I received two emails from UPS that two packages are due to be delivered tomorrow. The first is the new console for my Ambient weather station. Here's what the current one looks like:

And here's what the new one looks like:

Not too much of a difference, eh? The important thing is that wifi symbol that you see in the little red square. The procedure will be to depress the wind and pressure buttons on the new console and wait for a "beep", and for that little wifi icon to start flashing, and I'll finally be able to connect my weather station back to the internet. A trivial thing, right? I can't tell you how much I've become accustomed to checking on weather data from home, no matter where I am, by just looking at my phone. The weather station still works fine, but not being able to access it remotely feels weird. I guess it's like that old song by Joni Mitchell - "Big Yellow Taxi".

"Don't it always seem to go, that you don't what you got 'til it's gone?"

The other package is an indoor HDTV antenna and signal booster. The gist of this is that I've just eliminated a substantial part of my monthly Verizon bill by ditching FiOS TV. There's so much free stuff offered via my Roku devices, but not local channels. You have to pay for those.  Want all your local channels? That's $77 a month from Hulu, $69 a month from DIRECTV, $73 a month from YouTube TV. It doesn't make sense to start paying for that all over again , just to another provider.

Heck, I live 25 miles (as the crow flys) from New York City. I figure that if I can work Europe from inside my house using 5 Watts and a magloop antenna then I should be able to pick up the local channels decently enough with an amplified indoor HDTV antenna. I did some research and ordered one from Channel Master. A one time purchase price of $50 and I should be fine. It will just be for watching local news and a few "real time" shows that the streaming services I connect to don't provide for free. We'll see how this experiment works! If it does work, I'll have to acquire one for the upstairs TV, but that can wait.

Last night, Amateur Radio wise, was just running the South Plainfield ARES/RACES Net and checking in to the Middlesex County Chat Group social net. No HF for me last evening. I did go on the FCC ULS site to see that our candidates from Saturday already had their applications approved. Jeremy KB3OPJ is now officially an Amateur Extra and our new Tech got his call sign KE2DCY.  What a difference from the old days!  Beating the dead horse, I'll mention again that when I passed my Novice test in November of 1978, my license didn't come until January of 1979. That the FCC can action on results from a test given two days previously is just amazing.

For kicks, I went over to the QRP Fox Hunt page and took a look at the season's results for the 80 Meter Foxes. Out of the 19 ops who volunteered for Fox duty, I came in 12th place, QSO total-wise. I didn't do as badly as I thought I had. I flat out expected to be in 18th or 19th place. Who knows, I may just volunteer again next fall.  The only downside to that is that I would have to download N1MM and use it during the Hunt as there's a real time Google Maps page available to the Hounds, where they can see their result pop up on a map as soon as the Fox logs them. I can barely chew gum and walk at the same time. Work Hounds at a furious pace AND computer log at the same time? That might be too much to ask from W2LJ. I'll have to give this some serious thought.

Lastly, the other day, my wife and son asked me what I wanted for my birthday, which is coming up in a few weeks. "QMX" immediately popped into my brain and I told them I had something in mind that they could split the cost on. When they asked what it was and I said "a radio", I did get two eyerolls. But what the hey? They asked! I told them that if they ordered it, that it would not be here in time for my birthday, (I want the assembled unit, not the kit)  but just knowing it would be coming was gift enough. I have to send some links to my son to get the ball rolling.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP  - When you care to send the very least!

My weekly list of what's going on:

Contests:

Louisiana QSO Party - http://laqp.louisianacontestclub.org/laqso_rules.htm

SP DX Contest - https://spdxcontest.pzk.org.pl/2024/rules.php - The land of my ancestors! I'll be trying to work some Polish stations this weekend!

Mississippi QSO Party - https://www.arrlmiss.org/

Missouri QSO Party - http://www.w0ma.org/index.php/missouri-qso-party

Special Event Stations:

04/06/2024 | Eclipsefest 2.0

Apr 6-Apr 8, 1300Z-0300Z, K2BSA/9, Makanda, IL. Greater St Louis Area Council BSA. 7.190 14.290 24.960 3.940. QSL. Shawn Banks, 1713 S 22nd St, Herrin, IL 62948. Questions can be directed to K9PWW. To receive a QSL, send your QSL & SASE. www.qrz.com/db/k9pww

Last night was the final 80 Meter QRP Fox Hunt of the 2023-2024 Winter Season, and I was one of the two Foxes up in the batter's box, along with Randy NC4RT. 

It was a bit of a tough night for me as so far as I was dealing with an S5 noise level which seemed to increase as the night wore on. I guess as far as 80 Meters goes, we're well into the Spring atmospheric season with its accompanying elevated seasonal QRN.  The buzz was bad enough, so I'm glad that I didn't hear any nets come on the frequency to force me to QSY like my first go at this a few months back. The map above is a screenshot from the Reverse Beacon Network, which indicates where I was being heard. That last long path into the Southwest didn't appear until late into the hunt. I switched between the HF9V and the W3EDP several times last night and it didn't seem to make much of a difference. I wasn't noticing any marked difference in performance between the two. If anything, I pretty much stayed on the W3EDP for most of the Hunt.

In all, with counting Randy and myself as Foxes, I handed out 55 pelts, which I guess isn't terrible. I freely admit that I put myself at a disadvantage as I do not use N1MM. I am a fossil and I log with pen and paper and transfer my QSOs to AC Log later. I am not keyboard savvy enough to computer log while operating when the pace is anything faster than a casual ragchew. By not using N1MM, I can't (and don't want to) use macros to send exchanges. I send by hand and I'm sure that was painfully obvious last night as I was pretty beat after a long day at work. I took special care not to linger too long in one place (like the sofa) after dinner last night, in fear that I would zonk out and miss the Hunt altogether!

I'm pretty sure that come next Season, I'll hang out with the Hounds. I'm also pretty sure that if I look at my season ranking among Foxes for handing out pelts, I'm probably pretty close to the bottom if indeed, not the cellar dweller. The Hounds deserve a much better operator than my caliber. The only reason I volunteered this season was because there were gaps in the schedule that needed filling. Hopefully that won't be the case next year.

Oh! By the way, not that it matters, but that Duraflame space heater that I recently purchased did a FB job last night. I went down into the shack about 90 minutes before the Hunt and it was only 61F (16C). By the time the evening's event started, it had risen to a more comfortable 66F (18C). I'll take that any day of the week during the heating season.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Here's what's up for the weekend:

Contest (only one):

FOC QSO Party -  http://g4foc.org/qsoparty/

Special Event Stations:

03/17/2024 | GERATOL NET ANNIVERSARY

Mar 17-Mar 23, 0100Z-2359Z, W1G, Wheelwright, MA. Geratol WAS Net. 3.668 SSB 40 Meter SSB. QSL. Kevin Lynch, POB 124, Wheelwright, MA 01094. The GERATOL (Greetings Extra Radio Amateurs Tired of Operating Lately) WAS Net, will operate special event call sign W1G to commemorate 50 years as a Worked All States Net N1KL@ARRL.NET

03/23/2024 | 1st LORAN A Station Designated (1941)

Mar 23, 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 QSL via K3LU www.qrz.com/db/k3s

03/23/2024 | Baker to Vegas Relay Race for Law Enforcement

Mar 23-Mar 24, 1600Z-0000Z, N6A, Amargosa Valley, NV. Ham Radio Outlet Anaheim. 7.225 14.225. QSL. Glenn Arrant, 14723 Puma Trail, Valley Center, CA 92082.

03/23/2024 | Celebrating 50 Years as a Club

Mar 23-Mar 24, 1700Z-0100Z, VC3GB, OwenSound, On. Georgian Bay Amateur Radio Club. 14.263. QSL. Georgian Bay Amateur Radio Club, 142 Paradise Bay, Annan, ON N0H1B0, CANADA. gbarc.ca

Unfortunately, for this part of New Jersey, Saturday is looking like a real soaker. From Midnight to Midnight, we're being told to expect a Nor'Easter that will bring 2 - 3 inches (5 -7.5 cm) of rain. The ground is really saturated from a rainy winter. High winds are expected too, so hopefully no trees will be coming down. After a chilly today, with the warm front coming through that's bringing the rain, we should be in the 50sF (12C) most of next week. So you know what that means ... warmer weather + moist ground = lawn mowing season. That should start soon - maybe as soon as Easter weekend. If not, definitely the week after.

Again, for last night's 80 Meter Fox Hunt, I was in dreamland before it started. I had a CERT class at the fire academy the night before and got home real late and only had 5 hours of sleep Wednesday night / Thursday morning. I would have fallen asleep behind the key. That would have been some nasty QRM!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!