The best of times. Battery technology has made huge advances in a relatively short amount of time. When batteries started being commercially produced in the early 1900s, lead acid or “wet cell” batteries were the only option. “Dry cell” batteries were made too, but they were for small applications such... Read more »

The post Lithium Batteries: Where We Came From, Where We’re Going. appeared first on Off Grid Ham.

if there will ever be another generation like "The Greatest Generation"?

Life for them was no picnic. My Dad was born in 1921, my Mom in 1929. They lived through the Great Depression, only to have that end with WWII.  It was like they couldn't catch a break. While it wasn't a cakewalk, my grandparents on my Mom's side were practically (almost) self sufficient. My grandfather was a carpenter by trade, but at home he raised turkeys, my grandmother raised chickens. They had a prodigious garden and a cherry and pear tree on their property. Being immigrants of strong Polish stock, they knew how to provide for themselves and their family.

When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, so many young men and women stepped up to the plate without a second thought.  That included my Dad and every single one of my uncles (and I had PLENTY of uncles) from both sides of my family served, save for one who had a medical condition that would not get him past the Army physical. They knew what their duty was, they knew what was at stake. They took the yoke upon their shoulders and bore it with exemplary bravery and dignity ...... and they persevered and were ultimately victors in the battle to save the world from fascism. 

My Dad, somewhere in the crowd of American G.I.s coming home from Europe aboard the Queen Mary.

They came home, started families and businesses, or went on to work for companies and they gave birth to one of the greatest economies the world would ever know. Their economy would aid in the rebuilding of the European continent from the ravages of war. Their generation gave birth to the Baby Boomer generation, of which I am part. Here's a staggering statistic that is sometimes hard for me to wrap my mind around - when my Dad passed away in 2001, WWII veterans were dying at a rate of 1,000 per day. It's hard to truly comprehend just how many young men and women served in our military during that conflict.

So we remember "The Greatest Generation", on this, the 80th Anniversary of D-Day. We were blessed by their presence, and we can truly say that without them, we would not be here today, and we would not have the freedoms with which we are blessed.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to save the very least!

I come across this so many times on the internet;

"Stations won't work me because I'm QRP!"

Dude ..... why the heck are you even telling them you're running QRP?  That is the biggest mistake you can make, especially in a contest. Don't wear a "QRP Badge of Honor". It's not going to get you much, if anything. You are just another station in an ocean of stations. Maybe a dolphin swimming in a pod of Humpback whales, but you're just another sea creature. Don't obsess about your signal or project to yourself how you're going to be heard at the other end.

For all you know, propagation may be such that you're 59 or 599 at the receiving end. I once worked a station in Madison, WI with a Rockmite at 250 milliWatts. He would not believe me when I told him what my rig was, and told me I was 599+++. Other times you may be 55 or 559, or worse, at the other end. YOU DON'T KNOW, YOU'RE NOT THERE! 

So if you hear a station you want to work .......call them! If they hear you, fine. Work them and move on. If they don't hear you after a number of tries, move on and work someone else and come back at a later time. Propagation may change and maybe you stand a better shot later. As Kenny Rogers famously sang, "You've got to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em!" Don't frustrate yourself needlessly just because that 30 over 9 station can't hear you.

Telling the world you're running QRP is not going to give you an edge or win you any friends or influence people. Be happy with your accomplishments AFTER you've made them and just keep plugging away.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Didn’t see it coming. I’m sure I’m not the only one who felt completely blindsided to hear that MFJ Enterprises, a name that is surely known by every ham radio operator, is going out of business. The end of MFJ will also result in the sunset of its subsidiary brands,... Read more »

The post Everyone is an “MFJ Guy”: COMMENTARY appeared first on Off Grid Ham.

 You know what that means!

Contests:

SP DX RTTY Contest -  http://www.pkrvg.org/strona,spdxrttyen.html

Helvetia Contest -  https://www.uska.ch/events/uska-helvetia-contest-concours-helvetia-hf/

Florida QSO Party - http://floridaqsoparty.org/rules/

BARTG Sprint 75 - http://bartg.org.uk/wp/bartg-sprint75-contests/

10-10 Int. Spring Contest, Digital - http://www.ten-ten.org/index.php/activity/2013-07-22-20-26-48/qso-party-rules

Special Events: (Lots this weekend!)

04/27/2024 | Bolivar Lighthouse

Apr 27, 1600Z-2300Z, K5S, Port Bolivar, TX. Beaumont Amateur Radio Club. 7.220 14.250 28.405 146.520. Certificate. Beaumont Amateur Radio Club , 4839 Hwy 326N, Kountze, TX 77625. w5rin.com

04/27/2024 | Celebration of the Club's 85th Anniversary at the Cox Science Center

Apr 27, 1400Z-2100Z, W4HAW, West Palm Beach, FL. West Palm Beach Amateur Radio Group. 7.250 14/250 21.250 28.250. QSL. WPBARG, P.O. Box 7623, West Palm Beach, FL 33405-7623. wpbarg.org

04/27/2024 | HAMS for PanCAN

Apr 27-Apr 28, 0200Z-2300Z, N3P/PanCan, New Kensington, PA. Skyview Radio Society. 3.960. 7.172. Certificate. Skyview Radio Society, N3P, 2335 Turkey Ridge Rd., New Kensington, PA 15068. This special event's purpose is to raise awareness of the PanCAN resources for patients and families affected by pancreatic cancer. All contacts are on SSB. rybar1949@gmail.com or https://www.skyviewradio.net

04/27/2024 | International Marconi Day 2024

Apr 27, 1700Z-2300Z, W1M, Rochester, NY. ROC-HAM RADIO NETWORK. 20M/14.313 10M/28.405 Allstar2585,47620,47918,531310. QSL. W2JLD/JOHN DERYCKE, 85 AMHERST ST, APT2, Rochester, NY 14607. roc-ham.net

04/27/2024 | International Marconi Day Award Station

Apr 27, 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 qrz.com/db/k3s

04/27/2024 | MERT20 Special Event

Apr 27, 1200Z-2359Z, KG4NXO, Ocala, FL. Marion County Emergency Management. 14.262 7.262; D-STAR 146.790 REF-037; 3.862. Certificate & QSL. Kraig Pritts, 6637 NE 5th Lane, Ocala, FL 34470. www.mert20.org

04/27/2024 | N1D - Number One Dawgs

Apr 27-Apr 28, 1700Z-1700Z, N1D, Athens, GA. Radio Club at the University of GA. 3.925 7.250 14.200. QSL. Athens Radio Club, P.O. Box 782, Athens, GA 30603. Celebrating the National Championship University of Georgia football team. We will be operating from the Tate Center, adjacent to Sanford Stadium. https://www.athensradioclub.org

04/27/2024 | N3P/WQ3Q Bonus Station of HAMS for PanCAN

Apr 27, 0900Z-1700Z, N3P/WQ3Q, New Kensington, PA. Skyview Radio Society. 3.960. 7.172. Certificate & QSL. Skyview Radio Society - N3P/WQ3Q, 2335 Turkey Ridge Rd., Upper Burrell, PA. This special event's purpose is to raise awareness of the PanCAN resources for patients and families affected by pancreatic cancer. This bonus station is for an additional contact recognition for participants who can make contact with this remote station's location. All contacts are on SSB. rybar1949@gmail.com or https://www.skyviewradio.net

And now for some news - last night, Martin Jue K5FLU put out the following announcement;

Dear Fellow Hams and Friends,                   

It is with a sad heart as I write this letter.

As many of you have heard by now, MFJ is ceasing its on-site production in Starkville, Mississippi on May 17, 2024.  This is also the same for our sister companies’ Ameritron, Hygain, Cushcraft, Mirage and Vectronics.

 Times have changed since I started this business 52 years ago.  Our product line grew and grew and prospered.  Covid changed everything in businesses including ours.  It was the hardest hit that we have ever had and we never fully recovered. 

I turned 80 this year.  I had never really considered retirement but life is so short and my time with my family is so precious.

 I want to thank all of our employees who have helped build this company with me over the years.  We have many employees who have made MFJ their career for 10, 20, 30, 40 and more years. 

 We are going to continue to sell MFJ products past May 17, 2024.  We have a lot of stock on hand. We will continue to offer repair service work for out-of-warranty and in-warranty units for the foreseeable future. 

 Finally, a special thanks to all of our customers and our dealers who have made MFJ a worldwide name and a profitable business for so many years.  You all are so much appreciated.

                                                                                            Sincerely Yours, 73s

                                                                                            Martin F. Jue, K5FLU

I've owned various MFJ products in over 40 years of operating. In fact, the antenna tuner for my Novice station back in 1979 was my first MFJ product purchase. In all the MFJ products that I have owned, I only had problems with two and both were self-fixable. An antenna switch where I had to reposition one of the contacts, and my MFJ-1982LP antenna where I had to re-solder a connection in the UNUN. Despite having to do that, the 1982LP remains my favorite "go to" antenna for portable operations (if there's enough room! Hi!)  I would never call any MFJ product that I've ever owned "a lemon". 

Over the past few years, my MFJ-1982LP has been THE antenna for the CW station in SPARC Field Days. Our results and our placement in the standings are in no small way due to the MFJ-1982 LP that I own and the MFJ-1982HP that Dave KD2FSI owns and deploys for the SSB station. Basically, it comes down to this - if we can hear' 'em, we can work 'em - and in the end, what more can you ask for?

If you've ever visited any Amateur Radio e-mail reflector, or visited any Amateur Radio social media site, you know that MFJ has not always received kind treatment. I've always cringed at the moniker "Mighty Fine Junk" and I often felt that a lot of the disparaging comments posted and published about MFJ were to fulfill the need for retaliation or revenge by dissatisfied customers rather than being constructive in any shape, way or form. If you search this blog for "MFJ", you'll find nary a single post in twenty years worth of posts that disparages MFJ or their products.

So far, all I've seen are condolences about the passing of MFJ. I hope it stays that way and that the nay-sayers and Negative Nancy's have the decency to keep their mouths shut and take the high road - but you and I both know that won't happen.

Personally, I'd like to thank Martin and his company for their dedication and service to the Amateur Radio community for so many years. Enjoy your retirement, Martin - you certainly deserve it!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

which will get me mixed, or maybe mostly negative reviews. But that's OK, it's just me cogitating.

Yesterday we had our monthly VE session. We had five candidates and all were successful. Five new Technicians, one of which was a young man of about 10 -12 years of age. We also had one Tech come in and upgrade to General - but this post is not about that.

With the question pool for the Amateur Extra class license changing in July, I've gotten a lot of questions about it and a lot of people convinced they should upgrade to Extra by the end of June. Not only that, but I am seeing so many people upgrade so quickly. Some will come in successive three months in a row in order to go from Tech to Extra. 

By now you might be thinking "Where is this going?" or "How can this be a bad thing?" or maybe even "OK, pudding brain, what's got you going now?"

This rush to upgrade is a product of the VE System, IMHO.  It's never been easier to get a license or upgrade your license class than ever before. No more going to the FCC, and in many cases, having to set time aside and travel long distances to do so. A good thing, right? YES! But maybe too good of a thing?

Here's what I mean. Back when I took my Novice test in November of 1978, I had to wait until January 1979 to get my call sign from the FCC. Even though the Novice license became a renewable thing, I was of the old mindset of the need to upgrade to General within a year. I did that six months later in June of 1979. But here's the catch ....... I remained a General for the next four years! I did not upgrade to Advanced until some time in 1983. I spent those years operating, learning, making friends and in general, just enjoying the hobby. After I upgraded to Advanced, I remained in that license class for another eleven years until I eventually became an Extra in 1994 - some fifteen years after I was originally licensed. And my Extra Class exam was the only one taken under the VE System, which I am not knocking, obviously. My point it was the first time that I did not have to travel to Manhattan or Langhorne, PA to enter an FCC office.

Let's face it, going to the FCC was a royal pain in the butt. But in its own way it kind of forced many Hams to slow down, smell the roses and enjoy your license class privileges for what they were. I'm sure for not all of us, but for most of us, there was no self imposed deadline to upgrade as fast or quickly as was possible.

And in that time, if you were active, you learned a lot. Either through an Elmer, if you were lucky enough to have one, or through trial and error as I did. Looking back on it, when I was a Novice and even a new General, I didn't know jack. I knew the theory and I knew the basics, but I still had a lot to learn. And I did, by joining a club and watching other Hams and talking with other Hams and always listening, listening and more listening. And by building Heathkits - learning how to solder, identify and measure components, how to read a schematic and all that other fun stuff.

These days, it seems like so many candidates are more consumed with upgrading, and only learning answers to questions without even bothering to learn the reasoning and why and wherefore behind the question. As a result, I see this with a lot, certainly not all, but a lot of new Extras who, if asked, could not build a dipole if you gave them a supply of wire, feed line and insulators. And even worse, some who wouldn't even know where to go and look up the procedure for doing so. 

The purpose of this post is not to condemn upgrading your license class. Far from it, upgrading is a fantastic and noble thing, However, don't make it your end all and be all in Amateur Radio, just so you can flaunt your credentials that you're an Amateur Extra.  To put it another way, you can purchase and own the latest "smart" refrigerator that does everything for you, including walking the dog. But if there's nothing inside of it, what good is it? Take the time to stuff that fridge with food, so that you can enjoy fantastic and delicious meals for years to come.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

Radio philosophy. If you see amateur radio as being greater than the sum of its parts, then you already understand where I’m about to go and will find affirmation in this article. If you value amateur radio solely for its utilitarian (communication) purposes, then you’re missing out. There is personal... Read more »

The post A Ham Radio Memorial Day -COMMENTARY appeared first on Off Grid Ham.

The news wasn’t shocking. One would have to be living deep in a cave not to have heard the news. Just before the new year, seemingly out of nowhere, Yaesu announced that it was discontinuing the venerated FT-817 & FT-818 radio. Although the news came as a surprise, anyone with... Read more »

The post Yaesu FT-817 & FT-818: 2001-2022. appeared first on Off Grid Ham.