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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.
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…
72,
Kelly K4UPG
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!
How do you get yours up? Antenna that is...
Total Voters: 37
Lately I have been experimenting with a number of portable antennas for hf in the field for my QRP operations. The mini-bac Delta Loop configuration and the W3EDP have been fun and seem to work well. Of course, my go to antenna has been my trusty Buddistick, but since I am a tweaker, I continue to try new options.
Would you take a minute and complete a brief poll? Or better yet, leave me a comment AND take the poll? How about it? Let me know what you think? How do you deploy your favorite antenna? Now it’s your turn… Please take the poll, you may answer with your TWO (2) favorite choices and feel free to comment by clicking on the COMMENT link.
What's Your Favorite HF Portable Antenna?
Total Voters: 90
12/20/09 Update. Went out to the lake with my mini-bac Delta Loop and had some fun on 40 and 20 m this afternoon. Nice antenna for multiband use.
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!
