Flight of the Bumble Bees 2012

Hi Folks. The Flight Of the Bumblee Bees went well. My flight was a short walk from my parent's home to Solomon Park in Dothan, AL. I was joined by Thomas WD0HBR. We were blessed with some cool breezes and shade so the heat was not too bad. My first setup was with the Alexloop. I snagged NQ2W NY and KX0R CO. Then I switched to an end fed wire and used the BLT tuner and worked N1EU NY. All contacts were on 20 meters. There were lots of Bees buzzing but I had this terrible audio distortion with the HB-1B and the Chill Pill speakers so it made working anything other than the strong signals too hard. I did not have any other headsets or speakers to isolate the problem. I was pleased with all the gear fitting in the pack. Last year I had two bins and a hand truck, So I have come along in minimizing the gear. It was a good outing with Thomas.

73s

Bee 54

LowePro Flipside 300 Backpack

Solomon Park Dothan, AL

Youkits HB-1B and BLT Tuner

N4KGL

Thomas WD0HBR

QRP on the Beach

Sunday, Linda and I took a beach trip to St. George Island, FL. It was hot but no rain. I packed the HB-1B and the Alexloop. As you can see in the photos, the Alexloop is ideal for setting up next to the surf. There are no poles to deal with, just the tripod. My first hour of ops did not yield any contacts. I was getting a little worried. Then we moved to a covered picnic area on the other side of the dunes. There, I snagged a contact with Charles W2SH/1. It was solid copy for thirty minutes. Also, we were both on islands and both running QRP. He was near Sandwich, NH on a small island in a lake. So I have to call that one the QSO of the Day! Then I tried out 40 meters with the loop. I got KF4TJE, Stan, in Burns, TN. I enjoy those 40 meter contacts because who would think such a small antenna would work on 40 meters. 


So it was a good day trip. Linda likes to read and I like to operate QRP. We did get our suits wet in the surf. That's pretty rare even though we live in Florida!

July 8th 2012 Ham Ops

I continue to enjoy the Heathkit HW-8. I checked into the Surnrise CW Net on 7.123 for the second week. WB4JRO says I am a little low in frequency. The Sunrise Net info is at http://qsl.net/srn/  I later worked Bert F6HKA in France on 15 meters CW. This is not bad for less than two watts. I have worked Bert on many bands. He participates in SKCC events and is an outstanding operator..

Heathkit HW-8

I had intentions to operate the QRP ARCI Homebrew Event. Therefore I selected my Wilderness SST-20 as my rig which I built it from a kit. I packed the SST and the Alexloop and headed to a nearby walking park. I did not hear anyone working the homebrew event but it was also the SKCC Weekend Sprint. I worked NY, MA, TX, AZ and OK. Note, I am now using a clipboard instead of a lap desk. The clipboard packs nicely in the LowePro Flipside 300 backpack.

Wilderness SST-20, key, batteries and speakers on clipboard

I was joined at the park by local hams Marv KK4DKT and his wife Melissa, Bob WB4BLX and Ron KK4DWC. Bob gave me a demo his DStar portable gear. His DStar setup sent an APRS report on our location. He accessed DStar via the KK4IQW node nearby at K4GXV Vic's location.

So not a bad day doing ham radio.

73s Greg N4KGL

The Alexloop Takes a Hike

I have a new backpack which is the LowePro Flipside 300. I can fit the HB-1B, Eneloop batteries, key and the Alexloop inside. A nice feature of this backpack is it holds a tripod on the back. Therefore with Alexloop on the tripod I don't require trees or other supports.

To test this out I packed up and took a one mile walk to the nearest park. It all went fine but I did have to work pretty hard for some short contacts. I worked Ontario and San Francisco on 20 meters.

There is a new twist. I mounted the HB-1B to a clipboard along with the batteries and a set of Chill Pill speakers. A CD case is used to mount the HB-1B at an angle. The batteries are between the two sides of the CD case. Also I mounted a MFJ QRP SWR meter to the tripod after it was setup.. This works well for tuning the Alexloop.

This weekend I also packed up the Icom 703, my 10 AH battery, Alexloop and tripod in the Flipside 300. It all fits but it is a bit heavy. I hope the Flight of The Bumble Bees FOBB event is on for July. I am ready!

Good news! the FOBB 2012 Rules are now available at http://arsqrp.blogspot.com/