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
| 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
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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
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| 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
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| 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
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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 to everyone for the fine QSO’s
72 de Gary
W0ITT |
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| 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! |
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| 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. |
| 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 |
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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 |
| 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 |
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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 |
| 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 |
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| Lots of fun, lots of very
weak signals and lots of folks that don't listen before they call
CQ--CU next year! |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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. |
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| 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 |
| 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! |
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| 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 |
| 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 |
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| 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. |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
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| 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 |
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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 |
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| 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 |