I have reorganized the QSL display to order the card images by date worked - descending. One day I'll put the actual php code in that displays the cards that way; that's how I generate the source for the linkage.
I've worked a couple more guys on 20 since the initial contact. 20 is not as healthy as I hoped, but it's not too bad. I'm cursed at home with high noise levels on 20 and 40, and with 15 dead, that's not good. 20 has offered up some tantalizing targets, though: a station in Oslo I heard one morning on the way to work, UA0AZ the other evening (!), a DK4 heard faintly at lunch and OK1FA today. No, I didn't work any of these, although I was in the crowd calling Alex, UA0AZ, who was 599 for a little while here.
There is something that puzzles me when I stop to think about it. Back in the day, around 1975 or so, I tried for the extra class license. I was pretty sure I could pass the theory all right, but when I went in, I could not pass the code portion (20 wpm in those days).
But when I decided to get active on HF again in 2003 with my MFJ rigs, I reached 16 wpm right from the start, and copy about 80%+ of QSOs at 24 wpm now.
So what changed in the last 30 years? Do old ears copy faster code better?
I spent some time this last weekend working the QRP ARCI contest, as always, from my driveway. I heard absolutely nothing on 15 or 40, so all my activity was on 20 meters. I managed to work eight stations for seven states/provinces and a total score of 1960 points. (Last year's high scores were well over 1,000,000 points.)
I basically worked everybody I could hear, except one guy in South Dakota and one guy in New York. My routine became: tune, tune, tune for a CQ, call, exchange info, tune some more, worked everybody? Go inside for a while and wait for the propagation to change. Repeat as necessary.
I figured I might work a few more on 40 after sunset, but all I heard were stations calling for the Georgia QSO Party. I did hear some exotic DX while I was tuning around: 6W4RK in Senegal and CT3MD in the Madeiras, and later that night, UT8MM in Ukraine.
I don't really have the attention span to seriously contest, I need frequent (and lengthy) breaks and the high scorers are the ones with the catheters installed. My brain has to be rebooted after about 30 minutes of fast CW so I fear I'll never be in the top scorers.
Here's an odd thing which I have never been able to clarify: if you go here,
and scroll down to the bottom, you will find that I, WA5ICA, was a member in good standing (in 2001) of the Nokia Radio Club, NK5A.
The thing is, the first I ever knew of this is when I did a web search for my call out of curiosity back in 2003.
I have never (to my own knowledge) been associated in any way whatsoever with the Nokia Radio Club. It seems to stretch coincidence a little too far to say that someone with the same first name had a call close enough to mine that a typo resulted in this roster. So I have to conclude that back in '01 someone was bootlegging my callsign.
Actually, running across this was one of the main reasons I decided to become an active ham again. I didn't want someone else able to bootleg my call because I wasn't using it, and I found a rig and got back on the air.
I have tried emailing NK5A to find out what they knew about their phantom member "Mike", but received no answer. I think the club is long gone with only the web page left behind as a reminder.
Anyone who can shed any light on this is welcome to drop me an email. The address is in the left column.
On my way in to work this morning, I turned on the 9020 to see if anyone was on. 20 has been wierd and dead for the last few days while the magnetic storms work their way out of the local space (K=5, anyone?).
As usual at 7:00 CDT, nothing going on on the band, until I hear a faint signal around 14.020 MHz. It's Frantz, FG5FR in Guadaloupe, who I have heard on before. In the space of 2 or 3 minutes, he goes from S2 to S9+, and I work him getting a 579 report. As I listen, he works several more US stations before I have to shut down and go inside.
He also spent quite a while calling CQ DX with no answers, so I advise listening on 20 just after sunrise for some good DX.
On another subject, I have decided to discontinue QSL card display on this page when the count reaches 60 cards. Anything above that would make load times excessive, so after number 60 arrives, I will move the QSL wall to its own page.
Maybe I'll put blogads in that empty real estate.
Again, driving to work, heard KP2HC calling CQ and working several other DX stations. He kept fading in and out with QSB as I drove, sometimes 599, other times barely 229. He was working European stations mostly.
At one point he was being called by LU1YFC, but it seems he couldn't pull him out, calling QRZ? each time. The odd thing is, both stations were about equally loud at my end, with the Argentine station sometimes even louder than the VI station.
As I reached the parking lot it seemed Brian's signal was settling down to a solid 599 and I was set to give him a call when I was stopped, only to hear "DE KP2HC QRT"
Next time, I hope.