Friday
5
WX looks excellent. I will be at the Baylands starting with lunch. Hiroki AH6CY
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Grouper
2
Not the fish, but an offering from ARRL to 65+ members that purports to pay those active in radio clubs and/or events. Has anyone checked this out? I have Kaiser Senior Advantage. Best, --David KM6RI https://app.hellogrouper.com/p/arrl/faq
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QRPops Zoom Meeting Friday January 3rd
4
Howard Pomerantz is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: QRPops Zoom Meeting Time: Jan 3, 2025 12:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82101935546?pwd=ZaakxN4eTsgbBuZhPRs5Ckdj03x78Q.1 Meeting ID: 821 0193 5546 Passcode: 622423 --- One tap mobile +16694449171,,82101935546#,,,,*622423# US +17207072699,,82101935546#,,,,*622423# US (Denver) --- Dial by your location ? +1 669 444 9171 US ? +1 720 707 2699 US (Denver) ? +1 253 205 0468 US ? +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) ? +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) ? +1 719 359 4580 US ? +1 564 217 2000 US ? +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) ? +1 646 931 3860 US ? +1 689 278 1000 US ? +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) ? +1 305 224 1968 US ? +1 309 205 3325 US ? +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) ? +1 360 209 5623 US ? +1 386 347 5053 US ? +1 507 473 4847 US Meeting ID: 821 0193 5546 Passcode: 622423 Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kbI9D5Y2mb 73 N6POM Howard
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Four Days in May and Hamvention May 16-18 2 rooms left
I just called the Holladay Inn at Fairborn/Dayton (737) 426-7800 to make reservations for FDIM and Hamvention and they only have 2 rooms left at the FDIM price of $179. If you MIGHT be going, think about booking before the last rooms are gone. FDIM takes place at this hotel. Last year I stayed at the this hotel and drove about 20 mins to Xenia High School where there were free shuttles to the Fairgrounds where Hamvention is held. You could park at the fairgrounds but as I was leaving last year I saw a some cars in mud in the parking lots. I'm not 100% sure I am going but at least I have a room if I do. I think the normal rate for this hotel is $204. Joy N6GO
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HAPPY SKN ES NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!
5
Greetings QRPers! I will be on the air sporadically this evening with my K2 and possily the HW-16 if she is in the mood, using the 1979 Vibroplex Champion (last year of production) with a Model A engine block on the swingarm to slow it down. I hope to work you. 73, Eric NF6S ex WD6DBM ?
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Friday, Jan 3
2
WX doesn¡¯t look promising. Unless there is a favorable change, I plan to stay home. Will Howard be able to host a Zoom session? Hiroki AH6CY
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Great Articles
16
Congrats to Connie(W6EFI) and Jeff(AJ6WX) for their interesting and informative articles in the current issue of PAARAgraphs. Things seem to be going well for you, Jeff, at SLAC and I look forward to more adventures of the Industrial Archeologist. K6OKDave
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Dead Cell Phone
5
Can anybody suggest a good cell repair shop. My Google Pixel 5a will not turn on. Fun thing is if I call it, it vibrates so maybe the screen died? Help, Dave W6VYC
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Friday Lunch and Ops
5
Looks like it might be ok for tomorrow. Forecast is for 0% chance of precipitation from 11:00 through 19:00 PST. I am planning to go for lunch and ops. If the forecast changes I will post a Zoom tomorrow morning. Anyone planning to go tomorrow? 73 N6POM Howard
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Getting rid of my FTDX-10
6
First off, my sincerest apologies if this is unwanted traffic. This is sent in good faith and I hope it comes across as such. I've come to the realization that I no longer use my Yaesu FTDX-10 enough to justify keeping it around. I'd rather someone else be able to actually use and enjoy it. I had a blast using it with some of y'all at baylands during my few trips there (first with the handmade PVC loop antenna, and later times with my simpler wolf river coil setup). I've already listed it on facebook at this point, but I wanted to give an opportunity to anyone here if they want to buy it. It still looks basically new and works like new - it's only 2 years old, and I know a few of you have actually used it (if you can recall that long ago). $500 for the FTDX-10 for any QRPops members (I'm listing on FB for $650 for reference). I feel pretty strongly against people using amazing mailing lists like this for sales, but I hope that with such a reduced price this feels more like extending an opportunity and not trying to make a quick buck. Nervously wishing the best, Mitchell (KN6VGL) P.S. I still plan to be involved in radio throughout life, just at a lesser rate. And I know that if and when I decide to get back into HF work it will be with a MUCH smaller unit. That FTDX-10 is so darn big! I can be reached directly at my callsign (KN6VGL) at gmail or via replies here if you feel like pinging the whole group :)
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Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas to all on this group. I read every post with delight. When you post it's a message from an old and dear friend and I treasure it. May the coming year be full of good times and pleasant memories. One of my goals this year is to make it to lunch at the golf course with you guys. Another is to see all of you at Pacificon 2025, which is the 2nd weekend of October. Save the dates. No excuses. Doug, KI6DS
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Excellent video on the QMX
3
Dough & Hiroki, I found an excellent video review and walkthrough of the QRP Labs QMX. It's short, less than 12 minutes, but it covers a lot of territory. Others may be interested. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl68Kgb6dww&t=134s Joy N6GO
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Weather is not great so I will set up a Zoom meeting
5
Howard Pomerantz is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: QRPops Time: Dec 20, 2024 12:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us04web.zoom.us/j/72531381266?pwd=rbbxN6rG1dowlD2SbWIUKWYtHPoxAr.1 Meeting ID: 725 3138 1266 Passcode: 0FgqnV
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Friday
3
I will not be at the Baylands at all. I am en route to Seattle and Victoria, BC. Have fun everyone. See you next year. Hiroki AH6CY
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QMX+
12
Doug, Turning blue wouldn't be good for your heart. I hope your recovery has been on track. I had a mini-disaster yesterday trying to test my QMX+ on the air. The bottom line is that the radio performed very well in receive but I still don't know how well it transmits. The WX was pretty nasty at the Baylands as you may know; cold and very windy, about the worst operating condition I have experienced there. I set up my home-brewed magnetic loop outside my car and I was operating sitting inside the car. The antenna kept falling down. In between re-erecting it and its falling downs, I listened on 20, 17, 15,12 and 10 m. Signals were pretty good on all 4 bands, (The QMX+,as you know, is 10 bands capable including 160 and 6, but I only tested on 4 bands). I heard an LU station on 10 coming in 579. He was working many Ws and I called but he didn't respond. My power was probably about 4 watts and I assume all other stations to which the LU responded were running 100w or higher. When I started to call CQ on 12 when my antenna fell down, this time cracking the tuning capacitor, putting the end to my test. One thing that consumed a lot of my time yesterday was figuring out all the controls. It is more complex than those of the uSDX radios. There is a menu and sub-menus. Getting to some specific functions takes a steep learning curve. It took me nearly half an hour to figure out to activate the CW sidetone, for example. Even though I had read through the operating manual before I left home, it was't easy to operate the radio. On my bench test at home, the radio is putting out 3-5 watts depending on the band. The higher voltage you feed the higher output you get but they don't recommend to go higher than 12v (not even 13.8v, often that's the real voltage you get when you use a 12v power supply.). My 12v LiPo battery pack produces 13.4v when it is freshly recharged. I built a -1.4 voltage dropper using two diodes and inserted it between the battery and the radio. So stay tuned for more testing this thing out. I will be going out of town early next week for a couple of weeks. So I may now have an opportunity to do much more for a few weeks. Hiroki AH6CY On Dec 13, 2024, at 5:57 PM, Doug Hendricks via groups.io <ki6ds1@...> wrote: Hiroki, where is the report for the activation of the qmx+. I'm starting to turn blue from holding my breath. Doug
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Delta loop antenna article
7
For those of you who have seen my portable delta antenna at the Baylands and been wondering about the specs and how I built it, here is the write up. This is a galley proof of the article that will appear in the March 2025 issue of the RadCom magazine. Please do not distribute it outside our group until mid-February. Hiroki AH6CY
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QMX+ Cheat sheet
Regarding the QMX cheat sheet, I just did a search on the QRP-Labs google io site and as on 9/3/23 Han said there is no cheat sheet as yet for the QMX. Joy N6GO
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Friday
12
I plan to be at the Baylands starting with lunch. I am going to try putting on the air a just built QMX+ SDR radio from a kit. It has (sort of) replaced my (tr)uSDX and uSDX+ (both of which I sold.) The QMX is a different from the uSDX series of Chinese made radios. Different hardware and different software, whereas all the uSDX radios share essentially the same circuits and hardware components. The QMX is designed to be all modes but the SSB feature is not yet implemented yet. Just CW and digital modes. Hiroki AH6CY
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Fw: [The122GProject] Update #4 Finally some pricing :)
Want a QRP project that is totally different? VK3AC, VK2XAX and other Aussies have been busy with the next generation design of a radio for 122 and 134GHz. It's based on a chip originally designed for auto radars, but with an added antenna can have range of many miles. Hundreds of hams around the world are using the previous generation board. Basically what you need are the loaded board, a feed horn and that dish from your roof with the Direct TV logo. Also a receiver for 144 MHz. That could be a multi-mode radio or an inexpensive receive only SDR dongle and a laptop. At this time, people are placing orders. Shipment is probably summer of 2025. FYI, the world record for amateur contact on 122GHz is held by locals using the earlier chip. Mt Vaca to Mt Umunhum on a day with very low humidity. ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Tim - VK2XAX <vk2xax@...> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, December 1, 2024 at 03:44:19 PM PST Subject: [The122GProject] Update #4 Finally some pricing :) Hi all, Good news, we have pricing :) Made board = $419 USD PCB only = $3 USD Conical Horn = $42 USD Chaparral feed = $21 USD IMU Horn = $21 USD Coupler = $10 USD Current Estimated lead time is 31 weeks from order placement. This is due to the OCXO being a bit special and having a lead time on supply of 29 weeks. So... Lets all have a think about our requirements and let me know if you want to adjust your interest quantities. Interest sheet is here... 122/134GHz interest I'll get a last quote in the first week of February to cater for any changes in quantities but I don't expect the pricing to change too much. cheers Tim -- VK2XAX : QF68KM : ITU59 : CQ30 : ORARC : WIA
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Friday
6
I will be at the Baylands starting with lunch at Bay Cafe. Hope to see many of you. Both the WX and CONDX are looking good. Hiroki AH6CY
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