Happy Independence Day !

72 de Larry W2LJ 

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there!

To rehash an old axiom - Any man can be a father, but it takes a special kind of man to be a Dad.

Thank you to all you Dads - so many times your efforts go unnoticed.

Enjoy your day!

72 de Larry W2LJ 

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

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!

 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!

 What's in store - hopefully plenty of these:

CONTESTS:

Russian DX Contest - https://www.rdxc.org/rules_eng

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

Virginia QSO Party - https://www.qsl.net/sterling/VA_QSO_Party/2024_VQP/2024_VQP_Main.html

Africa All Mode International DX Contest - http://www.sarl.org.za/public/contests/contestrules.asp

SPECIAL EVENTS:

03/15/2024 | K4KDJ (Virginia Tech Amateur Radio Association) 100 Year Anniversary

Mar 15-Mar 16, 2100Z-2100Z, K4KDJ, Blacksburg, VA. K4KDJ Virginia Tech Amateur Radio Association. 14.256 7.220 14.340 7.150. QSL. Virginia Tech Amateur Radio Association, 290 College Ave, Blacksburg, VA 24060.

03/16/2024 | 16th Anniversary Solivita Car Show

Mar 16, 1400Z-2000Z, N4SRC, Kissimmee, FL. Solivita Radio Club. 14.255 28.435. QSL. Solivita Radio Club, 307 Bell Tower Crossing West, Kissimmee, FL 34759. This is a non-commercial event held by our community for car enthusiasts and open to the public free of charge. https://solivitaradioclub.weebly.com

03/16/2024 | Cherry Blossom Special Event Station

Mar 16, 1400Z-2000Z, W4BKM, Macon, GA. Macon Amateur Radio Club. 14.240 7.225. Certificate. Macon Amateur Radio Club, P.O. Box 4862, Macon, GA 31208-4862. www.maconamateurradioclub.wordpress.com

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

Today is cloudy with a chance of showers, but tomorrow is supposed to be dry, and partly cloudy with a high near or maybe even a few degrees above 60F (15C). If I can get get the grocery shopping done early enough, perhaps I can take a ride up to Washington Rock State Park and activate K-1635. There's plenty of picnic tables and maybe I can give the AX-1 a good workout, and get an activation in.

Last night's 80 Meter Fox Hunt was strange indeed! Propagation was non-existent, it seems. Signals were weak and noise was strong.. I latched onto the lower Fox's Hounds right away, but I had a tough time hearing him. I had to use all the KX3's bells and whistles to be able to hear well enough to find out that this was John AJ1DM in Rhode Island. When I finally was able to hear him decently, a net started up on frequency. I don't know whose net it was, but usually these go pretty fast. Not last night. NCS had traffic for the 9th Call Area and if he didn't send "QTC 9RN" about a dozen times, he didn't send it once! RI and NJ are close enough that I figured if I was hearing this QRM, then John might be as well. I guessed correctly and it turned out that he had, and had moved up a few kHz to get out into the clear. In fact, he was no longer working split as he was calling CQ without the "UP". I finally nabbed him at 01:38 UTC.

I never heard Dale WC7S in Wyoming, nor his Hounds. And here's the reason why. After I turned off the KX3 for the night, but before leaving the shack, I went to RBN and downloaded the maps for each of the Foxes. This is how bad things were last night - these maps even caused me to raise an eyebrow!

John didn't fare any better. On Tuesday as the 40 Meter Fox, he handed out some 60 pelts. Last night he handed out 13, all within the confines of the NorthEast and Mid-Atlantic states. Honestly, I can't remember the last time band conditions on 80 Meters were this terrible.

In closing, and in honor of St. Patrick's Day - my hopes and wishes for you (I'm kinda part Irish by marriage) :

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Our Ham Radio holiday adventure takes us to Wisconsin’s scenic Door County peninsula on the shores of Lake Michigan. We activate to Parks on the Air parks: Potawatomie State Park (POTA K-1472) and Newport State Park (POTA K-1468). Plus, we explore a Door County Christkindlmarkt, have dinner in a historic Wisconsin Supper Club, and top off the evening playing classic arcade games. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas.

Links and resources:
Stormy Kromer wool cap: https://amzn.to/3tp1nQB
Gabil GRA-7350tc vertical antenna: https://amzn.to/3teH1tq
Gabil GRA-ULT01 MK3 Antenna base: https://amzn.to/478h7p5
Chameleon PRV Portable Resonant Vertical Antenna Kit: https://chameleonantenna.com/shop-here/ols/products/cha-mcc/v/CHA-MCC-PRV-POTA

Things we saw:
Holiday Motel Sturgeon Bay: https://holidaymusicmotel.com/
Door County Christmas Market: https://doorcountychristmasmarket.com/
Nightingale Supper Club: https://www.nightingalesupperclub.com/
Cherry Lanes Sturgeon Bay: https://cherrylanesarcadebar.business.site/

As a bonus, patrons can view the full, unedited phone contacts for this Parks on the Air activation. Visit my page on Patreon for details: https://www.patreon.com/kb9vbrantennas

I do return QSL, if you made a contact with me and would like a QSL, please send me one. Return postage not necessary, but always appreciated. As they say, KB9VBR is ‘good in the book.

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

Like what you see? You can leave me a tip:
https://www.paypal.me/kb9vbr

Timestamp
00:00:00 Goats on the Roof
00:00:29 Potawatomie State Park
00:01:05 Activation of K-1472 Potawatomie State Park
00:05:40 Christkindltmarkt
00:06:33 Newport State Park
00:07:33 Activation of K-1468 Newport State Park
00:12:40 Chameleon PRV Portable Resonant Vertical
00:14:12 Holiday Lights Supper Club and Pinball
00:15:45 Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas

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The post It’s a Ham Radio Holiday POTA! Christmas in Door County appeared first on KB9VBR Antennas.