Six Months
The antenna feed line is disconnected as the final round of storms moves through our area today. Fortunately we just had lots of rain and wind and a little thunder. A couple limbs down in the yard, some mulch washed away by a downspout that is clogged, but nothing close to the damage done to our northwest last night.
Because there is no connection to the antenna, I can’t take the new addition to my shack for a spin. That will have to wait, along with it my reveal of what it is.
I treated myself partially to get ahead of the expected jump in prices on some ham gear. There’s never a better time to buy something you want but don’t actually need than when there is the rumor prices might increase. I’m saving myself money!
I also pulled the trigger because this week marks the six month anniversary of me being an active amateur radio operator. If I learned nothing else in high school, I learned that six month anniversaries are very important and deserve recognition. Or, again, I wanted something, the budget allowed it, and this gave me an excuse.
As I’ve said before, I am a counter. My first instinct when looking back on the past half-year is to add things up. I’ve worked all states, although I need one of my Wyoming phone contacts to verify so I can get the official WAS award. I do have Wyoming on FT8, so I qualify for mixed. I need to confirm three more states on FT8 to get full WAS on that side.
Last week I logged an FT8 contact with a Hawaiian POTA operation. The POTA system automatically spit out their WAS certificate when that log posted, although that was using DC’s bonus status and I still need to get Alaska.
On the DXCC side, I’ve verified 80 total entities of the 114 I’ve made contact with. The breakdown there is 55 on phone, 47 on digital. Of course all that FT8 work has come in the last four weeks.
I’m pretty satisfied with all that. Then this morning I read of an operator who did DXCC in about eight months on QRP. Maybe I’m a slacker.
The next six months? Fill in those WAS slots and expand to earn it on multiple bands. Finish up DXCC. Be a little more aggressive calling stations that are down in the noise. Be more focused in knowing when ATNOs are on air and set a schedule to chase them rather than just turning on the radio and seeing who I hear. Finally make an FT8 contact with Wales, my ancestral homeland. The Welsh op who is on multiple bands every day, often quite loud, never returns my calls. My great-great-great grandparents, or whoever came over, would be annoyed.
More importantly, call CQ for the first time. Along with that, become a POTA activator. I am waiting for one last part to arrive so I can build a POTA antenna, which will be my first home-built one.
I’ve had a lot of fun over the past six months, rekindling a love with HF radio that began as an SWL way back in the 1980s. I’m excited about what is next.