When contesting I usually use a 200 hz filter, 400hz for every day listening...700hz when I can't find anyone to work.  I have a Elecraft K2.

Nice job! Nice blog too.

Sending QRL? is the sign of a good CW operator.  Send it, wait, send it again....then proceed if no response.

If you hear someone send the letter C after you QRL? - that means yes, the freq is busy.

C = si = yes

C is faster than YES and doesn't wreck the QSO in progress as bad.

W9I will be on the air from August 3 through August 5, operating from Ernie Pyle Island in Cagles Mill Lake near Cunot Indiana in Owen County. Aug 3 marks the 112th birthday of Hoosier Journalist and WWII corespondent, Ernest Taylor Pyle. Ernie Pyle was known by every GI and his writing style and presentations brought the faraway battlefields to our homes. Ernie was like a member of the family and submitted his stories to over 300 publications. On April 18th, 1945, he made the greatest sacrifice when he was killed by a sniper on the Japanese island of "le Shema".

The W9I team will be working stations on HF, VHF, UHF, and DSTAR using CW, SSB, PACKET, and PSK31 modes. Ernie Pyle Island has been registered with the US Islands Award Program and the team will be trying to get it qualified that weekend. Qualification for the USi program requires 25 contacts, and at least two have to be from different DXCC entities.

See W9I on qrz.com or visit the W9I page at KB9BVN.NET for more details.

QSL cards can be obtained for your contacts by sending a QSL and SASE to KB9BVN

73 de W9I - Ernie Pyle Island Team

Did you break the seal on the printer manual and read it?  Have you tried googling? Have you examined your logs? Have you considered getting a Mac, or maybe a Kindle Fire? 

Just yankin' ya! 

Look at the printer settings in Thunderbird, and make sure everything there looks like it is supposed to.  I have a feeling that Thunderbird may not be set to use your default printer.

KD8DEY...I guess this is living proof that no good deed goes unpunished. <grin>

I have QSL cards from the 1980's from East Coast Beer Drinker, K9-DOG, Voice of the Night, and a few others I can't remember off the top of my head.  Back then they seemed to congregate around 7415 Khz...nowadays they are more 6925-6980 Khz...usually on weekend nights, and almost ALWAYS on holiday weekends.  One of the DJ's on K9-DOG was a guy named "Radio Animal" and a young guy named Lad was on VotN quite often.   Are those guys still around?

I have a K1, KX-1, and a K2/100 rig at home.  I love the K2 for contesting and home operation, I REALLY love my K1 for taking out to the trail, the woods, the campgrounds.  I like the K1 even more than my KX-1.  My K1 is setup for 17, 20, 30 and 40m and I usually use a PAC 12 portable vertical, or a simple wire dipole.  The ATU will not tune a end fed half wave without first putting a little matcher in line.  End fed impedance is in the range of 4K ohms, so out of the range of the auto tuner.

I use my KX-1 for my mobile operations in the car or truck.  Plug it into the cigarette lighter socket and connect a hamstick and you're off to the races.  Mobile CW should only be done when someone else is driving.  HAHAHA.

Great job on your K1 build out, I love Elecraft products, and Ten Tec as well.   You just can't go wrong with those guys.

Lately I have been spending most of my 40m CW time on 7100-7120....particularly 7018.

73

Dave Benson is a QRP treasure as are his SWL+ rigs.  I have never built one that didn't work, and I have probably built a dozen of them for myself and my ham buds. I just don't think you can beat the value in a SWL+ rig.  I find half the fun is coming up with a "unique" enclosure.

72 es OO

Mike is one incredible QRP operator.  He builds some of the funky-est stuff and gets it on the air.  He's a great inspiration.

72 es OO

I think for hiking you can't beat an end fed halfwave.  You can make one and a matcher for less than $10.  They weigh almost nothing, depending on the wire you use.

All you need to know is right here:  http://www.aa5tb.com/efha.html

72 es OO

I've been using a 66 foot dipole in my attic for QRP CW QSO's on 40m for about 15 years.  I use an external antenna tuner for it, or I use the internal tuner in my K1.  I've WAS several times and I have 62 DXCC contacts on it.  It's no set of beams, but it gets me on the air.  Try that.  Oh...my house is 58 feet wide in the peak of my attic, so I just bent 4 feet on each end at a 90 degree angle to the dipole. The only complaint I have is my dipole is firing NS and I would like it to be firing EW...but putting a rotor on the house would be too expensive.

5 watts to my attic dipole netted me Slovenia and Germany last night.  The lower end of 40 CW was cooking until about 3AM this morning.  Love it.

73 de KB9BVN

Your Garage Door Opener has a varicap in it?

<grin>