A QRP CW enthusiast who usually operates portable. QRP is for Beginners!
One of my favorite radios in the shack is the QCX, a QRP kit offered by qrp-labs.com. While the QCX has been in production since 2017, the 2020 updated version featured a nice, tailor made case (optional, but highly recommended) and a pcb which offered a more spaced out design for electronic components. These updates […]
When soldering electronics, it is important that the board that you are working on doesn’t move around on you. Basically, a helping hand set helps you hold on to your soldering projects so that your other hands are free to hold the iron and the solder. At times, I have found that the basic helping […]
Since getting my C through the Straight Key Century Club, I thought I would branch out a bit. My first foray into contesting was modest but rewarding. The Holiday Homebrew Sprint, organized by the QRP-ARCI, benefitted those who operated homebrew rigs and those who operated portable setups. While I didn’t manage to go outside since […]
A key is a switch that is used for sending Morse code. When you press down on a key, it completes the circuit which sends your signal out into the world. If it is connected to a radio, that is. In the meantime, you can connect it to an oscillator (a fancy word for buzzer) […]
It has been a long time coming — perhaps too long — but I finally made Centurion through the SKCC. Some six months ago, I started making contacts through the club, making a few on one day, then going a day or two, perhaps a week or two, before getting on the radio again. Inspiration […]
When I first started out operating in the field, I took the only key that I owned: the Speed-X straight key. It is comfortable, adjustable, and responsive. In fact it is one of the keys that people generally recommend that people seek out if they are in the market for an affordable used key. However, […]
Around the middle of September, I issued myself a challenge to have at least one QSO a day for a month. I’m not normally one for quitting things early, but I felt that it was time. The challenge had become a chore and had begun to impinge on the people around me. Hobbies should remain […]
Made three contacts Wednesday night, one of whom is another QCX user. As it turns out, Jack, KE0VPG, was a tech using his HF privileges. Guess I was getting cocky with the good luck I was having. With only seven contacts to go for C and six days left to go in a month of […]
Camping in the Ouachita National Forest In Arkansas, national forest land abounds. Fifty-six percent of the state is wooded, of which thirteen percent is national forest. Before I nerd it up too much, what this translates into is some seven percent of the state is open to camp in. In Arkansas, you don’t need a […]
Conditions were noisy Wednesday night (Thursday 00:00z) and I was afraid that my signal may not get out, but I called CQ and popped up immediately on the RBN page, so my fears were abated. Soon afterwards, I found K5MUG calling. He and I had a nice QRPx2 contact, exchanging 559/579. The 500 mile distance […]
Amateur Radio Station WB0ISG 