WRTC, Travel, & Illness

By great coincidence, I was in the United Kingdom at the same time as last week’s World Radiosport Team Championship. Sadly I was not there as part of the contest, or in any radio capacity for that matter. This was purely a family affair and I had no room in my bags for radio equipment. Even the SDR app on my iPad failed to work properly, so I could not even tune in and monitor the event.

I only know of the competitors who regularly appear on Q5 Ham Radio, so reading through the results does not elicit much of a response from me. I have yet to review any summaries to see if conditions were fine or poor, contacts up or down compared to four years ago, and so on. Hopefully it was fun for all who competed.

I came home with a nasty cold, my first in over two years. I have been fighting it for over a week, fortunately the worst held off until we returned home. It has done a real number on my throat and voice, though. Yesterday I heard an operator from Turks & Caicos working a pileup and thought about making a run at him. Until another coughing fit took hold and I realized I should stick to digital until this bug passes.

A pleasant break in our summer heat arrived today; it is cloudy and breezy and in the low 70s. These delightful pauses always pass too quickly, and the oppressive heat and humidity that normally dominate our part of the world this time of year will soon return. This cool spell is a reminder that fall, and better radio conditions (fingers crossed!), are not that far away.