by William Eric McFadden
Description
Eric McFadden, WD8RIF, participated during the last three hours of the New England QRP Club QRP Afield from Highland Park in Athens, Ohio. He was joined by Drew McDaniel, W8MHV/9M2MC, and Mike Hansgen, AA8EB, although neither Drew nor Mike operated this event.
Eric arrived on-site about 5pm and quickly erected the W3EDP and set up his QRP Station in a Bag. He didn't try hard to make QSOs, but instead used this event as a chance to continue experimenting with the W3EDP antenna and the recently-built ScQRPions "N7VE LED SWR Indicator". Nevertheless, over about two hours, Eric made ten QSOs on 15, 20, and 40 meters. The W3EDP performed well and tuned easily on these bands, but failed to tune on 80 meters. The N7VE indicator worked well on 15 and 20 meters but was found to be useless on 40 meters because of the metal cabinet of the MFJ-901B, into which Eric had installed the indicator.
Despite the problems found with the W3EDP and his implentation of the N7VE SWR Indicator, this was a very fun event, and Eric looks forward to next year!
Score
| Number of QSOs | 10 |
| points/QSO | 4 (field location) |
| power multipler | 2 (1 - 5 watts) |
| S/P/C multiplier | 7 |
| Total | 560 points |
Station:
- Index Labs QRP+ at 5 watt
- 10Ah gel cell
- Idiom Press Super CMOS II keyer
- Whiterook paddle
- W3EDP antenna
Reports of other QRP Afield efforts:
- Colorado QRP Club's Report with pictures
(return)