Copasetic Flow

 Did you know there's a Morse keying world championship? Neither did I, but Martin, a ham radio op from the UK does. He's compiled a list of episodes from the BBC Sounds podcast that leans into the radio-esque, but contains other interesting topics including a family who, well.. here's a quote from Martin's blog: In 1966, Roy Bates occupied a disused military platform in the North Sea, and moved his family aboard.The next year he declared it to be the sovereign Principality of Sealand. Martin also did a cool thing and started a list of internet links referred to in the GQRP Sprat journal . It looks like it would be a lot of work, but it's a welcome relief from typing in addresses from the printed pages of the journal. I love that the journal is printed by the way, don't get me wrong.

 Project TouCans has had a big couple of months! It received a certificate of commendation in the GQRP building contest, as well as fourth place in the QRP division at the California QRP party! Both of these things surprised me a bit. I've been inundated since junior high school with the 'QRP can't do much' schtick, and well? It just ain't true!  TouCans is strung up on a dipole stretching from our roof to a wood pole mounted on our back fence. (Mota, the 11 year-old, and I levered a construction clamp over the lip of the roof using a broom handle from the kitchen window. I did all the window leaning... It was an adventure.) I didn't even realize the QSO party was the weekend it was, and yet that little pineapple can based rig came in pretty close to third! KO6BTY and I were also tickled pink to receive Certificates of Commendation in the GQRP construction competition! We've done a lot of work on the rig bringing it to it's completely wireless state a fe...

The gang and I were out camping for five weeks this summer. I'm finally getting a chance to take the time to write, and to look at old pictures, so you'll be hearing more about all of this, but a post on the GQRP group this morning asked about using radios without enclosures, driving me to this particular topical niche of our camping trip first.  The GQRP poster mused about using either a plastic enclosure for a radio, or no enclosure at all. The 12 year-old here, Daize, and I had discussed mounting a radio on its battery a few times at the start of this year. As it happened, we had an extra Rockmite 20 laying around, so right before we went out for our camping trip, we moved the radio out of its case and onto its battery, this was mostly done to reduce voltage drop between the battery and the radio since the Rockmite is typically mounted at the antenna feedpoint when we're out and about. Here's the rockmite about to be launched with the antenna: and here it is up with...