QRP

I've claimed 198 QSOs for my most serious SS effort since 2001. As the lines in the log filled, my attention increasingly went to the checks. So many from the 50s through the 70s and almost none from the present decade. My soapbox for the event simply says I'd plot the curve.

I don't have a plotting program and can't bother right now with trying to figure out if OO Calc will let me draw a bell curve, but a couple of key statistics are these:

Number of Years Since First Licensed
mean ±SD = 40.38 ±12.58

Just a single check from the 21st century. That's about one-half of one percent.

On the other end of the spectrum, it was very nice to work W4KFC, licensed 75 years in 2008 and 5-time CW Sweepstakes winner.

When I read the intended operating scheme of the Ducie Island DXpeditioners, I was disheartened. With my HF station restricted mainly to the Elecraft K1, working a 25 kHz split is essentially impossible.

Then it occurred to me: My new Grundig G5 would be my second radio. All that remained was to learn if it, with just a built-in telescoping antenna, would hear the South Pacific station well enough.

It did. Ten days into the VP6DX operation I entered the radio room shortly after dawn, tuned to the low end of 40 meters, and found the operator calling CQ with intermittent answers. I placed the K1 up 25 as requested and within three calls heard my full and correct callsign coming back.

Several hours later, I had a similar experience on 15, bracketing their 150,000th QSO with my 2.

Clever device for measuring volts and amps while charging battery via VW solar panel.

Attached program from Dick Streefland

The Adel Nibbler. Now on my wish list.

5 90x90 jpgs created from outside sources, to which I am grateful

The New England QSO Party has been running since 2002. I haven’t missed one yet.