On The Air:
What started out as a slow week radio-wise certainly ended with a bang! Most of this week's activity was centered around routine nets on 2 meters and 80 meters. Work and personal obligations have overtaken most of my radio-leisure time, resulting in quick visits to the shack to participate in a couple nets each evening. The good thing about measuring time according to UTC is that as I get home from work, one UTC day is ending and another begins, thus giving me two "days" that I can operate spread over just a couple of hours. This is very helpful with the QSO-365 project as well.
The highlight of the week was Saturday, March 1. I hadn't consulted the various contest calendars, so I was surprised to find all the activity on HF before I realized the ARRL SSB DX contest was being held. I don't normally participate in contests for my own benefit. Instead, I'm happy to dial around and reply to contestant's QRZ calls and give them the points they're looking for. It's an easy way to pick up locations you may need for Worked all States, Worked all Continents, or DXCC awards.
For a few hours' worth of leisurely operating, I logged 33 DX contacts, including 3 new DXCC entities. One unexpected outcome was that I worked all continents in those few hours, all on 10 meters! While I've got a application pending for the Worked All Continents award, I may try to get QSL's for today's contacts so I can get the 10 meter WAC endorsement.
The take-away lesson here is this: even if you don't participate in contests for the contest's sake, take time to work through some of the pileups. You may be surprised what you can do with 100 watts, and your log will benefit as well!
One final highlight of the week involved the ARRL's Centennial QSO Party, when I was able to work ARRL President Kay Craigie N3KN on 20 meters.
Top 4 Distances This Week:
ZM1G - New Zealand, 7988 miles
JK1YMM and JH1GBZ - Japan, 6775 miles
JE1LFX - Japan, 6682 miles
JA1BPA- Japan, 6659 miles
RT0F - Russia, 5966 miles
International Contacts:
Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Bonaire Island, Brazil, Canary Islands, Chile, Croatia, Cuba, Curacao Island, European Russia, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Spain, Turks & Caicos
States Worked:
Mississippi, Texas, Virginia
QSL Cards Received this week
W4V - Virginia
QSL Cards Going Out in the coming week
No cards this week, I'm waiting on some new QSL cards to be delivered. I'll catch up as soon as I get them!
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