Before I go into the goings on for this weekend, a shameless plug first. The NJQRP Skeeter Hunt is a week away from this Sunday. For whatever reason, signups are down this year. The past few years I've had over 200 people ask for Skeeter numbers and this year, I doubt I'm going to hit that mark. 

Whatever the reason, the Skeeters have told me that they always have a good time; and that's the most important thing - whatever the numbers.  There's still plenty of time to get your own Skeeter number. If you're new to contesting, this is a low-pressure-have-fun kind of event. The CW is not at break-neck speeds and ops will slow down for you.  In addition to that, the exchange is really easy and short - S/P/C (your State, Province or Country), RS(T) and Skeeter number or output power. So if you're afraid your code speed isn't up to snuff, join in anyway. I think I can assure you thar by the end of the event, you will have increased your code speed by maybe a couple more words per minute. If you're not the CW type, there's an SSB category as well I try to make this event have something for everyone, and I want everyone to have a good time. 

The nitty gritty details can be found at https://www.qsl.net/w2lj or just go up at the top of this page and hit the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt tab. To get a number, just send and e-mail to w2ljqrp@gmail.com with your call, name and the state you'll be operating from.  You don't even have to leave the comfort of your home shack to be a Skeeter. The multiplier for scoring is better if you do - but there's no pressure to leave home-sweet-home if you don't want to.

All that being said, I thank you for your patience - here's what's going on this weekend:

Contests:

WAE DX Contest, CW - https://www.darc.de/der-club/referate/conteste/wae-dx-contest/en/

SKCC Weekend Sprintathon - https://www.skccgroup.com/operating_activities/weekend_sprintathon/

Maryland-DC QSO Party - https://www.w3vpr.org/Maryland-DC_QSO_Party

4 States QRP Group Second Sunday Sprint - http://www.4sqrp.com/SSS/sss_rules.pdf

Special Event Stations:

08/10/2024 | 247th Anniversary of the Battle of Bennington

Aug 10-Aug 24, 1200Z-2359Z, K1B, Bennington, VT. K2HX. 18.100 21.070 24.915 28.074; all modes in General band. QSL. Ed Landry, N2HX, 50 Jayne Ln., Bennington, VT 05201.

08/10/2024 | Commemorating first deployment of USS Midway with angled flight deck (8/16/58)

Aug 10, 1600Z-2300Z, NI6IW, San Diego, CA. USS Midway Museum Ship. 7.250 14.320 14.070 PSK31 DSTAR on Papa system repeaters. QSL. USS Midway Museum Ship COMEDTRA, 910 N Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92101. www.qrz.com/db/ni6iw

08/10/2024 | Herbert Hoover 150th Birthday

Aug 10-Aug 11, 1400Z-2300Z, W0JV, West Branch, IA. Iowa City Amateur Radio Club. 7.245 14.325. Certificate. Dennis Boyd, 700 S. Jones Blvd, North Liberty, IA 52317. Event will be held at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Site icarc.org

08/10/2024 | Wiscasset, Waterville, & Farmington Railway Museum Annual Picnic Special Event Station

Aug 10, 1000Z-1700Z, W1W, Alna, ME. Lincoln County Amateur Radio Club. 14.260 21.280. QSL. Jose P Douglas, 254 Elliott Hill Rd, Round Pond, ME 04564. www.qrz.com/db/k1lx or https://www.k1lx.org

08/11/2024 | Jeux Paralympiques de Paris 2024

Aug 11-Sep 8, 0000Z-2359Z, TM2024JPP, Lillers, FRANCE. Union des RadioClubs. 7000 14000. Certificate & QSL. Union des RadioClubs, 3 rue Saint Lugle, Lillers 62190, FRANCE. All bands will be activated https://log-et-qsl.associations-radioamateurs.org/wp

08/11/2024 | Navajo Code Talkers

Aug 11-Aug 16, 0000Z-0000Z, N7HG, Chinle, AZ. N7HG. 14.265 21.265 7.265 18.133. Certificate. Herbert Goodluck N7C, PO Box 06, Chinle, AZ 86503. Celebrate an annual event to promote the legacy of Navajo Code Talkers of WWII n7hgster@gmail.com

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

First, the doings for the weekend:

Contests:

North American QSO Party, CW - https://www.ncjweb.com/NAQP-Rules.pdf

European HF Championship - https://euhf.s5cc.eu/euhfc_rules/ - NOTE: This is open to European participation only - this is for "What contest is that? purposes.

Batavia FT8 Contest -  https://batavia-ft8.com   (If you hear FT8 coming down into the CW sections)

ARS Spartan Sprint -  http://ars-qrp.com/Spartan_Sprint/Spartan_Sprint.html - Monday night

Special Events:

07/31/2024 | 127 Yard Sale/Newhope Community Church Mission to Uganda

Jul 31-Aug 3, 1300Z-1200Z, W8W, Bryan, OH. Williams County Ohio Amateur Radio Association. 146.820Mhz pl 107.2 3.900MHz LSB 7.230MHz LSB 14.250MHz USB. QSL. Williams County Amateur Radio Association, 3440 County Road 9, Bryan, OH 43506. wmscoarc@gmail.com

08/03/2024 | Popcorn Festival, Van Buren, IN

Aug 3, 1400Z-1900Z, W9EBN, Van Buren, IN. Grant County Amateur Radio Club. 7.250 14.250 DStar Ref #24 DMR TG 3100 / DMR TG 31656. Certificate & QSL. L B Nickerson - K9NQW, P O Box 1786, Marion, IN 46952. www.Grantarc.net

08/04/2024 | Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention

Aug 4-Aug 8, 0000Z-2359Z, K0C, Bridgeton, NJ. New Jersey Knights of Columbus Amateur Radio Club . 7.185 14.250 18.140 21.350. Certificate & QSL. Thomas M. Perrotti, N2JIE, 785 Vineland Ave, Bridgeton, NJ 08302-4822. KØC will be in operation from various locations throughout the state of New Jersey, the United States of America, Europe and in Quebec, Canada, the site of the Knights of Columbus 142nd Supreme Convention. www.nj2kc.org

Regarding the oldie but goodie.

I'm going to fabricate another drive on mast holder like I had before. This time, I'm going to make it slightly smaller so that it eats up less space in the trunk. I'm also going to make a change. Instead of holding the Jackite by the U-bolts, I will use them to hold a section of PVC. This way I don't have to continuously tighten and loosen wing nuts. I will be able to just slip the Jackite into the PVC.  It will function exactly the same way, with a few cosmetic changes. I never had a problem with the old one not working properly. It was just a bit too big.

And I'll have to drop off the big (dead) battery at the metals recycling place in town. This battery has the BMS system incorporated into it. After communicating back and forth with the seller, he confirmed I can use the ACME battery charger that I presently use. He informed me I need to be watchful that once I get an indication of full charge (LED changing from red to green on my charger) that I unhook it and not let it go into a trickle charge state for a prolonged period of time. I never leave charging batteries unattended in our house, anyway. I'm too paranoid about something blowing up or catching fire to do that.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Contests:

What with Field Day, the W2QW Hamfest and Lake George taking up the past four weekends, I can get back to posting the weekend goings on:

Contests:

LABRE DX Contest - https://www.labre.org.br/contest/en/regulamento/

IARU Region 1 70 MHz Contest - https://www.iaru-r1.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Rules-2021.pdf

North American QSO Party, RTTY - https://www.ncjweb.com/NAQP-Rules.pdf

CQ Worldwide VHF Contest - https://www.cqww-vhf.com/

Run for the Bacon QRP Contest - http://qrpcontest.com/pigrun/

Next Tuesday night - SKCC Sprint - https://www.skccgroup.com/operating_activities/weekday_sprint/

Special Events:

Hmmmmmmmm ...... nothing for the Anniversary of Apollo 11? This Saturday marks the 55th Anniversary of the first Moon landing.

07/20/2024 | Nuclear Ship Savannah Launch Anniversary

Jul 20, 1300Z-2100Z, K3S, Baltimore, MD. Nuclear Ship Savannah ARC. 7.1 14.1 21.1 28.1. QSL. K3LU, 980 PATUXENT ROAD, Odenton, MD 21113. Single transmitter SSB and CW aboard N/S Savannah. Please check spotting networks for frequencies. Info on QRZ.com www.qrz.com/db/k3s

07/20/2024 | RAGBRAI 51

Jul 20-Jul 27, 0000Z-2359Z, W0R, Durham, NC. AF4ZE. 14.074 21.074. QSL. John Swartz AF4ZE, 6203 Chesden Drive, Durham, NC 27713. W0R Whiskey Zero RAGBRAI. Biking across Iowa for RAGBRAI 51. Will operate bike-mobile, QRP as time permits, likely in the evenings July 20-27, 2024. FT8, CW, SSB. QSL af4ze@arrl.net, LoTW, and QRZ.com. af4ze@arrl.net

07/20/2024 | Railroad Rendezvous

Jul 20, 1300Z-2100Z, W4DOC, Kennesaw, GA. Atlanta Radio Club. 7.250 14.200. QSL. Atlanta Radio Club - Railroad, 227 Sandy Springs Place Suite D-306, Atlanta, GA 30328. Railroad Rendezvous offers the rare opportunity to step aboard the General locomotive, made famous during the Civil War’s Great Locomotive Chase of 1862, and tour the cab of the historic steam locomotive, fee applicable. A variety of activities celebrating the railroad and other industrial enterprises will be taking place throughout the day. Send SASE for QSL card. www.atlantaradioclub.org/railroadrendezvous

Don't forget!!!! - If you participated in Field Day, your results have to be in to the ARRL by Tuesday, July 23rd.

For myself, I hope to test out my KM4CFT End Fed Random Wire in preparation for next Sunday's FOBB. I also have an idea how to modify my drive on mast holder so that I can use it with my 31' Jackite pole.

Sunday evening, the South Plainfield Business Association will be celebrating "Christmas in July" in the downtown section of town. The CERT Team will be there manning a cooling tent as it's going to be hot, not quite as hot as last week, but hot enough where we'll be available to anyone who needs some cooling down. I think we'll be handing out some hurricane preparedness literature, too.

Just checked the QRP Labs waiting list and I went from 293rd in line to 249th in just three days! Things are looking good for September!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Well the RAC Canada Day Contest is over for another year.

As with all the RAC Contests I set certain goals for my self and for this one was no different.

The goals were as follows:

HAVE FUN- This is a must. I am a casual operator and not a “dyed in the wool” contester. The main thing is to have fun and keep it friendly… This was not an issue and I had a blast working across Canada.

TRY AND WORK CANADA COAST TO COAST TO COAST-

Well almost… I had contacts in:VE1, VE2, VE3, VE4, VE5, VE6, VE7, VE8, VE9 and VO1. East Coast to the West Coast and the North West Territory.

Unfortunately this time VO2,VY0, VY1 and VY2 escaped me.

HAVE A SCORE IN THE TOP 50% OF MY CATAGORY. Needless to say that this time its not going to happen. I made contacts on 15m, 20m and 40m and they were good contacts…. I just needed more of them.

After about 9 hours of radio stretching it out over a 24 hour period it was all over. One of the lowest scores I will not be submitting but it was still fun.

Onwards and upwards so…. Happy 4th of July to my American Friends…. I’ve already gotten 7 of the 13 Colonies station in the log and I started chasing them today.

Check out their website for more information.

.

Then it looks like its back to “Playing Pota” again ….

73bob

 Spartan Sprint QRP CW Event 

The monthly Spartan Sprint QRP CW event will be this coming Monday evening.  (This is UTC Tuesday from 0000z-0200z).

No membership required - the  Spartan Sprint is open to all.

If you have never tried running 5 watt QRP CW, here is a chance to try it. Most modern rigs can be turned down to 5 watts.

During QRP CW events everyone is listening for weaker signals - you will be surprised to find out what 5 watts CW can do.

More information can be found at :   https://ars-qrp.com 

73,

Jody - K3JZD

‐------------------------------------------------------

BTW, NJ POTA folks. Today starts the new fiscal year for New Jersey. The "holiday" for free entry into NJ State parks has ended. For a lot of them (but not all), there is now a $5 entry fee. Seniors can continue to get in for free by applying for a special permit https://www.nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/getinvolved/stateparkpass.html

I filled mine out, I have to get it in the mail.

And lest I forget ......

Happy Canada Day to all our brother and sister Amateur Radio ops north of the border!

72 de Larry W2LJ 

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

That’s a reminder that the RAC Canada Day Contest starts at 0000 hrs UTC on July 1st and runs for 24 hours. The link will take you to the RAC Website and you can look over the rules.

Hopefully the Propagation Deity will be smiling on us for the Contest.

73bob

That’s a reminder that the RAC Canada Day Contest starts at 0000 hrs UTC on July 1st and runs for 24 hours. The link will take you to the RAC Website and you can look over the rules.

Hopefully the Propagation Deity will be smiling on us for the Contest.

73bob

The Coles Notes Version:

Operated for approximately 12 hours….

81 SSB contacts…. on 4 amateur bands

54 contacts on 40m, 16 contacts on 15m, 10 contacts on 20m and 1 contact on 80m.

Furthest contact was with KL7SB in Alaska, with the next furthest being K6JO in Orange County (LA) California.

Made numerous contacts up and down the Eastern Seaboard.

My Yaesu FT991a worked flawlessly and the antennas I used was my 60 ft (approx) inverted L for 40 and 80m.

My homebrewed modified Coastal 20 antenna was excellent on 15m and 20m.

This was a great “Warm up” for the RAC Canada Day Contest coming up on July 1st

Thanks for the contacts…

73bob

The Coles Notes Version:

Operated for approximately 12 hours….

81 SSB contacts…. on 4 amateur bands

54 contacts on 40m, 16 contacts on 15m, 10 contacts on 20m and 1 contact on 80m.

Furthest contact was with KL7SB in Alaska, with the next furthest being K6JO in Orange County (LA) California.

Made numerous contacts up and down the Eastern Seaboard.

My Yaesu FT991a worked flawlessly and the antennas I used was my 60 ft (approx) inverted L for 40 and 80m.

My homebrewed modified Coastal 20 antenna was excellent on 15m and 20m.

This was a great “Warm up” for the RAC Canada Day Contest coming up on July 1st

Thanks for the contacts…

73bob

This weekend in the USA, we celebrate Father's Day on Sunday. I've had the honor and privilege to fulfill that duty for 24 years now. I wouldn't trade a second of it for anything.

Before I get into the on-the-air happenings for the weekend - the big announcement:

Next Thursday, June 20th marks the First Day of Summer! That means that sign ups for the 2024 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt will formally commence! To sign up for a Skeeter Number you MUST send an e-mail to w2ljqrp@gmail.com. Number requests by any other means, social media, Facebook, etc will NOT be honored. You will receive a reply from me with your Skeeter number - most likely the same day or within a day or two if things are hectic for W2LJ. E-mail requests as of 0400 UTC on June 20th, midnight here in EDT will be honored. Please don't jump the gun to get to the head of the line - as always, requests will be honored in the order that they are received.

For all the rules and particulars, you can visit the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt page up above, or go to https://www.qsl.net/w2lj

So now, onto the weekend:

Contests:

West Virginia QSO Party - https://www.qsl.net/wvqp/

All Asian DX Contest, CW - https://www.jarl.org/English/4_Library/A-4-3_Contests/2024AA_rule.htm

Stew Perry Topband Challenge - http://www.kkn.net/stew/

Run for the Bacon QRP Contest - http://qrpcontest.com/pigrun/

ARRL Kids Day - http://www.arrl.org/kids-day

Special Events:

06/01/2024 | Fox River Radio League 100th Anniversary

Jun 1-Jun 15, 0000Z-2359Z, W9CEQ, Batavia, IL. Fox River Radio League. 14.260 14.035 7.260 7.035. Certificate & QSL. FRRL - K9MMS, PO Box 673, Batavia, IL 60510. www.frrl.org

06/15/2024 | Audie Murphy's 99th birthday celebration

Jun 15-Jun 23, 0000Z-2359Z, W5M, Greenville, TX. Sabine Valley Amateur Radio Association. 7.235 14.280 21.400 28.450. QSL. K5GVL Sabine Valley Amateur Radio Association, PO Box 843, Greenville, TX 75403-0843. Celebrating the life of Audie Murphy, Hunt County Texas' war hero and Congressional Medal of Honor recipient. We will be operating CW, FT8, SSB from locations around the county and from the Audie Murphy American Cotton Museum grounds. https://k5gvl.com/audie-murphy

06/15/2024 | Streets of Coal

Jun 15, 1400Z-2100Z, W8MOP, Bluefield, WV. East River Amateur Radio Club. 14.250 7.220. QSL. East River Amateur Radio Club, PO Box 1362, Bluefield, WV 24701. www.erarc.com

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Here's what scheduled for this weekend:

Contests:

VK Shires Contest - https://www.wia.org.au/members/contests/wavks/

SKCC Weekend Sprintathon - https://www.skccgroup.com/operating_activities/weekend_sprintathon/

Portugal Day Contest - https://portugaldaycontest.rep.pt/rules.php

GACW WWSA CW DX Contest - https://www.gacw.ar/

ARRL June VHF Contest - https://www.arrl.org/june-vhf

4 States QRP Group Second Sunday Sprint - http://www.4sqrp.com/SSS/sss_rules.pdf

Special Event Stations:

06/07/2024 | Greater Gardner Relay For Life

Jun 7-Jun 8, 1800Z-1300Z, N1C, Gardner, MA. Mohawk Amateur Radio Club . 14.227 7.227 3.927. QSL. Kevin Erickson, 194 Conant St, Gardner, MA 01440. Special event station recognizing the Greater Gardner Relay for Life event and raising awareness of the American Cancer Society and their quest to cure cancer.

06/08/2024 | 80th Anniversary Commemoration of the D-Day Landings - Operation Overlord

Jun 8-Jun 9, 0630Z-2200Z, various*, Totnes, UNITED KINGDOM. Torbay Amateur Radio Society. 3.744 7.144 14.144 28.344. Certificate. E-qsl to individual, SES call signs, as referenced, UNITED KINGDOM. Note: SES call signs will be listed before event www.torbayars.org

06/08/2024 | Appleton Flag Day Parade

Jun 8, 1830Z-2030Z, W9ZL, Fremont, WI. Fox Cities Amateur Radio Club. 14.246. Certificate. FCARC , PO Box 2346, Appleton, WI 54912. fcarc.club

06/08/2024 | Waco Village 175th Anniversary W5V

Jun 8-Jun 22, 1400Z-2300Z, W5V, Waco, TX. Heart Of Texas DX Society. 28.437 MHz. Certificate & QSL. Larry Merritt, 3200 Colcord Ave., Waco, TX 76707-1814. Will be operating in the General Class part of the phone bands 40M, 20M, 15M, and 10M. To receive an 8.5x11 inch SES certificate or a SES QSL card, (No SASE) is required. Simply send your QSL card with two (2) first-class stamps for a certificate and SES QSL card or your QSL card with one (1) first-class stamp for the SES QSL card only. w5dxs.tripod.com

06/09/2024 | Honoring Pioneer Women at Fort Laramie, Wyoming

Jun 9-Jun 10, 1400Z-2300Z, W7WYO, Torrington, WY. High Plains Amateur Radion Club. 28.400 21.375 14.275 7.250. Certificate & QSL. Lee Milner, K7WY, 123 Arrowhead Road, Torrington, WY 82240. We are honoring the pioneer women that traveled on the Oregon Trail between 1840 and 1890. June 10, 2024 is the 172 anniversary of the death of Mary Homsley a pioneer woman who died of Measles on June 10, 1852 and is buried near Fort Laramie, Wyoming. We will be operating from Fort Laramie National Historic Site which is a National Park. arrowhead273@gmail.com

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Dave and I are mobile again for the Wisconsin QSO Party. This time hitting four POTA parks and five counties on our multi-multi-mobile road trip. Will we end up with an epic score or fail miserably?

Team K9M is Michael KB9VBR and Dave KZ9V. This is our second year as mobile operators in the Wisconsin QSO party. If you made contact with K9M during the QSO party and would like a card, please QSL via KB9VBR. As they say, I’m good in the book.

Wisconsin QSO Party: https://www.warac.org/wqp/wqp.htm

Things that helped us immensly:
Feather Flag Base: https://amzn.to/3MdepHE
Wolf River Coils: https://www.wolfrivercoils.com/
MFJ-1979 whip: https://amzn.to/3B9cehF
42×108 inch Faraday Fabric: https://amzn.to/3Vt1m9R
Jaw Mount Antenna Clamp: https://amzn.to/3VL5Ir6
SO-239 stud mount for jaw clamp: https://amzn.to/3VT1KwG
SOTAbeams mast: https://www.dxengineering.com/search/brand/sotabeams/product-line/sotabeams-tactical-7000hds-compact-heavy-duty-telescopic-mast
Weize 100ah LiFePO4 Battery: https://amzn.to/3UswLbV
N1MM Logger Plus: https://n1mmwp.hamdocs.com/
Heil Ham Radio BM-17 Dual headset: https://heilhamradio.com/product/bm-17-2/

Graphical contact map provided by: https://www.qsomap.com/
Thank you for your support.

How I record my contact audio: https://youtu.be/tOqzZPphE7k
My headset trigger switch: https://youtu.be/b5Wu8BlrSF0

As a bonus, patrons can view the unedited phone contacts for the QSO Party and extended conversations between Dave and I. Visit my page on Patreon for details: https://www.patreon.com/kb9vbrantennas

Links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This does not affect the price you pay.

The post Revealed: Our Risky Wisconsin QSO Party Strategy appeared first on KB9VBR Antennas.

I spent a little time (and money) on the Vistaprint site last night, designing an additional and special banner for SPARC's Field Day effort:

The 14th Annual Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge takes place Saturday, March 16th, from 12PM – 4PM!

Contacts are limited to FM Simplex on the 2 meter band.

Participants may be entered as either fixed or mobile, (but not as both).

Exchange – Exchange items include your call sign, the name of the city, village, town, or township you are operating from, and your power level. Rovers and mobiles must be within the city limits of whatever city they claim to be operating from. If you are operating from a served agency station, you should also include this with your exchange. Specify which agency you serve, for example, “SKYWARN,” “EOC,” or “Red Cross.” On the log sheets, however, there will only be a place to notate whether or not the station is operating from a served agency.

City or Town – This is simply the name of the city or town you are operating from. If you do not live within the city limits, use the name of the town or municipality to which mail or a package would be addressed. For mobile entries, use the name of the city or town you are in, or the closest city or town.

Power levels are defined as follows:
• QRP – 5 watts or less
• Medium Power – greater than 5 watts, but less than 100
• High Power – 100 watts or more

Enter as either Fixed (either at home or portable) or Mobile (roving).

Click here for complete rules and details, including Entry Forms and Log Sheets, for the 2024 Maine 2 Meter FM Simplex Challenge.

 Contests:

CQ WW WPX Contest, CW - One of the biggies! - https://www.cqwpx.com/rules.htm

QRP ARCI Hootowl Sprint - http://qrparci.org/contest/hoot-owl-sprint

Special Events:

05/19/2024 | National EMS Week

May 19-May 25, 0000Z-0000Z, N4E, Gainesville, FL. W.T. Loften High School Amateur Radio Club. 14.335. QSL. W.T. Loften High School ARC, 3000 East University Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32641. www.qrz.com/db/k4wtl

05/24/2024 | Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Special Event Station

May 24-May 25, 2200Z-2200Z, K9V, Columbia City, IN. Whitley County Amateur Radio Club. 7.243 14.243 21.343 28.343; FT8 on all frequencies (10M thru 80M).. QSL. WC9AR - K9V, P.O. Box 652, Columbia City, IN 46725. www,wcarc.orgwww,wcarc.org

05/26/2024 | The Event of the Month, Day, and Year Being the Same as Our ZIP Code

May 26, 1200Z-2358Z, W0FUN, Denmark, IA. Iowa Radiosport Society. 7.054 7.235 10.121 14.235. QSL. Iowa Radiosport Society, W0FUN, P.O. Box 73, Denmark, IA 52624.

05/27/2024 | Memorial Day

May 27, 1800Z-2100Z, N3TAL, Lanham, MD. American Legion Post 275 Amateur Radio Team. 7.275 MHz (+/-) LSB. QSL. American Legion Post 275 Amateur Radio Team, 8201 Martin Luther King Jr Hwy, Lanham, MD 20706. N3TAL275@gmail.com or www.qrz.com/db/n3tal

I'm guessing any POTA CW activity may stick to the WARC bands. If I get a chance, maybe I can sneak in an activation of the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail - US-4582 on Sunday afternoon.

This weekend is Memorial Day Weekend in the US, the "unofficial beginning of Summer". In my neck of the woods, the weather is forecast to be decent today (big deal, I'm working!) Saturday and Sunday, with daytime highs in the mid 80s (29C). The actual Holiday on Monday is supposed to be thunderstormy with about 3/4 of an inch or so of rain forecasted. 

The "actual" Holiday was instituted to remember those brave men and women of our Armed Forces who made the ultimate sacrifice in protecting our citizens and our Constitution during times of conflict. It is a good thing to remember them and pray for them this weekend. We would not enjoy the freedoms we have were it not for them, and we should honor them by doing our utmost to not fritter those freedoms away. Their sacrifice should never be in vain.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!