K4UPG.COM » norcal 40 http://k4upg.com Adventures in Ham Radio QRP Portable Ops! Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:38:54 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc Central Florida QRP Group Outing and more… http://k4upg.com/2009/04/12/central-florida-qrp-group-outing-and-more/ http://k4upg.com/2009/04/12/central-florida-qrp-group-outing-and-more/#comments Mon, 13 Apr 2009 01:50:28 +0000 kmack http://k4upg.com/?p=49 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.

At last I have my custom license plate! Our first outing... getting the gear out and setup KC8IWD and his Norcal 40 in a QSO ]]> http://k4upg.com/2009/04/12/central-florida-qrp-group-outing-and-more/feed/ 0 Successful Walkathon http://k4upg.com/2009/03/29/successful-walkathon/ http://k4upg.com/2009/03/29/successful-walkathon/#comments Sun, 29 Mar 2009 18:04:04 +0000 kmack http://k4upg.com/?p=37 Saturday 28 March we participated in a walkathon at our ministry. To spice things up, I went Pedestrian Mobile on 20m and had fun. The CQ WPX contest crowded the bands with high power contesters, but I had fun walking and listening to the good dx. My new configuration worked well but I have more ideas on how to keep improving the mix and making the rig more stable in the high winds we often get here.

After the walk was completed, I  helped my friend, Matt KC8IWD align a newly received NorCal 40 with the Buddistick clamped on the balcony railing of our ministry’s prayer tower. Boyz n toyz…

73,

Kelly K4UPG

Ready, set, GO!!!

Ready, set, GO!!!

Hello CQ!

Hello CQ!

Watch out for my counterpoise!

Watch out for my counterpoise!

Just one more qso before I quit...

Just one more qso before I quit...

Tweaking the new Norcal 40

Tweaking the new Norcal 40

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