I’m glad I didn’t participate in the Florida QSO Party this year.

It seems that someone couldn’t follow the contest rules and decided to go out and make contacts as a mobile station during the Florida QSO Party this past weekend.

I’m not going to be critical of that person’s actions of leaving their home, driving on some roads, and then parking by themselves and operating their radio from the standpoint of violating a stay at home order or endangering the health of others. I’d be happy to make the argument that no one’s health was compromised nor was any law or order that could pass a Constitutional challenge violated.

The issues I’m raising here in my post are only related to the FQP and the integrity and application of it’s rules and not the larger issue that forced the rules changes for this year’s contest. I’m also not critical about the fact the rules were changed for this year. I think the FQP organizers got out in front of the issue and made a good decision to change the rules for 2020.

My first issue is with the individual operator who decided on his own that he was going to go out and operate mobile in the FQP despite the rules saying there was to be no mobile entries. After the fact he offered the justification that his log was turned in as a check log only, and that his actions resulted in some other participants getting some FL counties in their logs which they likey otherwise wouldn’t have contacted. That’s all beside the point. The point is that he decided that the rule didn’t apply to him.

My second issue has to do with the reaction from the FQP folks on their mailing list. Instead of saying something like “you shouldn’t have done that, we can’t support breaking the rules, and the contacts you made will be removed from the other parties scores” they instead offered congratulations and thanks. They chastised the people who did raise objections and point out the issues on their mailing list. This sends the wrong message and holds up a bad example.

Contesting in amateur radio relies very much on both the integrity of the individual operators as well as that of the contest organizers. I’m thankful to have not participated nor supported this event in 2020.

Making amateur radio contacts from a van in Florida during the New England QSO Party

It’s not been that long since I was began operating amateur radio equipment from my van and I’m still working out ways to make it better.

This past weekend there was a ham radio contest involving stations located in the New England states and those outside the area. I decided to try and make some contacts from my van parked in Florida during the New England QSO Party.

Amateur Radio equipment setup inside a van

Using an antenna on the top of my van, and ham radio equipment setup on a folding table inside the back of the van I attempted to make contacts with other amateur radio operators. I’ve decided not to permanently install radios or furniture in the rear of my cargo van so as to mitigate theft concerns and also to allow for maximum flexibility in how I use it.

The photo above shows an Icom IC-7100 transceiver being used with an LDG AT100ProII automatic antenna tuner. Down on the floor of the van there’s a Powerwerx battery box containing a Bioenno Power LFP battery for use as a power source. There’s a small Renogy LED light sitting on top of the tuner but it’s not being used at the time of the photo.

During the contest I made 3 contacts with stations in New England using the microphone of my radio to send the sound of my voice. This mode is called Phone in general and I was specifically using single sideband (SSB). The photo above shows the radio set to 7.248 MHz which is in the 40 meter amateur band but the contacts I made were using the 20 meter amateur band. 2 stations were in Rhode Island and 1 was in New Hampshire.

Three contacts isn’t that good of a result even for only a short time of operating. I also wanted to try a different mode of operating that uses a computer attached to my amateur radio station to generate a signal for transmission and to also decode the signals from other stations that I can receive.

A notebook PC setup for logging ham contacts

I had placed a notebook PC on the table in the back of my van and was using it for logging the contacts I made into the N1MM+ software application. While some ham operators prefer to use pencil and paper for logging most have been using computers in recent times.

On this same PC I have installed a program called WSJT-X which is an application that allows for amateur radio operators to use a variety of digital modes to contact others. I ran this program using a mode called FT8 and was able to contact a number of stations including those in the states of Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, North Dakota, and Montana. I also contacted stations in Puerto Rico, Mexico and Ecuador.

In the photo above you can see the black and red colored Renology LED light and powerbank that is connected to the small fan on the table below it. This does a good job of lighting my keyboard and moving some air around inside the van if I have the windows covered and the doors shut. I also have a number of spare bungee cords hanging up in the back in case I need them.

Making contacts using some radio frequencies requires reflecting the signals off upper layers of the Earth’s atmosphere and having them return to the surface at a distant location. This mechanism is influenced by Space Weather. Here’s to hoping for better conditions tomorrow.

Ford Transit Connect gas mileage – My first tank

I recently refilled the gas tank of my 2015 Ford Transit Connect cargo van for the first time. This was the first full tank of gas that I’ve used since I purchased this used vehicle. I was counting on the smaller size and the smaller engine to deliver better MPG than a full size van.

Ford Transit Connect cargo van

This tank had a mix of highway driving as well as city and also some stop and go traffic. My primary car is a plug-in hybrid so I think I have developed a pretty good sense of how to drive smoothly for higher mileage but this was going to be the first check on how that translated to the 2.5 liter four cylinder engine and 6 speed automatic transmission used in this van.

Gas pump readings

I waited until the gas gauge was down into the red zone above empty, essentially the same place it was when I filled up the tank just after purchasing it. 12.269 gallons of regular unleaded was replaced.

Simple display in Ford Transit Connect XL

The rather simple dash display on the Ford Transit Connect XL model showed 321.2 miles on the trip odometer since I had last refilled the gas tank. Some quick math tells me that I got over 26 miles per gallon. I think the estimation of 393 miles for a full tank of gas in this vehicle is probably pretty close to reality. I reset the trip odometer after the tank was filled and this photo was taken so that I can check my next tank’s mileage.

This is also in line with the EPA MPG estimates found on the sales literature for this vehicle when it was new. I’m glad that it still does that after 109k miles. I should note that I didn’t use the AC all of the time and the back of the van was lightly loaded.

Folks who are considering the “van life” will probably like the better gas mileage a small van like the Ford Transit Connect offers but will have to decide whether the lack of space when compared to a full size van is something they can live with.