2018 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt Soapbox - Page 1

WW4MSK

Conditions were not very good from my location.  I hope others had better luck.  Very fun event and appreciate what you all do to keep it going.  Attached is a photo of my station.  73   Wally  WW4MSK






KE9AJ 


This was my first event and had a lot of fun although condx were not very good.




N2HTT

It's been raining continually here in Southern NY for the last 10 days, so I was delighted to see the wx forecast for no rain today. It looked iffy, so I decided to abandon the park by the river idea and set up backyard portable. I made 1 QSO before it started to rain. I bailed, and went inside. Finished up the day with only 3 QSOs, bands were not so good. Photo was from back when I was portable... Good fun, looking forward to another go next year
72
Mike N2HTT




N4EEV
 
Only managed a couple contacts today and had some pretty rough QSB and a path mostly to TX and MO. WB5BKL completely faded out so I hope he copied my gnats fart! Thansk for the QSO. 72 Mike




K2YGM

My first Skeeter hunt, and I sure got bit.. Originally set up in the yard, but storms passing through, changed things around. Instead, I set up on a bridge table near the patio door, so I could watch the birds and squirrels invading my tomatoes and cucumbers.. Nice view for a change... I tried 40M for awhile but heard absolutely nothing all afternoon.  So I remained on 20M and worked Midwest stations exclusively. One minute signals were S7, and the next, they were gone. Many repeats were necessary. Many great ops in this crowd, and I enjoyed the fun for a few hours.  Looking forward to participating in the future.

72 de K2YGM   Bob
Long Island, NY





WA7LNW


Worked final hour of NJQRP Skeeter Hunt  while hosting my wife's pool party! 
Operating QRP CW from behind pool side Tiki Bar worked out pretty well this year.
72's de Jack, WA7LNW / QRP



W0ITT -

My first Skeeter Hunt, I was on limited time (only about an hour total) and only worked 40 meters but there was plenty of activity

Thanks for the event, next year I plan to operate remote (and hope it doesn’t rain like this year).

 

Thanks to everyone for the fine QSO’s

 

72 de Gary W0ITT 



N8XX





WQ8RP was out on the Fred Meijer White Pine Trail this afternoon, courtesy of Cortland, KA5S, and Hank, n8xx.  The event was the New Jersey QRP Club's "Skeeter Hunt".

At the point where we were along the trail, it's about a 20 foot drop to the Rogue River, about a mile north of Downtown Rockford, Michigan.

N8xx arrived at the location first, as was set up by 1800Z.  Bands were "up and down" sometimes numerous stations on, a few minutes later NIL, ZILCH, NADA, ZERO.  On 20 meters this was specially true.  I'd hear a signal, call him, and be greeted by another station, sometimes 2, 3, or more stations, calling CQ BZZZ very close the the station who I was trying to answer.  Obviously these folks were in each other's skip zone!  Most of the time I was able to crank down the bandwidth on the KX2 to 200 Hz or less and work the desired station.

Cortland was having difficulties with too much luggage, so it took him a longer time to arrive.  He was the photographer, and helped with the numerous questions about what we were doing, what ham radio was all about, how far we could communicate, etc.  I estimate that I spent twice as much time explaining ham radio, Michigan State parks on the air, Skeeter Hunt, etc., with the general public than in actual operation of ham radio!  But, public relations is a big part of Parks On The Air and Michigan State Park on the Air, so I thought it an important function of the event.

There are 17 Q's in the log, Haven't figured out how many are with skeeter numbers, so this will have to wait an analysis when I get the log into my computer.  But, I did work one fellow at a lighthouse, and a station in New England on 40 meters who was running one watt!  I heard N4CD at a park or parks on the Air, but he was being bombarded by too many LOUD stations for my pipsquoke signal to squoke through.

Thanks to W2LJ and the New Jersey QRP club for putting on this GRRRR8 event!



N3AQC








As usual Larry put on a great event. John and I had great weather as shown in the pictures. Our results were a little bit better than last
year but not quite as good as the years before that. The best part was that me Mike KC2EGL was not attacked by any biting flying insects this year.
Thanks to everyone who came back to our call and hope to see you again on the radio next year if not before then.




W1PID, N1LT, W3ATB
Tim W3ATB, Dick N1LT and I did the Skeeter Hunt from the Pemigewasset River in Bristol, NH. Tim has put together an account with photos:

story and Pix at: https://w3atb.com/2018-nj-skeeter-hunt/

vy 73 Jim W1PID




VE2JCW






WO9B

To start with equivocation or just do the facts?  Let’s go with facts and skip the equivocation. I had way to much fun to  put a damper on what is turning out to be a look-forward-to event.   Well, it is a fact that today was PERFECT wx here in WI.  So perfect the neighbors decided to throw a backyard party causing me a bit of a noise problem.  Alas, the joy of end of summer frolicking.   Can’t complain about that.  So, as stated above this was a backyard operation.  Experienced a couple of equipment issues, all easily solved by tapping the store of plenty inside the house.  What proved to be not so good was the band conditions.  Lots of QRN and the propagation was just not great for me and my endfed.  That was a disappointment.  Signals were weak and subject to oddly sharp QSB.  20 produced the most Q’s, but most is a relative indication as the few overall contacts reflects the poor conditions.  Or maybe the poor operator.

Regarding the choice of locations, given other commitments, operating from the backyard was the most viable option.  Glad I did as I seemed to run into glitch after glitch.  The loud neighbor noise caused me to resort to my noise cancelling headphones, which in turn ran out of internal power after 90 minutes.  30+ minutes to recharge.  Lol.  The antenna went together very well, but I was plagued with QRN bursts all afternoon.

Still, I managed a very nice afternoon.  Thanks to Larry and the NJ gang for throwing such a nice event.  I’ll be back again next year, but will most likely have to up the game with a better antenna.  

Thanks and best 72’s.

MJ / WO9B



W3BBO

Thanks for putting on this event, Larry.  Always fun, and a pleasure to meet and greet QRP friends.  Conditions weren’t the best here, and 40 meters was the best band for me with only a few contacts on 20 meters.

**Bonus points…I was actually setup very close to a body of water.  Unfortunately, it didn’t offer any enhancement to my signal, but did contribute to my noise floor.  The body of water was my neighbors hot tub which was on the other side of the fence and about 5 feet from my QRPGuys three band vertical.  The band noise was noticeable whenever the water pump or the heater came on!  Turned out to be a real problem on receive and I apologize to anyone who may have called, and I didn’t respond or CQ’d in their face.  Guess I need to invest in a noise blanker for the K2!

73 de Bob W3BBO



WB4OMM






Elecraft K1 running 3W, T1 Auto tuner, AME paddle to a 20M Hamstick in Buschmann Park with a freshwater creek and lake next to me in Port Orange, FL.  Did just over 2 hours in the 95 degree heat.  Only worked 20M, deep QSB.  Thanks to all that worked me!  As always, it was FUN!

72/73, Steve WB4OMM Skeeter #98


AE4V

Conditions were far from favorable.  Lots of QSB with deep fades in which signals would completely disappear.  It didn't help that I could only operate for a couple of hours.

It was still enjoyable and I hope to remember to get in to next years hunt.



K8EAC / 4






NK6A




I had a very nice operating position at Del Rey Lagoon near the Pacific Ocean.  Two bodies of water plus a third unexpected sprinkler action at the park. Got set up at 1740 and found a dry spot to set up my 31 ft endfed.  At 18:30 two sprinklers began and I jumped up, un-hooked my KX2 and swiftly ran away out of the oscillating sprinkler. I had left my paddle and balun plus coax still there.  When the sprinkler came around and out of my location I ran in to recover the remaining items.  This took a few cycles.  Wet log, balun, earphones and seat cushion. I moved away and started the drying process.  Moved to my back yard and didn't hear much and know one heard me. Nice to get out but... Two sprinklers going off during my operating time...



K4UPG







First time in several years that I did not get chased off by lightning. This time of year is monsoon season here in Florida and we get thunderstorms almost daily. Local tv wx station WFTV has a great app that has a lightning alert if lighting is detected within 8 miles of your GPS location. It went off today at 4:50 PM EDT and I dropped antenna and rolled up and got home before the rain hit and lightning was closer. Rig HB1B to 20m dipole peak at 40ft and lakeside at Lake Fredrica, Orlando, FL.

Heard many stations but band was not stable here, signals were 599 and then dropped to level that was almost impossible to hear. But when it was good, it was good. I gave out a few points to the big guns and that is always fun. Best DX was the non-Skeeter in UTAH, and was good to hear you Larry W2LJ... Been way too long since we connected. Many longtime QRP ops were out and it was good to hear them.

Got a bit of sunburn, not bad for 4 hrs in 93F wx in Orlando. Yahoo! Let's keep doin' this one. It is a blast to have so many QRP stations on the air! Thanks Larry and NJQRP for all the behind the scenes work to make it possible. Well done!

72 n Grrrrrr!
Kelly K4UPG
Orlando, FL




W2JEK

Got on at 3:00 PM when rain put an end to my yard work. Rig Oak Hills OHR-500 running  5 watts in my home station.  OHR-500 was a kit that I built. Antennas 20M gnd plane, 40M end fed wire. Loudest signal was Joe N2CX in Ohio also doing NPOTA. Have to find out what antenna he was using. Was a lot of fun.


72 Don  W2JEK




AB9BZ














Fun time out in the woods, Thanks for event and QSO's.

I operated from the Chicago Portage Historic Site, pictures of site attached,

72
Dave





NC4RT

From here in northwest NC, there was little/no activity on 20 meters.  On 40 meters, I heard quite a few stations that could not hear me, and the QSB was pretty deep for most of the qsos I made.  But a lot of fun as always, and it’s a great way to break out the portable antenna gear.   Thanks to all for your patience with me.  72 de NC4RT



KF5RY
 
It was a good day in North Texas. I took a hike over to a local park where our stream is barely flowing, but should qualify as water. I got a late start and worked most of my Qs between 12:30p-2p. After that propagation was so bad I couldn’t hear myself. :-)  switched to 40M and caught a couple of locals, but there were not other contesters.

With about 15 minutes left I decided to pack up. It was cloudy and I was worried I would get rained on. About the time I was ready to put my gear in my pack the bottom let out. I hurriedly packed my gear and started the ~1mile walk home in a full on gully washer.

I’m now certain the creek in the park qualifies as water. It was rising quickly as I was leaving. :-)




NN9K




Lots of fun, lots of very weak signals and lots of folks that don't listen before they call CQ--CU next year!



W5RST

The weather forecast was for rain, so naturally the sun came out 1700 z.  I thought about packing up and heading out to a local lake but decided it would use up too much time.  So I stayed home and used my ATS3a for a homebrew rig.  At the beginning of the contest I tried to make some SSB contacts using a 20 year old SWL White Mountain 20 but didn’t hear a peep after 30 minutes. So, CW was the way to go. The bands were pretty quiet but the QSB was significant, making getting some information a challenge. All in all, the Skeeter Hunt was a lot of fun, and thanks to all the stations who worked me!

72/73 de Mike W5RST




WB3GCK

 I had a lot of fun in this year's Skeeter Hunt and even had a chance encounter with a long-lost childhood friend who was curious about my antenna.  Looking forward to next year already! 

https://wb3gck.com/2018/08/20/skeeter-hunt-2018/

72, Craig WB3GCK




WA1GWH

Tough going from up here near Syracuse, NY.  Not many stations in or out of the contest on 40M and most of those were weak to very weak except a few.  Had checked earlier and no participants so decided to just work 4-5PM.  Did hear a DXer from Brazil and another from Germany but with weak and ragged signals.  Skeeter stations that I did work were quite a ways out for that hour on 40M (MI, WI, TN, IN). 

Station: At home, SW-40+ QRP single board kit at 1 W and 40M dipole at 15 ft.




K0MP with NU7Y





Thanks to Larry W2LJ and others who organized this event. Bill and I activated from Mt. Bigelow at 8500ft near Tucson, AZ to escape the summer heat. Anyone who worked us yesterday can also take credit for SOTA summit W7A/AW-003. Had more activity than I thought and we enjoyed a nice cool day in the pines playing radio. Thanks to everyone for the Q’s and we’ll see you next year.

Equipment:
KX2 at 5W
52ft endfed up in the trees with 12ft counterpoise

73,
Quinton NU7Y




N5GW

Since skeeters don't fly very well in the rain, a morning shower forced me to cancel my planned portable operation. So I returned to the shack & fired up the K1 to a pair of CFZ's & had a good time in a much more comfortable spot!



K3RLL



It was a wonderful day in the neighborhood near Distant PA, ASL 1450’ with temps in the 70s and low humidity. Station was KX3, LiPO battery, and Palm Paddle talking to 31’ 9:1 Unun base loaded vertical.  Other than the return, yet again, of the gentleman who rides his mower around my antenna every year to discourage “that thingie in the air that is killing my grass”, it was a great day with surprisingly good signals considering the propagation report. Eventually the mower noise won out but not before two enjoyable hours swatting RF skeeters. 

No water bonus again this year as it’s hard to find a river or significant body of water up on a hill around here. (SMILE)   72/73 … Don




WB5CTS

I had a blast ! A lot of QRP signals and worked 11 SPC including 2 VE's in just 2 short hours. 20 m was great but, man the QSB was like a roller coaster here in NM. A guy could almost get motion sickness. :-)

My deepest appreciation to you and the NJQRP for your time and effort in making this a wonderful event.

Station:  WB5CTS operating mobile with a mag-mount  "shorty" 20m hamstick 5W on a Tahoe.

72/73  Hutch
WB5CTS
ABQ, NM




N8BB






I had lots of fun with the skeeters. Think the gnats outnumbered them but still had fun. Most of my difficulties were my cats wanting in on the fun.



AD4S




All of my Qs were Skeeters. Operated on the banks of Lake Sidney Lanier in North Georgia. Used my K1 the first 2 hours and my KX1 the second half.  I built both of these rigs early in their life cycle. I have a couple of pix for the operating site that I will send when I get back to my home station.

I would quantify the conditions as "abysmal".....!!!!!  All the Qs were on 40 meters.  I wasted a lot of time trying to find a contact and calling CQ on 20 meeters.

Pickett, AD4S




K9DXA





A nice day here on the shore of Long Lake in Lac du Flambeau, WI. Almost an identical number of QSOs on 20M and 40M. Band conditions were pretty good. Propagation was generally poor westward, but very nice to the east and south. Rig was a K2 and antennas were two inverted vees. There should be bonus points for actually working W2LJ. Thank you for banging your signals off my antennas! Another great year for Skeeter bites. 72, Harry K9DXA



AB9CA




This one turned out to be more fun than anticipated. I decided to use a simple setup - a link vertical/Inv-L that is resonant on 15/20/30/40. It needs only a couple of 20' crappie poles to get it up. Easy setup and tear down. It is a straight up vertical on 15 & 20 but is bent over above the 20m link to become an Inv-L on 30 and 40. I
live in amongst some tall trees and feared they would interfere with the signal. Did not seem to have much effect.

The rig was my K1 at 5w. I built this one back around 2001 or 2002. It has given excellent service. Used its auto tuner to trim out any small mismatch. Power was a 10 pack of AA NiMH cells. These lasted the entire event despite frequently calling CQ. According to the K1's power meter they were still delivering 5w at the end.

For the first time in a long time, a band other than 20 was the most active. The count of 20 Q's on 20 (with 12 SPC's) was exceeded by the 34 Q's on 40 (with 14 SPC's). Total SPC's for the event was 21 if counted once per the event (as the rules call for).

Since 40 was the main band there were not a lot of long distance Q's. Did work TX, CO, NM, and CA on 20. Heard AC7A in AZ briefly but not long enough to complete.

Thanks to everyone for an enjoyable afternoon. And a special THANKS! goes to Larry for doing the work to make it possible!

73 de dave
ab9ca



N5DM

It was great fun, but I made a poor location choice. The skeeters and other flying varmints were trying to carry me away and I forgot to bring some OFF. Because of that, I only played about 1.5 hours. Thanks to all who anwered me! 72 Dave



W3HZZ

Bands were very dead at 2PM. Some action picked up on 20 but QSB was unpredictable and had to work W2LJ just to make sure I had worked him. Only two contacts on 40m; it never opened up.

Used the KX2 for the first time in a contest with a PAR End-Fed 40/20 antenna tossed up in a tree.  Temperature around 90, but there was an occasional breeze and constant threat of thunderstorm that never materialized.

Fun event, although next year need to consider using a different call since I am sure that my sending W3HZZ was confused with BZZ....

Thanks Larry!
Phil, W3HZZ





KD3CA

Was great to work you   Larry     559/ 579   NJ   # 13  17:29      7.039  ( from my log.)
Was great fun , hope to do it again , Many thanks to you and all that put in the time for this event.  Perhaps I will cu again in the skcc, naqcc, or Fists  sprints.
 Best 73    KD3CA      Don




WD8RIF








Josh Cash, KE8EAS, operated at the same park using our own callsigns, our own Skeeter Numbers, and our own gear.

A full write-up of my adventure can be found here:
http://wd8rif.com/skeeter2018.htm.

I've attached some photos.

Thanks for the great event!

73,

Eric
http://wd8rif.com/radio.htm




AB4PP








That was a nice fun event for me.

I got out of Church and went home and changed clothes to be relaxed for the event. I set up on a pond at a friends house.  He has a floating dock with a picnic table on it. I arrived 30 minutes early and set up my 88' doublet, using a short 25 foot mast, strapped to the table and the antenna strung out in the N/S fashion in the trees. Using a very light wire I was able to use 4 ounce sinkers and monofilament to get them up in the limbs.  I checked the antenna with a new Rig Expert AA 54 analyzer and saw
that I need to make some changes to that antenna. I did use a new 4:1 current balun vs a voltage balun I have been using for years. I have not used it for a long time. Lesson learned.

I set up the KX3, hooked up the battery and started the chase. Started out with 13.8V on the battery and ended up with 12.5 so that battery did not drain as much as others.  Used a new LIPO battery. I did the S&P method for the most part.  I did sit several times and call CQ.  Most stations were very strong and a few were just bearly audible but I made contact with some of them and gave fair reports on the way they sounded.  Noise was at a minimum but the storms were coming this way and I could hear the static crashes on 40 and 20. I called CQ on 15 and 10 and got no responses so I gave up on those two bands and stuck with 40 and 20.

A big plus sitting on that dock was watching the dragon flies light on the water and the bass jump up and grab them and make big splashes in the water. I tried to add some pictures but I guess they were just too big to send. I had bad weather coming and packed up a little early to get to the truck. I did manage 3 1/2 hours.

Thanks to all who copied me.

de AB4PP as WQ4RP
72/73




2018 NJQRP Skeeter Hunt Soapbox - Page 2