than operating, but this was a fun event for us and none of us thinks we are heavy duty contesters! We love to make qso’s and shoot the breeze about our antennas and homebrew gear. In between conversations and coffee breaks we did work a few stations.
Final Score 29 QSO’s X 22 SPC = 638 X Temp Multi (x2) = 1276 x Field (x4) = 5104 X (alt pwr dna) = 5104 + WQ7RP (+100) = 5204 measly points
We moved to the larger pavillion of picnic area A at Sylvan Lake Park in Sanford and had more trees and space to hang wire and put up verticals. This spot seems to be a winner for us and we are planning to hold GatorCon 10 there in July. We’ll be recruiting more active QRP ops for that one. Stay tuned!
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.
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!
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.
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
Been out a bit with a nice event held in Naples, Florida by the ministerial association that ordained me. We had a great time meeting old friends and making some new friends. Our hotel was extremely nice and we had a 5th floor room with balcony to play qrp portable from too! The weather was not very good and we did not get a lot of air time, but had fun experimenting with my Buddistick on 40 and 20m.
Not a bad view from our 5th floor perch, eh?
The counterpoise was dropped over the edge to a conveniently placed palm tree that was just right for the 40m length and a bit short for 20m ops. Next time I’ll take my bicycle flag and use it to keep the counterpoise a bit further out from the building and operate more of an “L” configuration to see how that works.
I picked up 200′ of nice 26 gauge Teflon insulated wire at the Ft. Pierce (FL) hamfest and have worked on a couple new portable antenna options. Recently I got a great deal on Ebay and acquired 4 Coleman camping clothesline reels which I put to use making a couple end fed halfwaves and counterpoise.
Matching XFMR and 3 of my antenna reels
I’m still tweaking on my EFHW Tuner modeled after the SLT+ but using RF chokes rather than toroids. So far, I’m not satisfied with it, but perhaps it is my novice building skills that created the problem. hi hi. So I am working on a couple other tuners. I found a very interesting lite weight idea on WA5BDU’s website. So of course, I had to try it.
WA5BDU 40m EFHW matching XFMR
The rain came shortly after I got setup at the nearby lake park, but I was able to get a 1:7 to 1 SWR without any tweaking of counterpoise or antenna length. So with some time to tweak I think I should be able to improve on this tunerless matching transformer. YAHOO… stay tuned.
I have been like a kid on Christmas Eve thinking about this event. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and I chose to stay closer to home than originally planned. In this low power (QRP) ham radio event, the Bumblebees were to hike, bike, or travel via water to the spot they would operate. As bee #86, I donned my backpack (overly packed by the way) and headed to the lakeside park in our housing development which is about 3/4 mile from my home. It was about 90+ degrees Farenheit at 11 am when I set out to my site.
The sky looked good, except the clouds were building to the Southwest… So I setup camp and decided to use the shelter rather than be out in the open in case rain came. Good choice!
So I setup my Buddistick for 20m using my MFJ 207 Analyzer. I soon had the SWR down to 1.3/1 and after hoisting the antenna into the air on my semi-official BEE colored painter’s pole it went down to less than 1.2 to 1! Good enough for this ham! Signals were a bit down and there was a good bit of QRN which would get worse. Since it was early, I ate lunch and watched the herons work the shallows of the lake while I waited for the 1 PM starting time.
Bumblebee 86 on the way out~ note the BEE colored hat
Buddistick up and away
She's up and ready to rock n roll
From the bottom looking up!
My Rig setup. Nice view, eh?
Unfortunately, the weather decided to roll in and 15 minutes after the start I made my first qso. Then the lightning sirens went off and I pulled down the antenna and played it safe. After two hours of watching the rain and lightning show and a few herons on the hunt for food, I got a window of good weather and put the station back on the air. Two more qso’s in the next 20 minutes and then the rain and lightning moved back in on me.
Here comes the lightning and rain again!
So with only 39 minutes to go, I decided to roll up the coax and trek home. I had lots of fun despite the challenges. I’ll be there next year, the Lord willing!
The last couple weeks have been busy at my office. This weekend we took some time off and headed to St Petersburg Beach. Since it was ARRL Field Day and I have not participated in that great event in almost 30 yrs, I took my Wilderness Sierra and Buddistick antenna and did some LAZY operating from the beach. My little 2.5 watts out didn’t break through too many pileups, but I had a great time listening to all the activity and being at the beach too.
You can only take so much Florida sun in one day… gets might hot. So I found a fine alternative and perhaps set a historic way to use the Buddistick. Check out my Hammock Mobile operating site. Buddistick is on the support pole.
Our central Florida weather has been favorable, but the bands have not been nearly as good unfortunately. Despite difficult band conditions the newly formed Central Florida QRP group had a successful first outing. After an early breakfast we setup our gear in a pavilion at Sylvan Lake Park in Sanford, FL. We did some antenna tweaking, tested a couple new rigs and an Elecraft antenna tuner and had a good time.
I got to put my newly built SST for 30meters on the air for the first time. K4AHO brought his OHR WM-2 and I was able to peak it up. Thanks Jim, for helping Matt tweak his antenna and for letting me borrow the WM-2 for the tuneup! We are all looking forward to our next opportunity to get out. We’ll be meeting for breakfast and time in the park on the 2nd Saturday each month. We’d love for you to join us if you are in Orlando for vacation or live in the area.
I also had a couple hours of fun participating in my first Straight Key Century Club (SKCC) Weekend Sprint event. I only connected with one qso but had some great cw practice and read the mail of several good ops in qso’s. I’ll be better prepared next time!
Stay tuned for more news and enjoy the photos.
