Last night’s meeting was all about the “business end” of the QSO… the
hardware we use for sending the code. Namely: bugs, straight keys, and
paddles.
Our featured speaker was long-time member Derek Cohn, WB0̷TUA. Derek
is an avid collector of keying instruments, particularly that of the
landline telegraphers of days gone by. He’s not only a collector, but
quite the historian.
Derek WB0̷TUA, seated behind a few of the
keys he’d brought to show to the membership.
Members were asked to bring their favorite bug, paddle, or straight
key, and be ready to tell a little about it. Participation was very good
🙂 Several members enjoyed asking Derek about their prized favorites and
hearing a little more about their design and history.
At this year’s annual Holiday Dinner, SLQS co-founder Keith Arns,
KC0̷PP, was recognized for his many years of service to the club. Dave
Gauding NF0̷R presented Keith with a certificate of appreciation,
thanking him for his 32 years of service to the club. Keith also
received a beautiful straight key, mounted on a handsome wooden base,
hand-crafted by Larry Naumann N0̷SA.
Dave NF0̷R presenting Certificate of
Appreciation on behalf of Tom W0̷MFQ and SLQS club members for 32 years
of service excellence
Dave began by reading a message from Tom Brown W0̷MFQ, who was unable
to attend, but who had led the recognition project, and had created the
framed certificate signed by fellow club members.
The certificate recognized Keith “In appreciation for 32 years of
exceptional leadership and editorial excellence to the St. Louis QRP
Society.” Tom mentioned in his remarks (read by Dave) that after last
year’s award to Dave NF0̷R, he knew that Keith should receive similar
thanks, as he was “equally a co-founder of the club.”
Dave went on: “The club is where it is today because of Keith. He has
been a leader from the day we started. He’s been a meeting master of
ceremonies for many years… and doing The Peanut Whistle (the club
newsletter) at the same time. The Peanut Whistle that we got a couple of
days ago was the 372nd issue. That’s a lot of newsletters! And Keith’s
fingerprints are on every one of them. It comes every month like
clockwork.”
Thank you, Keith, for your tireless and steadfast efforts in making
SLQS what it is today!
Keith KC0̷PP proudly displaying his new
straight key trophy, hand-crafted by Larry Naumann N0̷SA
Come one, come all, to SLQS’ annual “Tailgate Meeting” on Wednesday,
September 19. There’s no charge and it’s open to anyone. Bring that
radio “stuff” that’s looking for a new home; also be sure to slip a few
extra bucks in the wallet before you leave home. You never know what
you’ll find!
Aside from the browsing of other hams’ junk treasures, there will be
plenty of time to talk radio, and to play radio. There’s at least one
picnic table that becomes a “micro Field day” site for the evening. Got
a portable rig or antenna you care to show? Bring it and let’s get it on
the air!
There will be grilled bratwurst and chips available for a nominal fee
while supply lasts (and they go fast!). Please bring your own
beverages.
If you’re curious about our hobby… if you are interested in learning
more about electronics, learning how to build and solder kits,
discovering how we can have so much fun using low power and (gasp!)
Morse code… stop by and introduce yourself.
We will meet once again in Creve Coeur Lake Park, in a parking lot
that is perfect for this event. Here’s a pair of URLs, both of which
will take you to a Google Maps page pointing to the meeting
location:
Tonight’s meeting is a “regular” meeting, in that we begin things at
Denny’s at I-270 and McDonnell Blvd. at 6:00pm. This is optional, but
everyone’s welcome. It’s a good time for extended discussion prior to
the meeting.
Then we’ll move along to the meeting proper, which begins at 7:30pm
and takes place on the campus of Florissant Valley Community College.
Details and a map are always available under the “Meeting Info” tab
above.
Our meetings are open, and you’re welcome to join us. What do we do
at meetings? Generally the format is an open roundtable, with
show-and-tell. Folks pass around projects they’ve completed (or are
working on). It’s a good time for Q&A — if you’re looking for
opinions, a group of hams is never lacking for those 🙂
Tonight I’m going to bring my first QRP kit: a Backpacker II from
Tejas RF. And I’ll also bring my St. Louis Tuner. Plus (and most
importantly) I’m bringing the assembly/operation manuals for both. Turns
out I have an old friend who’s getting radio-active once again, and he
has mis-placed his manuals. I had to do some serious digging, but I
managed to find ’em. It all caused a great wave of nostalgia here. Lots
of fun.
There will be lots of other things to see and discuss tonight. Please
join us if you can!
Another SLQS Field Day is a wrap — and in my opinion, it was once
again a great event. Everything from the pre-planning, the antenna “dry
runs,” setup, operation, the food, the weather, and the wrap-up… it was
great!
We were active on 6, 10, 15, 20, 40, and 80 meters at various times
throughout the event. Saturday conditions were lackluster on the higher
bands; 15 in particular was awfully quiet. But Sunday morning was
another story; we worked quite a few stations on 10m after the sun came
up.
This year we tried something
new for a 20m antenna — a 2-element single-mast wire beam that Larry
N0SA had found. It had a pretty big footprint, but it worked well. It
was neat to turn the control switch and hear stations get stronger.
Due to the antenna’s size, we’d located the operating position tent
away from the main gazebo. A nice side-effect of this was that the ops
at this position were more comfortable using speakers rather than
headphones, which in turn let visitors and guests listen in. We had
groups of guys operating, dupe checking and logging, and watching the
action. I think this could become a regular feature of our FD setup.
Once again we had a lot of fun, enjoyed great weather, we tried some
new things, and we turned in a respectable score. Heck, we beat last
year’s score!
QSOs + 1,150 bonus points
claimed
Take a look at the photos we captured of the event. Next year please
plan to join us!
Once again the St. Louis QRP Society will have its Field Day events
at O’Connor Park in Bridgeton, MO. You can find us via the ARRL Field Day Station
Locator.
Passing along notice of the upcoming Missouri QSO Party… right around
the corner!
Greeting from the Missouri QSO Party Contest Coordinators, The 2018
Missouri QSO Party is just around the corner, scheduled to occur on
April 7 and 8, 2018.
The St. Louis QRP Society (SLQS) celebrated its 30th anniversary on
November 15, 2017. The club was organized on November 9, 1987 by Dave
Gauding, NF0R and Keith Arns, KC0PP by a gathering of local Hams with an
interest in operating QRP and Homebrewing.
Twenty-five members attended the anniversary dinner. Each member
received a new 30 year ID badge to commemorate the anniversary. Over the
years several members have been honored for exceptional work by
receiving a member of the year award. This year to celebrate 30 years,
the club honored Dave Gauding for his many years of dedication to the
club. Dave was presented a certificate of appreciation. Dave also
received a custom built magnetic loop antenna from the clubs recent
magnetic loop antenna project.
Dave Gauding, NF0R, Receiving Certificate
of Appreciation at the SLQS 30th Anniversary Dinner
When the club was organized, it was decided that the SLQS would
remain a local club and would not compete with the larger national or
international QRP Clubs. The intent of the club is for local Hams to
discuss QRP and technical amateur radio subjects. There are no officers
or a constitution. We keep it simple, and we believe this has led to its
success.
The club has put together many kits over the years ranging from
transmitters, receivers, transceivers, keys, antennas, antenna tuners
and various station accessories. The kits are for members only to keep
it manageable and again not to compete with the larger clubs and kit
suppliers.
The SLQS has many activities throughout the year. Field Day is number
one. We also have the annual picnic, swap night, an occasional fall
outing and anniversary dinner. The club has produced a monthly
newsletter for the past 30 years called The Peanut Whistle. We meet the
third Wednesday of each month at the Florissant Valley Community College
in the 1st floor conference room of the Engineering Building. Everyone
is welcome to join us. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m.
At last! The December QST is out, and that means Field Day results
are finally available.
Guess what?
With everyone’s help, the club earned the top spot in category 4A
Battery this year! How about that! Top spot in our category… I’m
grinning from ear to ear!
Our Field Day event made the paper! Both the St. Louis and the St.
Charles Community News featured an article about Field Day on the front
page of their June 21 issue… and our own Rod WA9GQT made the cover! You
can read the article by clicking the thumbnail below:
