It sure was a fun event this past Saturday with a bunch of us NJQRPers getting together at the QTH of W2GUM. Tony & Clara's hospitality was wonderful -- good burgers, dogs & lots of ham radio chat. Not too sure what most of the XYLs discussed ont he porch, but we sure had a good chew on antennas, rigs and operating in general.

The antenna was really the centerpiece of the ham-part of our day. A 20m Sterba curtain, cut and erected specifically for us by Tony for 14.050MHz. This was a sight to behold ... [diagram will be on the website soon]. Joe, George, Bob and Ed all had a ball trying to get some signals into the dead ands that day.

George N2APB brought some goodies: MicroBeacon and Rainbow Antenna Analyzer prototypes, and his newly-constructed Z-Match antenna tuner with built-in Rainbow SWR Bridge ... worked great on the W2GUM 20m Sterba curtain antenna! 6 yr old daughter Elizabeth was along and endeared herself to most of the ladies on the porch that afternoon. (That is, after a mild hysteria attack due to a persistent wasp!)

Joe N2CX brought along his Sierra rig and got it fired up on Tony's antenna. The and was real soggy (later read the N5AN report of major solar flare still in effect on Saturday, which lead to bad band conditions) but we still snagged a couple of contacts.

Bob W3BBO also brought his rig (OHR) and set up a small vertical off to the side in Tony's yard. Bob also got had or two QSOs. Bob also brought along his MFJ 9040 QRP rig ... sure looked nice.

Jim WK8G (with wife Cindy) brought along his SST rig which he had done a superb finishing job on the front panels. (Sure hope you write that up for one of the ras, Jim!) Jim is real interested in getting an R2/T2 rig working on 144MHz .. I mentioned my success thus far with this rig on 40m in conjunction with the Motorola DSP board for CCW work.

Bill W2DP and Jane stopped in later in the afternoon with a nice fishing line spool, perfect for attaching to the s____ s____ for launching wire antennas into trees. (Don't forget my request Bill!) I was also drooling at Bill's IC-706 in his car .... nice rig!

Dave N2SMH and family (wife Lisa and daughter Sophie) were there for nearly the whole picnic ... good discussions with Joe, Jim and George on the porch. Dave's little Sophie had a ball coloring with my daughter Elizabeth, both at the expert hands of Jim's lovely XYL Cindy (ex-teacher!).

Dave WA2DJN made a surprise stop-in, much to everyone's pleasant surprise. Dave is recovering well from recent surgery and sends his best to all club members.

Vince WA2ECP and Joane also made it and we had some good discussions about DDS VFOs (a very popular topic these days.)

We had some good discussions out under the umbrella (that sun was very hot!) with Ken K2MPD and Ed K2MGM (who was also the barbeque chef for the afternoon).

And most of all a big THANKS go to our wonderful hosts Tony and Clara for yet another memorable NJQRP picnic. Thanks for a wonderful day!

72 & 73,

--George N2APB