A long break and some QRP fun

It has been a while since the pressure of modern life, a demanding job and a young family have allowed me to do much radio let alone blogging. I thought it was about time I updated and put some information online. 

It has been a busy month here with various things going on but I promised myself I was going to crack my morse enough to get me on the air. It has been tough and slow going so far but the push has meant that most days recently I have been making at least one CW contact. I had made a couple of contacts with W1AW/(portable) stations as QRP contacts but all I had to do was listen for my call, 599, TU. Not much of a challenge at all really, but, it was enough to get me on the air. 

My next mission was a proper contact with exchanged information. My very first CW contact of this kind was with IZ1POZ. Sadly half way though the exchange his batteries failed on his FT-817 so Paolo emailed me to assure me my morse was ok and that it was his fault we didn't fully complete the QSO, although we got as far as a basic exchange and RST. 

Paolo very kindly sent his QSL card, many thanks Paolo. 


So where next? Well I have been trying to find the time to make one or two contacts or at least listen to some CW to keep up my level so far (not great by a long shot)

Today I had an idea at the same time as the sun was shining, I went into the garden, cut the grass, tidied up and set up my FT-817 on the table with a painters pile and half wave wire antenna. It was fun to have a quick QSO with Miro OM7LM on 17m who gave me a 579 report using 2.5w from internal batteries. 

Below you can see my setup in the garden. 


Keep listening on the bands for some slow and dodgy CW from me and please have patience as I try my best to improve steadily. I hope to make it a much more regular thing now. 

Many thanks to anyone that has worked me and your patience with my 12wpm and my far from perfect copy of your TX CW it is truly appreciated. 


Comments

  1. Anonymous27 December 2014 at 11:58

    Hi, will you do me a favour? I would very much appreciate a permanent link on your blog-site.

    Here’s a link to my QRP-website: www.stationqrp.com

    Thank you very much in advance!
    Jack

    ReplyDelete

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