Last night I worked John (K2ZA) in Franklinville New Jersey. That's certainly not a long distance contact for me but it was a very enjoyable (and very long) talk. As a lot of hams do, he pulled up my info on QRZ and made a comment about "picking". We spent nearly an hour talking about Folk, Jazz, Bebop, and Bluegrass.
I think too many CW QSO's follow the Name, Location, Signal Report, and Weather Report format. There's nothing wrong with that, but after making close to a thousand CW contacts now, it's really refreshing to talk about something else from time to time.
I continue to see a similarity between a good CW operator and those that love music. I've said before that listening to a good Morse Code operator is like listening to a good piece of music.
Maybe it's the creativity?
After the chat last night, I looked up his information on the QRZ.com site and was delighted to see his customized QSL card.
I admire a card like this one and I often make special cards like this for my 30 meter contacts.
I hope to some paddling myself this spring. West Virginia is full of small lakes and streams where a kayaker can paddle for miles. The thing I especially like about a kayak is it's quietness and it's ability to navigate shallow water. I've literally sneaked right up on deer and turkey in a small lake.
John (N2ZA) looks like he's enjoying his day on the lake!
4 comments:
Great post John. Yes I like when a ham shows his other interests on his qsl card. Its a real bonus to run into a ham who shares a love of the outdoors or other mutual hobby and these things can be used to spark a real conversation. Part of that getting to know the op at the other end that we have spoken about before.
Good morning John, I too like to take some time with the CW contacts when the flow to do so is there if you know what I mean. I also like to look up the call sign as well. Sometimes I will also do a Goggle search on it as well and more interesting stuff shows up.
Hello Gang,
I wish that I had my rig and equipment next to my computer, but then it wouldn't be "portable".... Most of the time, I look up the other station when I make a log entry. These days of the electronic world can be quite interesting.
Hi Mike (VE3)....I'm surprised we haven't worked before. I get into your area very often. I see you had a fantastic ARRL DX weekend!
Hey, this is a nice post here and QSL. Concerning CW, I've heard that old cw operators could imitate laughter with the keyer. Kinda like "LOL" in chat rooms, I guess.
Nice Blog Here!
...From KE5UTN, Dan, in Northeast Louisiana.
MY BLOG: Ham Operator: KE5UTN
http://ke5utn.blogspot.com
Post a Comment