MEMBER NEWS!!!!
---------Hey guys, e-mail some entries to VQS!!---
8/20/99: Jim, NA3V: I just received a nice looking award for the
top VQS out-of-state
QRP score in the 1999 Virginia QSO Party - a small trophy cup mounted on a marble
base with a brass plate engraved with my call letters. Many thanks to Doug and all for
the FB award. Don't forget to jump into the PA QSO Party coming up in middle
October. I am sponsoring the plaque for top out-of-state QRP score in this one.
Doug - If I win the VA QSO Party again in 2000, can I have Goochland county as my
prize? Jim Gooch, NA3V
4/21/00: Rob, KK4R: got my rope, and I have to admit
that I was completely baffled
by it until Tom, K4AEN, told me to check the VQS web pages to see why it came to me.
Thank you! I love to tell my wife that I "won" something in a contest. It makes
her feel
better about ham radio. Neil, WA4CHQ, Todd, KB4DPF, and I made a QRP/Homebrew
presentation at the Middle Peninsula Amateur Radio Club (MPARC, in Gloucester) meeting
in February. It was very well received and as a result a few club members have ordered
Small Wonders Labs kits. One SSB kit is already on the air, and the DSW kits have started
to arrive. We will be putting them together over the next few weeks, so some new VA
hams will be trying out QRP. I repeated the QRP presentation at the Peninsula Amateur
Radio Club (PARC, in Newport News) meeting this week. My son, Ben/KF4TMW,
went with me to give moral support, and he said I did a good job -- he only got sleepy
in the last 10 minutes. I pushed the idea of building a DSW kit, since hams in the
neighborhood are already doing it and there will be some local experience that can be
tapped for help. Now we will just have to see what happens. I operated the VQP and
the ARCI Spring QSO party and am hoping to operate QRPTTF with some of the
MPARC guys. Look forward to hearing some of you. 72, Rob, KK4R
3/31/00: David, AE4LH writes: I toasted my 50pf cap
in the SMiTE, and could not find a
subsititute. Then someone asked if I could turn it (even though I had melted the plastic).
I got it to turn today. Some of the plastic broke off! So, I'm back to building it. I
don't
seem to be able to solder the center lead of the coax to the project board. The braid was
no trouble. I am going to someone's home this evening to work on this, and other ham
projects. I hope to have this resolved quickly. The wind storms of the winter took down
my 80m dipole. If I get the SMiTE built by Sunday night, I am going on the air using my
Hustler 80m mobile antenna from the car. I'll truly be QRPp with ear buds, mobile antenna,
and 9v battery! :) 72 de David AE4LH
3/28/00: Dan, N4ROA sends: Howdy-do. Weeeeeeeehaaaaaawwww! Well
another VAQP is history and it seems
that every one gets better and better on the fun scale. Now that I am retired, I have a
little more time to operate.
Operating in the VAQP is about like eating popcorn, once you start, it's hard to quit. You
know what I mean, can't
get enough of it. hee hee This year was no exception.
Here is a short summary of my operation.
DX countries worked.....6
Canadian Porvinces.......1
States..............................29
Counties..........................44 for a total multiplier of 80.
233 valid contacts after duping, all CW. 18 mobile contacts. 9 with Stan, K4UK/M, 5 with
WB3AKD/M, and 4 with
W4ZPR/M. Total of 484 points.
Score is 484 X 80 = 38,720
My operation is always QRP and was at 5W output for the VAQP. Rigs used were my Ten Tec
Omni C and a K2.
Antennas were a 2 element Quad and a 450 ft loop with a tuner.
Thanks to all involved for a very fun event. I appreciate all who came by for a
visit. Hope to see you next year.
72...
Dan Wolfe, N4ROA, Gate City, Va....K2#205
3/27/00: Doug, W4IDW sends: Not much time to operate this time.
Very QRL this weekend. Was able to work a
handfull of QSO's though. Used my HW8. Had a blast. See ya'll next year!..
2/11/00: Barry KB8IJN/MM is underway again aboard the United States Coast Guard "Forward", a 270 foot medium endurance cutter assigned to the Coast Guard Base in Portsmouth, VA. His ship is out for about 5 weeks on drug patrol way down south. Listen up for him around 14.060!
2/9/00: John W4IM and Doug W4IDW operated FYBO from the 400 acres of woods located behind Doug's QTH. Didn't get a ton of QSO's but had a great time of fellowship between amateur radio operators. John used two OHR rigs and a Ratt Shack HTX 100 ten meter rig. Doug used his trusy ole' Heathkit HW8. Antennas were 20m and 40 dipoles.
12/2/99: NA3V Jim in Huntinginton, PA: The other day I got a pleasant surprise
in the mail. Some months ago I had made the out-of-state QRP high score in the Virginia
QSO Party, one of the contests that the VQS does a QRP piggy-back contest with. Recently
Doug, W4IDW, sent me an award for winning the piggy back contest, a small loving-cup style
trophy mounted on a marble base and with my name and call inscribed on a brass plate. It
looks very snazzy, and I have put it in a place of honor in my ham shack. I want to
publically thank Doug for the nifty award. Incidentally, the VA QSO Party was a lot of
fun, with a good deal of activity, both CW and SSB. East coast and midwest QRPers can
easily get into VA on their 40 and 80M antennas, and should put the event on their
calendar (if I remember right, it rolls around next April). 72, Jim Gooch, NA3V
11/1/99: K3WWP: Had fun with my 15M only entry in the contest. I like doing the
single banders on the somewhat out of the way bands since with my very minimal antenna
setup and poor location it's the only way I have a chance of winning anything especially
since NA3V here in PA has taken up contesting with a great antenna system and much
superior location. Like the brightest light attracts the most moths, the biggest signal
attracts the most QSO's in a contest. HI. Just look at N4BP's performance in contests.
Have you ever seen his setup? Click here
if you haven't.
10/28/99: KB8IJN/MM, Barry. Underway on Coast Guard Cutter somewhere between the
Southern Tip of Chile and the South Pole: Growlers (Little chunks of Icebergs) all
around. Propagation tough down here. Back in Norfolk, VA around Thanksgiving. Been out
here almost 4 months now. Time to come home.
10/28/99: AE4CU, John in Chespeake, VA: My station is not set up for contesting.
The tx is a homebrew 6l6 at abt 5 watts. The rcvr is an old Hallicrafters SX71. I operated
80 and 40 meters only with inverted Vees on both bands. I use a manual switch for changing
the ant between he rx and tx, so it is pretty slow process. Also, I have to turn RF gain
down to keep speaker from jumping off the desk when I fire up the tx!. This was my first
contest. Even though my station is not ideal, it was fun. 72 de John AE4CU
10/27/99: K4TX, Chuck in Chester, VA: Ran the 1000MP at 5 watts, didn't manage
last years score of 841,092 - but didn't spend nearly as much time either.
10/25/99: new member HP1AC sends: First time in a VQS activity. 40 thru 10
meters. 72 Cam HP1AC/QRP.
10/25/99: KB9LTF, Dennis in Evansville, Indiana sends: I Couldn't turn down the
price of membership. I operate QRP to avoid TVI. That is when I can overcome my
"Keyfright". I like the idea on Piggyback contesting. 73's Dennis KB9LTF.
10/25/99: Hello Doug and VQS: Name is george Tibbetts/KF4UCC been a cw operator since 1957 but a ham for two years xx started SWLing and Scanning about eight years ago and then decided if I was going to have an antenna farm - I should probably get a license. Equipment consists of the fol: KNWD TS520se puts out about 80 watts thru my G5RV abt 60 ft high RCI 2950 (ranger) ten meter rig puts out 4 - 8 wats in cw thru homebrew dipole abt 20 feet high made from # 10 house wire and balun from medicine bottles - work argentina brazil and recently Easter Island on a regular basis. "Little Joe" (15 meters) Built little joe last winter xx purchased pc board from "dans Small parts on the net" for $13.50 xx stil just a board but just clacking the key wirs together to my G5RV I reached france and four stations on the texarkanses line with 1/2 watt (going to be a long term project) I have built Ten-tec rec kit 1056 (15 metres) to go with little joe when I finally put him in a box -- still looking for a good T/R circuit to acompany them. Vectronics (Vec 1140/1240) xmtr and rx for 40 meters with abt one watt - just completed and worked (el presidente) of Vqs - going thru my G5RV. TUNERS/RECEIVERS/SWR-PWR MTRS ETC ---ALL Radio shack or Ten-tec kits or products. Now that my boat is out of the water for the winter - its project time again. My next projecty is ten-tecs transverter - I want to put it on my ten meter rig and put about 5 watts out on 2 meters and get ready for the sun spot activity -also looking for an inexpensive 6 meter cw adventure. ok thanks cul/george/kf4ucc
8/10/99: HEY GUYS, KB8IJN Barry is presently aboard the United States Coast Guard
Forward transiting the Panama Canal. Once on the Pacific side, the cutter will be
heading South enroute the Southern tip of Argentina, then head North to commence drug
operations. Listen up for him around 14.060!
8/1/99: Doug, W4IDW Stafford, VA sends; I'd like to appologize to the 2 winners of
the VA QSO Party for not yet buying the trophies. It's been a hectic summer and I just
started a new job....I'll get on the stick soon..
3/27/99: Dan, N4ROA Gate City VA sends after the VA QSO Party: I sure did enjoy
this one. It was very hard to tear myself away from the rig I was having so much fun. the
bands seemed to be in pretty good shape here but not as much activity as I was expecting
on the higher bands. 20m was pretty good to Europe Sunday afternoon and I was able to snag
several countries while calling CQ. I think most of them wanted a card. One YL from Italy
wanted to talk and we had a very nice chat. Total QSO's was 222 with 3 dupes, 203 CW, and
16 SSB contacts . Worked 33 counties, 29 states, 2 Canadian Prov., and 13 DX countries. I
was really enjoying catching K4UK/M and worked him in 7 different counties. We both were
laughing each time. Oh well, another one gone. I work in the event some every year because
I really enjoy it. This is only my second time to turn in a log though. Last Year was the
first. See you on the bands. 72 Dan.
3/17/99: VQS has received many e-mails from members suggesting we award certificates for
2nd, 3rd, and 4th place. A lot of guys say that there are many "Big Gun" QRP'ers
around that always seem to win with their huge towers and rotatable arrays. This will give
the average QRP op using wire antennas to get some "wallpaper", (GREAT IDEA
GUYS!!!) We will make it so.. effective this contest...
3/15/99: KB8IDW received the parts to construct a michigan mighty mite from John,
AE4CU in the mail today. Thanks John..... KB8IDW and AE4CU had a QSO last night 5 X 9
both ways!!!. John was using an HW8 at 1.75 watts into a ZEPP, KB8IDW was using a Century
21d, running 5 watts into a 160 meter Zepp. QSO took place on 3560khz and lasted over half
an hour.
12/12/98: Jake N4UY sends: Well, I got my GM-20 Buttoned up - fired it up and
heard a CQ. Sent my call and got Vince - AB7VI - near Seattle. The GM-20 puts out about
2.75 watts - according to Yahoo, AB7VI is 2,810 miles from me - looks like 1,000 miles per
watt for my 2nd QSO on the new rig. Its a nice little radio - built a Tick Keyer and
Freq-mite for it - need to figure out how to mount them in the enclosure and tie them into
the rig. Also recently built on of the Ten-Tec board kits - the model 1056
"any-band" receiver. Went together in a couple easy evenings - put it on 30m -
sounds good. this radio might be a good companion to the NJQRP club Jersey Fireball 40 -
now I need to get one for 40m :).
12/1/98: KB8IDW's computer went down HARD. Unable to get e-mail, update web site
or anything else. Did not get back on line until New Years Day. Sorry if I did not respond
to anyones e-mail promptly. I did not get them until I opened up my mail on 1 Jan.
11/23/98: Neil WA4CHQ sends: Greetings from Gwynns Island. Operated in the
Doghouse Sprint yesterday (21 Nov), and just wanted to report that I don't think I will be
recieving any rewards for my impressive 2 QSO's per hour effort! Was it the band? I just
didn't seem to hear that many stations. Operated single band (40) using my homebrew 1w
xcvr to my trusty random wire vertical. I did notice that the last 15 minutes, the action
started to pick up. (it always seems that way, doesn't it!) and I managed to squeeze in
one more station. Anyway, it was still fun..... Now that the weather seems to be cooling
off, I hope to spend more time on the air and working on a few more projects. I had
started on a 15 m DC rcvr last winter but never finished it, so maybe thats something to
look forward to completing.
11/11/98: Neil Tanner WA4CHQ sends: Last weekend I had to do some varnishing on
my sailboat, so I got down to the marina fairly early and rowed out to "SEA
ELF". There was still a lot of dew on the teak so I decided to do a little
"hamming" while waiting. I don't have a fixed antenna onboard yet, so I ran a
random wire up the flag halyard. I fired up the FT-757GX on 15m cw and heard a