Yesterday I worked Joe (DL4KCA) for the third time this year. I was using 4 watts again and he had a good copy on me. (549) . Joe always surprises me by asking if I'm still using my QRP rig to make the contact. He says "Hello John in Charleston, WV". Since I don't usually have my "net book" in front of me, it startles me a bit. hihi The call sounded familiar, but I'm never sure when I work a station in Germany. Today was my 15th German contact. Yesterday, Joe was my 116th DX contact.
Joe (DL4KCA) and I exchanged weather reports and talked for a moment about my radio blog. It seems that he reads it regularly. It was great to hear him again and I look forward to more contacts when the band is up. He had an excellent signal here, 350 miles inland from the coastline of the USA. I would have considered him a local if not for the DL in the call. Yesterday he was 579 into West Virginia.
I'm not sure about his power level but he uses a G5RV for an antenna.
I've not been on the radio a lot lately, (at least 20 meters) I've been chatting on 40 meters again. I find most 20 meter contacts very brief. (usually a name and signal report). Contacts like Joe are rare on 20 meters. With the exception of OK1KW in the Czech Republic, most don't take the time to say hello. It's a real pleasure to work a DX station like these, who take a few minutes to chat.
I can understand the difficulty of working a 5 watts station at 4000 + miles. But it sure makes it fun for me.
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