My Most Recent QSO's

Monday, January 7, 2013

My Morning DX Contact


Monday mornings, now that the holiday season is finally behind us, is the beginning of our weekly game of Bridge at a local church. We turned in last night well after midnight, were up at eight am; took care of the dog, ate, glanced at the paper, and packed a small lunch.

There was very little time for radio as we were due at the church a little after 10 am.

I had worried that I would miss my Monday opportunity for a DX contact this morning; but the window opened, just like clockwork, a little after 9 am. Also, just like clockwork, a strong station appeared and I was easily able to work him.

On my first attempt, my three watt QRP signal bounced 4,637 miles into Ljubljana Slovenia. Ljubljana is the capitol of Slovenia and Franc (S59AA) acknowledged my QRP status when I placed it at the end of my call sign. I don't always waste the other operators time with the QRP designation on these DX contacts. I realize most are "running numbers"; but I get a sense out of who would get a "kick" out of working a VERY weak station at this distance. A three watt signal from the mountain valley of this West Virginia town seemed a good candidate and I think he got a chuckle out of it. On the VAST majority of my DX contacts, the other station never realizes I'm running low power and a simple antenna.

This is my sixth contact into Slovenia; a country between Austria and Croatia. It's the second time I've worked Slovenia on 17 meters. I've worked them once on 15 meters and three times on twenty meters.

Reflecting on yesterdays hike in the forest; we stayed dry and warm. I completed the five mile hike and was happy with the way I felt afterwards. There were fifteen of us walking in the woods to a very remote area. The goal was to find a boundary marker with a "hand print" carved into it's surface.



When we returned home and prepared the evening meal, our dog Timmy gave the dinner table his approval and his blessing before the arrival of our guests. I tolerate a lot with this dog; but draw the line when it comes to food on the table.

He can "look" but not touch. His "bits and kibbles" are kept in a separate room away from the dinning area.





2 comments:

Bert, PA1B said...

Hello John, our Yorkshire terrier (SK) could jump on the chair and than on the table to "pre-taste" the food. We always had to make sure that the chairs were placed under the table. hi.
Thanks for the nice clip. 73, Bert

Jspiker said...

Hello Bert,

Timmy would NEVER do that....would he? I wouldn't put it past him. hihi