Logbook of the World seems to be back. I was able to log on and see my QSOs - which reminds me, I haven't done an upload in a while. I'll make sure to do that over the long holiday weekend. I also checked to see if our July 13th VE Session was removed from the calendar. It wasn't, even though I had sent an e-mail to the ARRL requesting that be done. I received a reply informing me that they still could not access that server. I'll be away that day and rather than put the onus on someone else to act as "Liaison for the Day", I decided to cancel.

Our annual trip to Lake George will be happening soon.  This year, in addition to the AlexLoop and the AX1, I'm going to bring along the PAR ENDFEDZ 40-20-10 as well as my drive on mast base and my 20 foot crappie pole. I'd like to bring the Jackite, but it doesn't slip into the mast holder - it's too wide/thick. Usually, each time we go up to the Lake, I take some time to head up to Mt. Prospect (which is not a SOTA peak) and set up in the parking lot that is near the summit. There's a solitary picnic table there (in the parking lot!) and in the past I've parked the car some 20-30 feet away and have used the end fed as a sloper. There are other picnics tables in a wooded grassy area off to the side, but those are usually occupied by picnickers. Who wants to picnic in a parking lot, right? I usually have that table to myself. I can do a POTA activation as it's part of the Adirondack State Park - US-2001.

We had a CERT meeting in town last night and Marv K2VHW and I were asked to do some kind of licensing class for the CERT members in town. The two words I hate to hear the most were bandied about - "Ham Cram".  I know Marv feels the same way I do. But what I'm thinking is maybe to have a period of reading the licensing manual beforehand with some Zoom meetings interspersed where we can answer questions and explain more "difficult" topics culminating in a day of review - the "cram" - followed by the exam session.

Looking at the QRP Labs website, I'm calculating that based on the number of built kits that leave the factory every month, I may see my QMX sometime in August. It would be neat to have it for the Skeeter Hunt. I was smitten by that HB-1B that I was given the opportunity to play with. I'm looking forward to adding the QMX to my small herd of radios.

Finally, I signed up and am Bumble Bee # 57 for this year's FOBB. The Heinz Bee - LOL! I will probably head over to Cotton Street Park for the event, although if I decide to head up to Washington Rock State Park it would be a two-fer ...... FOBB and a POTA activation.

Thirteen Colonies started Sunday night, I guess. I've no interest in participating in that at all, for reasons which I will not go into here. The best I can say about it is that it generates a lot of activity on the bands. I'll leave it at that.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

I didn't realize that our "Amateur Radio Day at the Library" was so close to World Amateur Radio Day. Too bad they couldn't have exactly coincided.

Here's the list of stuff I'll be bringing:

KX3

Speaker / earbuds and "Y" cable

Straight key / Paddle and "Y" cable

Battery

Antenna - PARENDFEDZ (primary choice)

Jackite mast and support system

Laptop and AC adapter

USB adapter for straight key and paddle to laptop.

Morse Code charts

Alexloop (as a backup) if putting up the PAR is mot feasible

Pad and pen for logging any possible QSOs.

UTC Clock

Some QSL cards for display purposes.

And I think that should do it. Tonight we have a SPARC meeting via Zoom. A couple of the guys were going to visit the library this week to get an actual eyeball on the space we'll be dealing with. Hopefully, I'll get a better idea as to what will be possible for antennas.

One of the things I want to mention during the meeting is that someone needs to take photos and perhaps a video or two. These would look good on both the SPARC website and our social media page on Facebook. Maybe we can get another article in QST, like we did for Maker's Day a few years back.

Last night, I spent more time than I should have setting up the new weather station console that arrived from Ambient Weather Systems. I thought you could just set it up from the cell phone app, and be done with it. No, you actually have to go into the device via your laptop or a web browser on your phone, via the IP Address they mention in the instruction book. If I had read the manual more closely, and had not just assumed that I knew what I was doing, I would have been done much sooner.

In any case, I had to rename the weather station with the new console. It was KNJSOUTH60 - it is now KNJSOUTH208 for any weather geeks out there, like myself, who like to look at what the weather is in different locations around the country.

Which leads me to another topic. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a Ham Radio Newbie ask a question on one of the Amateur Radio groups on Facebook, only to be told "RTFM"! I wonder how many of us "veterans" have screwed up because we didn't read the manual? I know I did last night!

No questions from newcomers to the hobby are "stupid". Always be kind and helpful, so that your positive attitude will carry forward to the next generation of Hams.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!