W2LJ's Blog - QRP - Do More With Less.

///////////////////////////////////////////
Rookie Roundup

Posted: 19 Apr 2015 07:54 PM PDT
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/feedb...medium=emai l

The South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club ran a station for the ARRL Rookie
Roundup today. While we ourselves were ineligible to operate, we did put
out an invitation to all the newly licensed Technicians from our Fall and
Winter classes to come out and get their feet wet in HF. The idea, of
course, was to show them that there's a whole other world out there in
Amateur Radio beyond what they hear on VHF/UHF.

Club member Dave KD2FSI, who qualifies as a Rookie by time, volunteered to
set up the station. I say Dave qualifies as a Rookie by time, because by
the rules of the contest he does - he was licensed less than three years
ago. However, he is certainly not a Rookie by experience. He has already
upgraded to General and is a very busy Ham, diving headfirst into many
different facets of the hobby, portable operations being one of his
favorite. I wish I could take credit for steering him in that direction,
but Dave discovered that joy on his own.


We had agreed to meet at Putnam Park in town at Noon, in order to set up
for the 2:00 PM start. By the time I got there, Dave already had things
quite well in hand.

Marv K2VHW and Drew W2OU served with distinction in the coaching
perspective. Marv is quite the instructor. He has a gift and a natural
talent for teaching and was able to make our Rookies feel like Old Pros in
no time.


Here's a picture of Marv explaining to Mario the ins and outs of making a
SSB Contest QSO. Mario made his very first HF QSO today, and the process
was amazing to watch. The first few QSOs were halting and tentative, but
due to Marv's excellent guidance, Mario was having a blast within short
order.


Within a short amount of time, our Rookies were able to handle QSO and
logging chores while we stood in the background as control operators for
NJ2SP.

The opportunity seemed golden. HF operating under portable ops conditions.
With QRPTTF next weekend, how could I not bring the QRP gear along? It's
always good to perform a test run, no?

I bungeed my 31' Jackite pole to a nearby post and set up the EARCHI
antenna as a sloper.In between my stints as an HF coach, I went to town
working stations on 20, 17, 15 and 10 Meters. A lot of the contacts were MM
contest QSOs, but there was one ragchew in there, also. I worked

9A7R
ZW8T
OX3XR
CO8EH
WD4MSM - ragchew
KP2F
TM9B
EG8TRV - Special Event Station
HA8VK

Not bad for the time I had, in between helping with QSO procedures, serving
as a helping set of ears, and talking with some of our other newly licensed
Techs about equipment, making recommendations, etc.

The Rookies had a blast as well. 10 Meters was open to Texas and the West
Coast and our newbies were amazed that "talking to a guy in Idaho" was as
easy as talking to a guy on the local 2 Meter repeater - and that the guy
in Idaho sounded better than the guy on the 2 Meter repeater!

In all it was a fun day. I'm not sure who had more fun - our new Techs in
getting their feet wet in HF, or us veterans watching their fun and
excitement. It was definitely rewarding, and I hope we pushed some people a
little more deeper into this fine hobby.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!