de | date | band | mode | grid | Country | op | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
de | date | band | mode | grid | Country | op | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CT9/UR9IDX | 2023-09-23 | 3cm | CW | Madeira Island | ||||
K1ESE | 2023-09-23 | 20m | CW | FN44pe | United States | JOHN C HUFFMAN | ||
KA0PQW | 2023-09-23 | 20m | CW | EN33iu | United States | Matthew D Arthur | ||
W1KX | 2023-09-23 | 20m | CW | FN44xf | United States | WILLIAM C MANN | ||
NA9M | 2023-09-23 | 20m | CW | EN53hd | United States | Paul D Kinas | ||
AF4OD | 2023-09-23 | 20m | CW | EM72gn | United States | William B Capps | ||
VE2TH | 2023-09-23 | 20m | CW | FN46hu | Canada | Michel Boissonnault | ||
K5KV | 2023-09-22 | 20m | CW | EM01tm | United States | BENSON J OWENS | ||
V31XX | 2023-09-20 | 15m | CW | EK58uk | Belize | Bill Kollenbaum |
It's been so long that I need to read my instruction manual again and check all my wring. It's important to get everything grounded. Many years ago, a lightening bolt struck my neighbors home and destroyed about 100 ceramic roof tiles and it melted all the wring in the house and destroyed the transmit portion of my Icom 703.
I've missed using Morse code the last 4 years with my iambic paddle. I know my speed has diminished greatly but it like riding a bicycle...you really never forget.
Since my last posting, I've had Titanium spacers placed in the lower left side of my back. The surgery was a simple with a quick recovery time, and it relieved my intense agonizing pain. I had scheduled another surgery on my lower right side, which would have placed a small slender cadaver bone in my right hip but there were other problems which I was unaware of at that time.
Our home in Charleston has a small yard which I have always cut with a "push mower" and cutting the grass has always made me feel great, although I was always dripping wet with sweat and very tired afterwards. Alarmingly, I developed a pain down my left arm one hot summer day. I knew what that meant....
I had triple by-pass open heart surgery soon afterwards with a hospital stay of 13 days and an extra 10 days in a rehab unit. I don't remember very much of the hospital other than several PTSD attacks. Apparently, that's not unusual considering the trauma of open heart surgery but I had not anticipated this in my wildest dreams. Needless to say, I should never have visited Vietnam recently because I saw little difference in the South Vietnam of 1968 and 2022. It was depressing to me.
I had a bout with Covid a few weeks ago but thankfully, it was a mild case.
I have a pacemaker scheduled to be installed on March 22 now. Hopefully, I should feel more normal afterwards.
This afternoon I worked KP4YO in Cogas, Puerto Rico on 20 meters. I couldn't help but notice this picture on his QRZ page. It was a short QSO of 1676 miles in a straight line.
I liked seeing this picture so much that I thought I would share it with everyone. In my humble opinion, being able to read Morse Code, with only the human ear is a very precious skill these days. I would encourage everyone to share this statement on their radio pages.
It's difficult to think that I've been inactive on the radio for the last four years but sometimes life moves much quicker than I care to think about. Although I haven't forgotten how to use most of the features on my Icom 703 rig, there have been a few moments when I really thought I might need to get the instruction manual out to go over a few fine points.
The last several afternoons, I've realized electrical noises have become much worse over the last four years, especially on 40 meters. I blame a new telephone pole and transformer which was replaced after an especially windy week a few months ago.
There are also still Christmas LED lights all over the neighborhood. lol
Yes, my CW speed has slacked off a bit, but I still can copy, and send CW at about 17 words per minute. I surprised even myself because I feared that I was around 11 wpm. Of course most of that depends on who is sending it and what key they are using.
This afternoon I made a quick contact with VE2NGO in Montreal Canada. I missed the call but realized the mistake. (it's been awhile) The 30 meter band has always been a staple band for CW operators.
I'll have more to say as time moves slowly forward but for now 5 watts and an indoor random wire antenna is working well.
It's a great feeling to be back on the air.