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47
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eHam Forums / QRP / RE: What's best for QRP CW?
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on: October 18, 2011, 10:02:30 AM
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I use a Whiterook MK-44 with my AT Sprint 3.
I've used it for 4 years in the Texas QSO Party, once for a 'Summits on the Air' activation, and a few other times on casual backpacking trips.
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51
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eHam Forums / QRP / RE: QRP on 160 meters
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on: October 06, 2011, 09:42:31 AM
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I usually run QRP in the ARRL 160m contest (a CW contest). Worked
GM3POI, in the Orkneys (a long way from Texas). Most of that was
owing to his antenna. It would be untruthful to say that it's as easy
as DXing on the higher bands, though. Gray Line openings on 160m
tend to be brief.
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54
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eHam Forums / QRP / RE: QRP on 40 meters!
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on: September 16, 2011, 10:50:34 AM
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There is no rehab for it.
I once worked GM3POI while operating QRP in the ARRL 160 meter contest.
To understand how strange that seemed, you have to know what a sorry excuse
for an antenna I have for 160m.
BTW, the Texas QSO Party is Sep 24-25.
Why not try doing it QRP?
73
Scott W5ESE
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55
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eHam Forums / QRP / RE: QRP Portable call sign
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on: September 16, 2011, 10:46:09 AM
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I wouldn't modify my call (unless you're operating outside your call area region).
Sometimes folks will indicate if they are portable and activating an island or peak in the 'Islands on the Air' or 'Summits on the Air' programs.
As an example, I might call:
CQ CQ CQ DE W5ESE W5ESE SOTA W5/GU004 K
if, for example, I'm operating on Hunter Peak in the Guadalupe Mountains
(which is W5/GU-004 in the SoTA registry).
73 and have fun with it - Scott
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56
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eHam Forums / Licensing / RE: FCC License Counts
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on: September 16, 2011, 10:38:25 AM
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In the bad old days most hams started as Novices on HF CW - usually 80 or 40 meters - with simple gear. Just getting on the air was a serious project. Usually the new ham went through several steps: build/buy HF receiver with simple antenna, learn code and theory (with practice oscillator, key and some books), put up better antenna, pass license tests, build/buy transmitter while waiting for license, get on air when license arrived. A lot of practical radio that wasn't on any test was learned in the process. Until the 1970s the Novice was a short-term one-time upgrade-or-leave-the-air license, so newcomers had a big incentive to get everything ready before the license arrived.
Describes me to a tee. Although I passed the Novice exam near the end of 1975, I didn't make my first contact until August 1976. |
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57
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eHam Forums / Licensing / RE: FCC License Counts
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on: September 09, 2011, 11:24:19 AM
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But would you please explain what motivation a tecvh-savvy 20 or 30 year old of TODAY...you know those persons who now routinely use I-Pads and I-Phones, and who "tweet" regularly via such things as Twitter and Facebook...are going to have to want to join our ranks when they get to be 40 or 50 years old...particularly when all we still insist on offering up as our "mainstream" modes of communication are Morse code, SSB and analog FM voice?
Maybe because they're unlikely to experience sporadic E, skew, or scatter on an iPad or iPhone? And while all such data is, admittedly, anecdotal, nevertheless, it suggests to me that our hobby simply isn't attracting today's youth in the same numbers that it was when you and I first got our licenses. And it's those people (us aging oldsters) who now make up the bulk of the population of the hobby.
I was licensed as a 14 year old near the end of 1975. Most new licensees back then, by far, were middle-aged or older. Several of the folks from my Novice class are SK now. But there are still about twice as many hams today as there were in 1975. 73 Scott W5ESE |
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58
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eHam Forums / Elmers / RE: Going CW without knowing CW?
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on: September 01, 2011, 09:46:35 AM
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Sending won't be an issue at all.
But receiving is rather likely to be.
The reason is that most CW users don't send with a keyboard, and none of us that send manually send perfect code. Morse decoding software varies in how well they are able to decipher "less than perfect" code, but almost all of them would have trouble decoding code send with a straight key or Vibroplex bug.
Don't hesitate to give it a try, though. If the other fellow is also sending with a keyboard, you are likely to do very well with it.
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60
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eHam Forums / CW / RE: After the CQ: AR or K ?
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on: August 29, 2011, 10:03:03 AM
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And just to throw a monkey wrench into things, I like to call CQ in Field Day this way: CQ FD KE5LOT FD no 'K' or 'AR' at all!  |
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