I got my 2500mAH 12v LiPo pack from Batteryspace. I charged it and the charging LED went from red to yellow instead of green. I emailed them and they answered me in a couple of hours saying that yellow is trickly, and OK to use the battery. My voltmeter said 12.5v, so I guess it is good. With my K2 it does drop a bit but it may be perfect for the KX1.

I tuned to 3740 and heard WB6W Glenn in Minden, NV id and called him back. We had a quick chat until I had to QRT.

- posted by Leigh @ 06:10 z 0 comments

 
KF6FIX

I put the Buddipole in the back yard and 20M was pretty dead. 17 and 15 were quiet too, resting after WPX I guess. I tried the 40m vertical configuration using the radial adapter I got from Budd W3FF. It worked pretty well. I didn't bother tuning it, just used the one I had for my KX1 and the whip up all 6 sections. It was about 2.5:1 in the CW band, so I figured the loss in the coax wouldn't be too bad. I kept the wire off the ground and tied it to a leaf. Maybe I'll use some insulating fishing line next time. I heard KF6FIX Don in Huntington Beach, CA call CQ on 7041.50 around 0000Z and we had a nice QSO at about 13 WPM. Don was running 10W to a 30' dipole, and I was running 15W from my K2.
- posted by Leigh @ 00:00 z 0 comments

 
Black Mountain and Buddipole

I will be operating from Black Mountain, a 2600ft peak in the Santa Cruz mountains (fortuitously located about 10 miles from my house) using my K2, Buddipole, and if conditions warrant, HFPacker amplifier, starting with 18.157.50 and then down if the band seems dead. Estimated start time is ~1800z +/- 1 hour (11 AM PDT). Note: The coils are in the wrong spot. I noticed this after I took the picture...
- posted by Leigh @ 16:45 z 0 comments

 
I set up my Buddipole as a vertical and used one arm and a 33' wire attached to the arm. I had to shorten the vertical to about 5.3 sections so it seemed about right. I heard W6JL but he had gone QRT by the time I called him. Then I heard W6JXH on 7035.61 at 2239Z. Ron answered me and said his QTH was QTH:Fremont. Ron was 599 and gave me 579. He had a new ALS solid state amp he was trying out. Ron is a retired software engineer from Lockheed and has been a ham for 40+ years. He has a number of old Drake rigs.
- posted by Leigh @ 00:10 z 0 comments

 
K7UGA

In the 7QP QSO party I worked K7UGA in AZ, who responded "5NN AZ MCP". I sent "599 CA QRP" and OM responded "QSL QRP". 1817.54 POWER:5W Elecraft K2 550ft loop.

I don't know who the operator was but I'll sure send a QSL card!

- posted by Leigh @ 05:56 z 0 comments

 
AmTech Day

I set up my Buddipole and K2 at AmTech day and got it tuned for 17m with my Autek. Alex NS6Y came by with her TimeWave analyzer and it agreed with my Autek, but she pointed out that it had some intermittence to it, and I removed a length of coax I had put in and it worked better.

I heard S9SS in Saõ Tomé working the numbers and we tried with the Buddipole both horizontal and as a vertical but no contact. Maybe with a little more than 15w next time.

- posted by Leigh @ 00:34 z 0 comments

 
UA0ZEO
20M was hot tonight. Lots of ZL, VK, South America, but none would answer me. So I called UA0ZEO Oleg in Vulkanni, Kamchatka, Russia. Oleg gave me a 559 and I gave him 559 QSB but then the QSB really came in and I didn't hear any more. 14.072 PSK31 0607Z.
- posted by Leigh @ 06:07 z 0 comments

 
I heard Bryan AC4BB on 14.060 PSK31 and we had a quick chat about the rain and the NASCAR traffic but lost contact after a few turns. Bryan said he was using a new version of MixW so maybe he had some software problems. I picked Bryan back up. His Rig is an IC-737a with 50W to a 20m loop up 95 ft.
- posted by Leigh @ 00:34 z 0 comments