Tag Archives: Contest

Contests, CW, DX, Operating, Portable Ops, Soapbox

CQ WW WPX CW Contest – May 25th, 2019

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In this video, I get a chance to talk a little philosophy while driving to a local park. I then set up my Mountain Topper and SOTABEAMS dipole and work 11 stations… 8 of which were 5,000+ miles away! This will show you that a tiny, battery-powered radio can produce excellent results and allow you to have a ton of fun.

 

Gear seen in this video:

MTR-5B HF radio: https://www.lnrprecision.com/store/MT…

3Ah lithium ion battery: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01…

Mini Speaker: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01…

Palm Mini Paddle – no longer available

Zoom H6 Audio Recorder: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/deta…

GoPro Hero7 Black camera: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc…

2″ Drive-On Mast Mount: https://tn07.com/mast-supports

Green 33′ fiberglass telescopic mast: https://tn07.com/telescoping-masts

Contests, CW, General, Operating

Why You Should Join the SKCC

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In this video, I tell you why you should join the Straight Key Century Club. It’s a great place to have contacts with other Morse Code people who aren’t speed demons! This is a great group of guys who like to use Straight Keys and the speed is usually somewhere between 12 to 17 wpm. So, for anyone who’s just learned Morse Code, this is a great place to get your feet wet! Join the SKCC at http://www.skccgroup.com

The video also includes Bonus Footage that shows my office and gear used to shoot this video.

Contests, Operating, Portable Ops, SSB

SSB QRP during the CQ WW WPX Contest

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This weekend I worked some SSB QRP on the hill at Bobcat Ridge. I don’t do a lot of voice-mode QRP since it’s less efficient than CW or one of the Digital modes. Still, I did make several 2,000 mile contacts while running only 5 watts from my Elecraft KX2. The antenna was a SOTABEAMS dipole. All contacts were made on the 20m band.

What you DON’T see in this video are the many, many times I answered someone’s CQ only to have them not hear me at all. This is just how it is when working QRP voice-mode – especially in a contest when the station calling CQ has other stations overlapping their calling frequency. The QRM from other operators makes it harder to pick out a weak signal.

Antennas, CW, Operating, Portable Ops

New England QSO Party – From Bobcat Ridge

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This past weekend, I took the Mountain Topper radios (3B and 5B) to Bobcat Ridge and worked a bunch of stations.  In this video, I show my antenna setup and work 5 or 6 stations. At the end of the video, I show all of the stations I worked.

Not bad for 3 watts and a wire antenna.  I was only transmitting for about 90 minutes, total.  The various contests running this weekend made it super-easy to work QRP!

Contests, CW, Operating

ARRL International DX Contest

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I played around in the ARRL International DX Contest this weekend for a total of about 8 hours. During that time, I worked 49 countries!

I’m NOT a contester. I’m not really even all that great at CW but I do enjoy it.  If I can do this, you can do this, too.

The contest exchange of information was:

DX Station: Call sign, Signal Report (always “599”) and Power Level

American Station: Call sign, Signal Report (always “599”) and State abbreviation.

In this video, I show you my station setup and then record my screen so you can see me working some DX stations via QRP.

Don’t miss the Bonus Track at the end of the video…

-Cliff