[today’s run: 3.4 miles]
In the winter the QRP Fox Hunt is on 80 meters and 40 meters, twice weekly.
In the summer it is on 20 meters on Thursday nights at 0100 UTC. (That would be 0100 UTC Friday, but it is Thursday Night local time.)
Last night was the first of the hunts and I did pretty well. It took me about 20 minutes to contact both of the “fox” stations.
I’m using my Willamette transceiver, a design by NT7S which was a group build project of the qrp-l mailing list 5 or so years ago. The thing has a really nice and clear receiver on it. The passband is pretty wide, but for the fox hunt the band usually isn’t that crowded. I put a one-chip keyer in mine and I use the AZ Scorpion mini paddles to run it.
One of these days I’m going to get an Elecraft K2 or a Flex Radio system and just enjoy the luxury. But until then, the Willamette does pretty well on 20 and I dial down the Century 21 or use the HW-8 for 40/80.
The fox hunts are the main thing that gets me on the air these days. And that’s ok. The excitement to operate waxes and wanes but I’m still on the air.