Summer time, and the hamming is easy…
Wait, don’t do it! We’re too young to…no-o-o-o-o-o-!
Ya gotta love summer. It’s a great time to take ham radio on the road. Some events for your calendar this summer – but not too many, you probably have a bunch of your own planned!
July 6-8: Lobstercon. This has become one of my favorite outings, although I don’t make it every year. This year, however, it’s on. A great weekend with QRPers from all over the Northeast and eastern Canada at a campground outside of Brunswick, ME. The highlight of highlights? An on-the-spot lobster boil, for which typically there are seconds! The meal is dominated by the two major food groups: Lobster and brownies. You can’t go wrong.
July 29: The Flight of the Bumble Bees. This annual event is sponsored by the Adventure Radio Society. They’re handing out bumble-bee numbers (I’ve snagged No. 34.) Check out the event at the society’s website, grab a number, and join the fun.
Aug. 12: The New Jersey QRP Club’s first annual “Skeeter Hunt,” another operate-from-the-field sprint with bonus points for using homebrew gear or radios you built from a kit. For details, check out W2LJ’s blog.
Aug. 24-26: ARRL’s New England Regional Convention in Boxboro, MA. This comes around every two years, and for those of us in New England who can’t make it to Dayton for the ultimate annual conclave, this will work.
Sept. 15: Chowdercon and the New England QRP Club’s QRP Afield event. It’s a great way to close out the summer — a day of operating radios and feasting on seafood in the environs of Four Tree Island at Portsmouth, NH.
Now, if I only could wangle the summer off from work with no hit to my salary. If I figure out that one, you’ll be the first to know!
