This weekend saw a mix of various Amateur Radio activities. Getting on HF was not predominant, although I did get on Sunday morning for a bit and worked a few POTA activations. Brave souls, those activators, because all weekend long, the Space Weather Live app was VERY active. It seemed like every time I turned around I was getting a notification of a new solar flare or a "minor" radio blackout. On Facebook, more than one activator commented about the crummy band conditions and the noticeably fewer stations that they were able to log.

Saturday morning saw our monthly VE Session. We had two candidates, one of whom upgraded to Amateur Extra. Our other candidate got his Technician class license and missed becoming a General by only three wrong answers. He got 12 wrong and you're allowed up to 9. So close! The bright side is that he saw the exam, he has an idea now of what's on it and he should have a good idea where he's comfortable with his knowledge and where he needs to study more. I predict he'll be a General class Ham within a month or two.

On Sunday morning, I made the additional "modification" to my drive on mast holder. The lid hinges that I ordered through Amazon were delivered on Thursday. They did the trick to a "T" - or maybe I should say to an "L". HI!

The hinges lock in and brace the two boards at a 90 degree angle, just as I need them to. In fact, this configuration is so stable that in a pinch, any heavy weight will suffice, such as a heavy rock, or a cinder block, or a sand bag or something like that  It's an ideal drive on mast holder, and while a vehicle is certainly preferred, it's not absolutely necessary. Conceivably, with a heavy enough weight, I could use this in the field on Field Day would no longer have to mess with the PVC holder that uses the tent pegs and CamJams. That would be a time saver! The only prerequisite is that I'd have to find a location flat enough to place this on so that it's not leaning in any one direction too much.

BTW, before you ask, the 4 holes in the horizontal board are there to give the protruding U-Bolt threads and the nuts the space they need so that when collapsed, this contraption can lay totally flat and not wedged.

Other than that, the weekend was occupied with the normal weekend chores and duties. Hope you had a good weekend and I'm looking forward to the Skeeter Hunt next Sunday! 

Tonight we have a CERT training session with the NorthStar helicopter. NorthStar is the helicopter owned and utilized by the NJ State Police for the northern half of New Jersey. (SouthStar covers the southern half of the state). It is used primarily for transporting medivac patients to wherever they need to go depending on the circumstances and extent of their injuries. The session tonight will certify that we've been properly trained on procedures and safety requirements, so that we can approach the helicopter and assist with loading and unloading victims should it ever become =necessary.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

 Not scary, frightful, just frightful activity wise.

I got soaked coming home on Friday. I was following the weather and radar all day and was expecting thunderstorms here at work when I left for the day. It was bone dry, but the skies were darkening. All the way on the drive home, I could "feel" that darkness behind me, rather then see it in the rear view mirror. As luck would have it, as dark as it was, it didn't rain and I thought I would beat the storm home. As I got out of car in front of the house (I park on the street), there was a cloudburst. It began raining at a rate of over an inch an hour, with huge, heavy drops that actually hurt when they landed on my arms. I got drenched enough that I had to change clothes once I got inside.

That set the tone for the weekend's weather. It was so humid that the lawn didn't dry out all of Saturday, so we couldn't mow. And that was actually a good thing as the temperature/humidity index made it feel like it was over 100F. We probably would have ended p with heat exhaustion. I told my son that if worse comes to worse, we'll buy a sheep. HI! We ended up getting hit with more thunderstorms and about 0.69 inches of rain later in the afternoon. I was going to grill burgers for dinner, but had to resort to indoor cooking instead.

On Sunday, I got on HF for a little bit around 1:00 PM (17:00 UTC). The bands were a mess. I did not hear anyone on any band except for 20 Meters, where I heard a solitary station, NM8GS around 14.038 MHz. 

 Yesterday.. I got the chance to get on in the early afternoon.. I did not hear anyone on any band save for a few Florida QSO Party participants Other than those guys', the bands were just noise. I went to the POTA spotting page and saw my friend Brian KB9BVN listed as doing an activation - could not hear him. I heard a few weak signals that must have been working him, but I did not hear him.

Also, I normally have a pipeline down into Georgia and Virginia. I couldn't hear anyone from those states. The St. Max Net at 8:00 PM wasn't much better. I heard Lloyd K3QNT, the Net Control  Station alright, but most of the net participants were down in the mud.

I had planned to go over to the Edison Memorial over in Menlo Park to do a POTA activation as the weather was so beautiful yesterday. I'm glad I checked the bands, first. It would have been an exercise in frustration. Maybe next weekend, if the weather holds up.

I took the opportunity to hook my bug up to the computer and let the Ham Radio Solutions bot decode my CW.  Surprisingly, I didn't do all too badly and after about 1/2 hour pf practice I was sending without hardly any errors at all. I'm still not ready to go "live on the air" with it yet, but I'm happy that I'm not too far off.  The hardest part was to remember that the Dahs are not automatically made like with a paddle and keyer. Once you remember that, it becomes a lot easier. 

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!