...so late last night after patiently wading through the humongous pileup on 20M for HK0NA, I finally manage to work the DXpedition. But the band was in lousy shape, the flutter was signaling an imminent reversal of fortune and, as luck would have it, I was not *really sure* he'd gotten my callsign correct. In cases such as this, my personal policy is to not even log the QSO -- If I can't feel 'good' about a QSO I'd rather ignore it. Call me old-fashioned -- there's always the hope that *tomorrow* brings. Hey, it's only a hobby!
So along comes *tomorrow* -- I take the dog out and then sit down for an early morning check of the bands. On 20M, I hear an S8 signal calling "CQ" and it's HK0NA begging for contacts! A quick call with 5 watts from my K2 into my 44' attic doublet and the result is a solid QSO! So then I tune up the band and there's VP6T working a pileup at least as wide as HK0NA. No way am I going to play this game! Maybe another time. So I head up to 15 meters to check out the conditions. There, on 21.035, I find VP6T calling "CQ" over and over with no takers!! Then my XYL turns on the dishwasher! Noise level jumps to S6. The K2 Noise Blanker is nowhere near as good as the K3's digital noise blanker and noise reduction programming. Off goes the K2; up comes the K3. Darn near total silence!! By now VP6T has attracted some attention, but not much. I send my call once and he comes back! HK0NA (Malpelo) and VP6T (Pitcairn Island) all in the same morning on 5 watts and a 44' wire in the attic (and CW of course). Thank you, Elecraft, for producing the kind of gear that gives the QRP community a more level playing field. P.S. -- Kudos to VP6T for rapid LOTW updates - QSO at 10 a.m EST; LOTW confirmation 5 hours later!!!!!!!!!! 73, Stan WB2LQF KX1 #2411 K1#2994 K2# 6980 K3#5244 KX3 (on order) K9 #1 (Cocoa the Chihuahua) Everything is QRP, even the dog. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
