Tennessee QSO Party this Sunday SUNDAY SUNDAY!!!!

It's that time of year, again, the Tennessee QSO Party is about to happen, and this year I'm going to be doing it a bit different.

Most times I've operated from home during the party, however this year, I'm tagging along with a couple of friends and we're going to go mobile, operating along county lines to work stations and hopefully make a lot of contacts and points. We'll be using my callsign (K4HSM) during the event.

Jim, N4UHZ, Chuck, K4KKH, and I are going to hit the road in Jim's truck and gallivant across upper East Tennessee to make as many contacts as possible in the course of the 9 hours that the contest is active (Sunday, September 6, 2-11PM Eastern Time, or 1800z Sunday, September 6 until 0300z Monday, September 7, 2015) enjoying the views and the camaraderie as we trek across a few of the highways and by-ways of Tennessee.

I will be trying to update our progress via Twitter (@k4hsm) and I hope we'll be talking to you on the air!

The rules and such are here.

We'll try to operate from Hamblen, Grainger, Hancock, Claiborne, and Hawkins counties, and perhaps Greene, Jefferson, and Knox if there's time. We'll be mainly on voice but if we can get digital to work (PSK31) we may get that going as well. Jim's got D-Star but we're not sure how it will work, since no repeater QSO's are allowed.

Wish us luck!

What if you had a Field Day and didn't care if anyone attended?

Two of the last three Field Day's I have attended, one was operated under my callsign last year. The other two were at a club site I'm not a member of (don't want to give out their name) and I spent a grand total of one hour visiting, and both times I got to operate a grand total of zero minutes.

Part of the reason is that I didn't show up until close to midnight. Part of the reason being I watched my kids and the wife was working. Another that it was freaking HOT, as it usually is around this time of the year the last weekend of June.

The first of these 2 times was 3 years ago. I'd visited this site several times before. A friend of mine had a camper there and so when I would come he'd gladly take a break and let me operate. I'd stay until 3-4am operating (I'm a night owl) and would rack up many contacts/points for the club.

3 years ago, however, I showed up and either my friend closed up for the night or wasn't there at all. When I arrived, no one was around to talk to at this lakeside area, so I couldn't find out who was where. The campers that were there, I didn't want to just walk in as these were campers where people slept, and the lights were out on all of them. I felt like I was intruding and left. It took an hour to get there, and less than 15 minutes later, I was going back home.

Last year we operated from a campground and had a good time, but couldn't get the troops rallied for this year. I decided to give the previous place another try. Unfortunately I couldn't get there earlier than intended, and once again I arrived at midnight. This time, our friend's camper wasn't there, and no one there knew why. My friend and I did go in to one of the campers and PSK31 and 40m voice was in operation. But the stations didn't want to give up the radios to let others operate. Not even an offer of "come see how this works", just basically working the radios oblivious to our presence. We just stood there looking (and being) bored.

The other camper set up had the lights out...again, and the VHF (6m) station was shut off after the band died. The one station from Texas we heard abruptly yelled "YOU'RE A DUPE!!!!" when the operator made a call to him.

Once again I felt that, even though there were friendlier folks there this time around, we were in the way. I left after about 30 minutes, vowing never to return.

This club (among others) tend to forget Field Day is 24 hours, not just 10 hours active, 6 hours slow, and 8 hours active. Some people like myself can't be there until late, when you would think they would be desperate for operators. I operated one year from Oak Ridge and some of the best operating was from 2-6AM, and we got so punchy that stations were not sure if they were listening to Field Day ops, or a bunch of morning show DJs. But we kept it legal and clean...and fun. And the stations calling us were enjoying the show.

Unfortunately I don't know anyone at the Oak Ridge club anymore, and the club environment for me is a touchy subject as it is, and the only reason I went to the lake was because some friends were there, or at least they used to be.

I thought Field Day was supposed to be a welcoming committee and a public event, but several times over the years I didn't feel welcome. With people not knowing who I was (often a good thing) I was made to feel like an outsider.

Back in 1999, I oversaw a Field Day event for a club, and one thing I absolutely ensured was that anyone who showed up at any time was greeted, made to feel welcome, and that people were allowed to operate when it was possible, with no "hogging" of the radios. It was one of the most successful Field Days that club had experienced in years.

I wonder why no one else follows that plan of attack these days?

Postcard/QSL card request

I'm looking for QSL and postcards from across the country!!!

I did this a couple of years ago when Lauren was in 3rd Grade but I didn't post it on here. Now, my younger daughter Amber is in 3rd Grade and they're asking for postcards from across the country. I'd like to ask my ham aficionados (and anyone else who catches this) to send postcards or QSL cards from their state.

This "postcard race" is going on for the next couple of weeks, and they accepted QSL cards as postcards then, and they will now!

List some "fun fact" about the state on the back of the card and the card will be added to a map they use and they'll mark off the state the card is from.

Send the QSL/Postcard to the following address, and please let me know!

Ms. Pipkin, 3rd Grade

c/o Amherst Elementary School

5101 Schaad Rd

Knoxville, TN 37931

E-mail me at gregk4hsm at gmail dot com and let me know it's on its way so I can have my daughter look for it in the morning mail!

Thanks in advance!

CQ the Fark.com QSO party Saturday!

In addition to working the Titanic Special Event this weekend, a web site I frequent for much of my news and funny things, Fark.com, has a few hams in the group, and they're getting on the air this Saturday afternoon!

Host:	dittybopper
Description:	FARK Ham Radio QSO Party - 04/09/11 17:00 - 22:00 UTC
Date/Time:	April 9, 2011 - 01:00 - 6:00PM (Eastern time)
Party Info:	FARK QSO Party on Saturday the 9th from 17:00 UTC to 22:00 UTC. Suggested frequencies are 7.260, 14.260, 21.360, and 28.360 MHz +/- QRM. Call "CQ FARK DOT COM QSO Party". Exchange is callsign, report, and your FarkName (or Fark Account Number if your FarkName is inappropriate for over the air use). /Extra bonus points for CW contacts on 7.060, 14.060, 21.060, or 28.060

So if you're a fellow Farker like me, then get out there and let's hear ya!

BTW: My nickname is "redwing"!

Morse Code keyer manufacturer moving to Knoxville

Today I found that Scott Robbins, W4PA was buying Vibroplex and moving the company here to Knoxville.

I met Scott at a RACK meeting several years back. He was working at Ten-Tec and was notorious as a contester (before retiring last year).

He was the guest speaker and gave an example recording showing how he can use two radios simultaneously to make contacts during contests. While tuning with one radio, he's making a contact on another. I don't know what he did for writing down the contacts...

It's good to know that there's some economic boost around here. Even if it's "ancient technology". Wonder if he's hiring?

Two new hams in my family?

On the way home from visiting family, I talked to my daughters (ages 8 and 6) and asked them "so, would you like to learn how to be a ham operator?" and enthusiastically, both answered "yes" repeatedly until I told them I got it.

It made me feel good to know they were both interested. Already, I'm thinking about those applications to the ARRL for scholarships in 10 years...better keep my membership current!!!

It's not too terribly surprising, really, at least for the older of the two. Lauren's been listening to me talk on the radio during Field Day (the above picture was taken when she was two), launch balloons, and even read off a weather warning during a recent SKYWARN net.

I'm glad this is one thing that runs in the family. Not just my wife and I, but my wife's youngest sister also had her license at age 13. Supposedly my father-in-law had one but he was more into CB than ham radio, mainly because he didn't like power limitations...

Some friends of ours from Bristol, TN have a son who go his ticket about a year or so ago. He's active in their SKYWARN group and likes it thus far.

So now I have at least one who's looking to get ticketed soon, my other one, Amber, I'm not so sure of, at least not yet. Granted, if she got her license it would be big news around here since she's 6 (7 in a couple of weeks) and to have both of them licensed might turn a few heads. Question is, how do I teach them, and how will they administer the exam?

I'll probably start online and look over the sample questions, then talk with them about what this means, or what that indicates, or how something works, etc. Then we'll see if they're still interested. Between Brownie Scouts, school and the possibility I may become a soccer mom before too long, I don't know if I'll keep their attention long enough to get their ham tickets.

I know that the VEs can administer an oral exam, which they'll have to do for Amber since she's not reading at that level yet, and probably give one to Lauren. Even though she's an excellent reader, she sometimes has issues with the comprehension, and I don't want her to just memorize the questions and answers, I want them to understand why something works this way or that.

Like all things around here, time will tell if I succeed or not. If I do, George will have the exclusive on that story...

Post-Field Day

Another Field Day has passed. I ended up with the Smoky Mtn club for the overnight shift.

I joined up with my friends Jason (KF4VDX), Tom (KE4WFJ) and Dwight (KI4RRI) and we convoyed up to their site called "Shorty's Lake".

We got there around 11PM as we had watched a fireworks show from Maryville's "Freedom Fest" over at Jason's. We checked out SMARC's new trailer where they had 2 CW stations running.

Two other campers had a 6m station and the voice HF station. They apparently had some issues earlier in the day, with a generator and an HF rig dying, and a thunderstorm shutting down ops for about an hour and the winds knocked over a couple of antennas. By the time we arrived it was clear skies and cool temps.

After grabbing some leftover burgers and hot dogs, we checked out the HF station in David, KE4FGW's camper. It seemed there weren't that many contacts being made on 40m and when I got in there, I found they were using an FT-100D Yaesu, same as my radio at home.

I quickly found two things wrong. One is that the station was operating at a 24 watt maximum, and the second was that the SWR indicator was coming on intermittently.

We attached a tuner and things weren't that much better. I couldn't land on a frequency to be the "fox", and ended up being the "hound" for much of my remaining time there. Many contacts were having to ask for our callsign (W4OLB) and/or our report (4A TN), or they'd just give up and move on to another, more louder station.

I wasn't as successful as I had hoped, but Field Day is like that. You adapt, improvise, and (occasionally) overcome the obstacles.

I took a membership application and will probably join. I doubt I'll be very active, like I was with other clubs in the area. It seems my track record is not very good with clubs for some reason. With the RACK club it was just a butting of heads against the "establishment". With METERS it was an objection to the inevitable requirements being lain by the ARRL to require hams in Tennessee to take mandatory EmComm training (something I am fiercely opposed to because of the fact they want volunteers to pay to volunteer their time, but I'll save that for later), and with a couple of others it was personal conflicts.

So naturally I'm a little wary about joining. I don't want to get caught up in politics or personal conflicts or anything that'sgoing to end up alienating any more friends. If I do join as a member, I will not be very active if at all, except to participate in Field Day.

Then again, I said that about the other clubs I joined.

Field Day and all that jazz

Field Day is upon us this week. It's one of my favorite activities, however, this year I am orphaned on Field Day unless I can find a club or group willing to bring me in.

My first taste of HF came on a Field Day in 1994. the local radio club had their Field Day and I was pretty keyed up about it. I stayed for almost the entire 24 hours, camping out in the back of my pickup overnight and went from a novice contester to a near-pro in those 24 hours.

I love contesting but don't have enough morse code experience to really take maximum advantage of the points on a Field Day outing. Basically Field Day and the Tennessee QSO Party are my two big contest events.

The TN QSO party used to fall on my wedding anniversary's weekend. Now it's a couple weeks earlier and I can actually participate.

I've promised myself I would bone up on my code skills. I was able to copy 13 wpm back when General Class licensees needed 13 wpm for their license. I've just never had a code key for use on CW. I've got a straight key, but I'm not comfortable with using one.

I've done many a Field Day under my call sign, but some CW guys said it got a little tiresome hearing my callsign in CW. Lotsa dits in those letters.

I've had the best and worst of times with Field Day. I've had one of them at my home, two at a friend's house, and others with various clubs. I spearheaded a Field Day with the club I got my first taste of Field Day with, but there were issues with that one that I choose not to talk about.

Another Field Day was held at a site where we used my callsign. About an hour into the event (it's technically not a contest) a bus pulled up and some guys from ORNL who have their own group of hams were coming to do their own Field Day from the same site. Apparently there was a small mixup and they were told by the park service the site was "already reserved for them" when it fact the operator thought they were with the group I was in.

But it was no big deal. They joined up with us and they ran the CW. We contacted all but one section in North America thanks to them.

We had a very good Field Day and planned to do it again the following year, but politics and a couple of friends breaking up kinda got in the way of that idea. So I did the right thing and stepped away. I went to another club's Field Day and had a better time.

I'm not sure why, but politics seems to follow me everywhere, and the harder I try to avoid it, the more I get caught up in it. I can't get away from it no matter how hard I try sometimes. But I move on and go to the next better thing. It was due to politics I didn't participate in a couple of Field Days at all.

This year I just don't know where to go for Field Day. There's two clubs I refuse to participate with, one club that no longer does it, one group that screwed themselves when they picked the wrong guy to judge as the "problem", and I don't have enough equipment to operate as a home station (class D) much less on emergency power (class E) nor Mobile (class C).

I may hook up with the group I went to last year for a few hours. I tend to get involved in the overnight ops since a lot of people who stop in tend to stay after dark.

In any case, be listening for me. If you're participating overnight, I'll be the one in Tennessee getting loopy at around 4 AM begging for contacts, or having a "morning show" mentality with anyone who's left with me to write down the contacts I make. That tends to bring the contacts out of the woodwork.