Got home from work at about 4:30PM local time, ran into the shack and fired up the HW-8 and started tuning around. I was hearing tons of stations. How could this be so? The solar conditions were supposed to be absolutely terrible (SSN:55 SFI:79 A:32 K:3)..yet here they are, all CQing and QSOing all over the place.
My friends, never believe what you see and only half of what you hear when it comes to having a great time on the radio. I'll get back to this...
MAIL CALL!! Alright!! I got three new QSL cards in the mailbox. This is just fantastic as I love sending and getting cards. A lot of hams like eQSL and LOTW (and I do too) but nothing beats a real live QSL card in the mailbox.
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| AK4JA QSL Card |
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| KD2ITZ QSL Card |
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| W4PCA QSL Card |
Now back to the 40m band...the first station I worked today was Bill N5IR down in the great state of Texas! A new one for me. Coloring in the map is awesome! Bill is SKCC 12357T and he has been working CW since 1965. Bill also served in the Navy and was in Vietnam for 13 months as the Officer in Charge of an Explosive Ordnance Device removal team. Thank you so much for your service Bill.
The next one in the logbook is Keith WD2AGQ up in New York state. Keith is retired and spends his time in part working SKCC stations and working QRP CW. Keith gave me 359 if I copied it right, he was 559 here in Indiana. The band was up and down like a roller coaster at times. Feast your eyes on his QRP setup (photo from his bio on QRZ).
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| WD2AGQ QRP Station in New York |
Next up was Ron K8KZH from Wheeling WV. I am originally from WV so I get real happy any time I get to work a fellow West Virginian. Not a new state but we had a great QSO trading SKCC numbers and giving each other a 599. He said the HW-8 was rock solid at 2w and he couldn't believe the signal tonight. he was running a IC-746 into a Bazooka. I had to look that one up! Not a bad idea! Ron is also a Navy veteran and for that I think you for your service, Ron!
Next was Tom KB3CVO from PA, and we did a quick and noisy exchange of RST and SKCC numbers. He's SKCC 905T and is a long time member of the SKCC. He's been on the air since 1998, AND he likes to make his own beer! There is nothing like a frosty mug of home brew.
Off to Bill W4MA next, another SKCC exchange, he is number 1456 and he gave me a 579. By now the QSB is getting very odd...speeding up..slowing down..lots of noise.
The best for last. Art K1ARR up in beautiful Graniteville VT. Another NEW ONE!! He's SKCC 2775S which means he's been at it a long time and has thousands of SKCC contacts under his belt. He gave me a 559 and he was 579 to 599 here. Great fist and he's been on the air since 2006.
Well that is it for today. I came home from work feeling sick and sluggish. I was supposed to help VE test tonight but just didn't feel like getting in a room with a bunch of people. I'll be working from home tomorrow and I'll have the HW-8 turned on. You never know what you might hear!
73 de KB9BVN
Nice job on so many QSO's today! It is awesome to get QSL cards. It certainly makes going to the mailbox a bit nicer.
ReplyDeleteBrian, TU for the publicity on your blog. I was surprised to see my QRP setup on it hi hi.. TU for the QSL by mail and will be returning one to you soon. Wish you luck in your endeavor for WAS QRP. Im new to this blog stuff but sure enjoyed it along with your web site with its many links.. Never heard of "Respect for the QRP Frequencies" societies either.. Neat.. 73 Keith
ReplyDeleteKeith, thank you so much for pulling my weak signal out of the noise. Stop by here any time as we continue our pursuit of working all states.
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