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

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Hoot Owl results

Posted: 24 May 2020 07:12 PM PDT
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That was a lot of fun.

Paring the sprint down to a single hour seems to have drummed up activity.
There were lots of stations to be worked on 20 and 40 Meters, and even one
on 80 Meters.

Like just about everyone else, I started out on 20 Meters. Pretty quickly,
I worked N9NE, W4QO, K4FB and NK9G - all QRP stalwarts. Todd N9NE answered
one of my CQs; but the rest were worked via search and pounce. It became
pretty apparent to me after 15 - 20 minutes that I had plumbed 20 Meters
for all it was worth.

40 Meters was my money band, where I made nine more QSOs. The signals
seemed a bit stronger on 40 Meters and the QSB was not as bad. I worked
K2QO, K2EKM, WB9HFK, N9NE (again), K4FB (again), W1RFY, NX1K, N8HZM, and
K0ZK. I made on QSO on 80 Meters with W3TS.

All in all, it was 14 different contacts with 11 different states worked
for a score of 4,928 points, and it put me squarely in the middle of the
pack - about where I usually end up. I used the HF9V on 20 Meters and the
W3EDP on 40 and 80 Meters.

Again, it was a lot of fun, but it went by so quickly! Maybe once the
sunspots make a comeback the sprint can be lengthened to maybe two hours.

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

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It's become kind of personal

Posted: 24 May 2020 07:55 AM PDT
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I've been a member of QRP-ARCI since my General days. I joined in 1980, way
back when QRP was considered to be 100 Watts or less ...... way before 5
Watts became the QRP standard that we hold to now.

In all those years that I've been a member, I've come to make some really
great friends, but leadership was kind of foreign to me. I've never knew
any of the "upper ups". They were always there, at the helm, guiding the
QRP-ARCI ship through Amateur Radio waters, while I was down in the hold
with the other economy passengers.
That's changed recently. I am still down in the hold with the other economy
passengers, but the captain and some of the crew are actually people that I
kind of personally know, now.
David Wayne Cripe, NMOS was recently chosen as President by the Board of
Directors. Dave is a QRP Hall of Famer and has many accomplishments to his
name. But in a way, I "know" Dave. We follow each other on Facebook and
I've built a few kits that he's designed. He's the first QRP-ARCI President
that I know something about other than reading his name and title on the
officer masthead. It's not like if we saw each other that we's slap each
other on the back and say "Hi, buddy!", but the connection is more than
I've ever experienced before.
Paul Womble K4FB is now the Contest Manager for QRP-ARCI. Paul and I are
both avid QRP Fox hunters, We are friends on Facebook and we have
communicated with each other. I know first hand how good of an accomplished
QRPer that Paul is and the club made an excellent choice in naming him
their contest chief.
Bryan Murrey KB9BVN is the QRP-ARCI Webmaster. Bryan is one of the coolest
guys I know. He's a good friend on Facebook and he's also a Brother K of C
member. We've communicated in the past and we almost got together a few
years ago when he was in the area on business. It's just my luck that the
night we could have gotten together for dinner, I had to work late.
And one of the "movers and shakers" behind the scenes - Jim Stafford
W4QO ..... seems like we've met on the radio so many times before. Jim is
good people and he's one of the many people who I consider to be a "real
good friend that I have never met".
The purpose of this post was not to name drop, or anything like that. It's
just that when you know some of the people who are running the ship,
somehow membership becomes something just a bit different and a bit
more .......... I guess "valued" is the word I'm looking for. These guys
actually know me, I'm not just a number to them and that makes being a
member of QRP-ARCI more special to me. Maybe that's not the right way to
look at it, but that's how it feels for me.
72 de Larry W2LJQRP - When you care to send the very least!