Mobile operation: Pullman, WA

I returned again to a hilltop at the Palouse Ridge Golf Course for mobile afternoon operating session with the KX3 and a simple, speaker wire dipole strung between trees, its twin-lead center about 4 feet off the ground. Weather was cool and sunny with temperatures in the high 30's or so. I got the antenna in place, hooked it up to the KX3 along with my portable key and phones and fired up on 15M CW.

Within the first few minutes I responded to V73NS calling CQ, having no idea about his QTH. Turns out it was Neil Schwanitz in the Marshall Islands! What good fortune for me. As soon as I signed off there were lots of stations calling him. I must have hit it just right since I doubt my 3W would have punched through the pile-up.

From there I QSO'd with Ted in Sioux City, Nebraska, then N1WPU in Maine. I also worked Valery, UA0ZC in Russia.

For me, this is some of Ham radio at its best!

Here is a photo of my gear and antenna just prior to set-up.

This photo is my view of the hillside overlooking the Washington State Palouse. If you look carefully at the photo you can see my dipole crossing the top portion of the picture.

73 N7RCS

Operating mobile for FYBO QRP 2013 with the KX3

It was such a beautiful day today I decided to take the KX3 out and participate in Freeze Your Butt Off Winter QRP Sprint. Wx was in the mid-30s with a breeze. I decided to drive over to the Palouse Ridge Golf Golf Club at WSU and set up on a bluff overlooking the Palouse.

I loaded the KX3, my speaker wire dipole, portable key, and AA batteries in my backback, jumped in the car and headed over.

The clump of trees seen in the aerial view on this page shows where I set up for FYBO.

The sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky, the wind was blowing. Perfect day! I had forgotten to bring a chair and my headphones, but luckily for me, there was a bench waiting for me. It was quiet enough that I did not need my headphones. So, I tossed my dipole into the trees, leaving the center about 6 feet above the ground. Hooked up the KX3 to the antenna, plugged in the key and battery pack and started scanning for FYBO CQs.

As a started scanning on 20 meters I heard KH6MB (Hawaii) calling CQ on 14.004. I responded, only half expecting him to hear my 3W CW signal. He came right back! Wow! My first mobile contact on the KX3 was Hawaii. Nice.

I went on to notch 3 FYBO contacts in the next hour: K7TQ in Idaho, WD7Y in Nevada, and W0DTJ in California. All on 20M. Not too bad for 3W to a dipole 6 feet off the ground.

I also worked Barry, N2BJ in New Lenox, IL on 15M RTTY. Tried PSK31 but had no luck, although the KX3 did an excellent job translating PSK to text for me. A waterfall display is nice, but this rig makes it pretty easy to run PSK without it.

All in all a very productive first outing with the KX3. My plan is to set up my 32 ft. vertical next time to see how it performs at that same location.

Till next time - 73!

The Novice Historical Society

If you have not seen it yet, be sure to visit the Novice Historical Society web site created by Cliff Cheng, PhD, AC6C and former WN6JPA (1975). The site is dedicated to preserving unique history of the Novice era in Amateur Radio (1951-2000). And what a wonderful time it was for us all back then!

If you were a novice during that time period please visit the site and add your story to the many that have already been published. I contributed my story, which began in 1969 when I was a young teenager.

The site has a full timeline of events from that period.

Cliff is still looking for Novice stories from the 1970s - 2001. He and many others have dedicated significant time to making this a very well-done site. If you can help, please contact Cliff.

First NAQCC Sprint

Now that I've got my NorCal 40A on the air, I decided to try my first contest: the NAQCC Sprint which ran 0030Z - 0230Z this evening. There was one change to the frequencies due to a PJ DXpedition expected to cause QRM near QRP freqs. Unfortunately the shift to 0710 and up, left me out in the cold since my 40A only covers 7023-7066. Undaunted, I left work early to get home in time to join the fun.

40M was in good shape until about 0100Z at which point QRN went through the roof. It appered to be some kind of environmental noise as it started with a distinct "click." Regardless, I pressed on. Mostly listening through the QRN and occasionally sending my CQ NA. 90 minutes later I called it quits - QRN was just too much.

Came out to talk with the XYL and told her I didn't make any contacts because QRN was too intense on 40M. Mentioned it was odd how QRN seemed to switch on very suddenly. She suggested that maybe it was the lights. (We had installed these IKEA track lights ourselves some weeks ago.) I decided to see if perhaps my QRN source might be the lights. Fired the 40A up again, heard the QRN as usual. Had the XYL shut off the track lights ... presto! QRN disappeared!!

So, even though I had no success on the NAQCC Sprint, I did learn that I need to make sure the track lights are off when I'm on the air. I guess it was all worth it.

Excellent 20m propagation today

Just a few days ago a new sunspot was announced and it already appears to be making its presence felt on 20m. Today from 2200-2300Z I heard strong CW signals from the following stations from my QTH in Moscow, ID:

• JH9FNB (Ishiwaka, Japan)
• JH8SLS (Sapporo, Japan)
• RW0CR (Khabarousk, Russia)
• K9KA (Tennessee)
• K2VV (Missouri)
• K3ZM (Virginia)

The antenna was a simple wire dipole lying mostly on the floor (not stretched straight) of my 2nd storey attic with the RG8X feedline center point at about 25 feet.

By 2300Z the band dropped out. Later, at about 0300Z November 1, propagation remained poor.

I plan to try again Nov 1 around 1200Z.

My old keys

This is the first key I ever used when I was first licensed in 1969 as WN2MFW in New York. My Dad had this key from when he was a radioman in the US Coast Guard during WWII. Although the plastic housing on the back of the unit is cracked, the rest of the key is built like a tank and still has a great feel.

I removed the large knob mounted on top of the large disk. I still have this key at my operating position, ready for straight key nights.

The second key I owned was a Vibroplex, a real pleasure to use and, sad to say, after all these years I lost track of it somewhere along the way in all the moves we did from NY to FL to CT to MI to CT to MA and finally to ID.

Nice to stroll down memory lane occasionally.