Back in the Saddle Again

 

	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

I'm having a blast making CW contacts in a variety of states and countries. Yes, I'm a bit rusty but I'm doing fine considering that I've been off the air around 4 years. I'm still reading my instruction manual of the Icom 703 to relearn the finer points of making DX contacts but I never seem to tire of the process.... 

Several of my contacts are Parks on the air (POTA) which are my favorites. I feel a special excitement working those QRP stations.  

My Rig Now- Still 100% QRP

                  I've made a change or two and looking forward to soon getting on the air. 

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. 

 

Health Problems

 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. 

I Like This Picture

 

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.  

I'm Back Into my Favorite Hobby

 

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. 

Making Adjustments

This entry will have nothing to do with radio, but hopefully will be an explanation for my long absence of writing on this blog. In essence, I've been forced to make many adjustments with my free time.

Approximately 15 years ago my father had his right hip replaced. It worked flawlessly until  two years ago. In March of last year my father who is 97 years old and was still living independently suffered a series (4) of painful hip dislocations. He also suffered a stroke which has destroyed his reasoning abilities. He has been diagnosed with dementia. He is now in a skilled nursing home and continues to slowly deteriorate. He is legally blind and deaf.

More adjustments have been necessary with the birth of my three grand kids (triplets). At birth, all three babies were rushed into the neonatal ward and the mother was rushed to the intensive care unit of a different hospital. Jacob (the largest of the three at 3 pounds and 1 oz) had a brain bleed which needed immediate attention. Jaylee (at 2 lbs and 5 oz) and John (at 2 lbs and 3 oz) both struggled to breathe. It was miracle that the mother, and any of the children survived. The early birth (at 22 weeks) was due to the tremendous stress on the mother. She had developed a very bad case of the Flu, in all probability, caught from a patient at the doctors office where she was employed. 

That was the beginning of a two month stay in the neonatal unit of the hospital. Jacob (the boy with the brain bleed) had a device implanted in the top of his skull to relieve the pain caused by the bleeding. He seemed to stabilize but will need further surgery as he grows. He has been diagnosed now with Cerebral Palsy. John, the second child had two months of breathing issues, and after transferring to a different children's hospital, has stabilized.

At five months of age, Jaylee simply stopped breathing and died in the middle of the night. Crib death (SIDS) is an unexplained phenomenon. Needless to say, these last two years have been more than stressful. I've been simply overwhelmed with sadness.

I hope to get back on the air in the future but for now, I simply don't have the free time to enjoy radio.

VK3CWB QSL Card

I received my confirmation card in the mail yesterday afternoon . Many thanks to MOZ for a great contact on the 30 meter CW band. 

MOZ was using a 2 element Moxon beam at 75 ft. His power was 100 watts.  This was a "long path" contact at nearly 24,000 Kilometers. (10,000 miles straight line distance)