My family just got back from a week at beautiful Lake George, NY. I took the K1 and Buddipole with me, fully intending to keep my "QSO a Day" streak alive during vacation. Last Sunday, I made a couple of contacts during the QRP-ARCI Summer Homebrew Sprint. It was a rough go as I was painfully reminded of the difficulties I had last summer. It seems the place where we vacation is located in some kind of RF blackhole. Not only is HF communications extremely difficult; but even finding a spot to find cell phone service can be an excersize in futility.
Monday forced me to make a decision. I spent close to an hour in the afternoon calling CQ with no takers, as well as depleting energy from the smaller gel cell battery I had brought along. Charging up the battery was easy enough as I had brought along my solar panel. However, I got to feeling badly about the possibility of spending so much time away from my wife and kids trying to scare up a daily QSO. To me, the point of the vacation was about being together with them and enjoying each other's company. I therefore decided to end the streak and not worry about making contacts for the week. My family is much more important to me than radio!
So on July 10th the streak of making at least one CW QRP QSO a day since January 1, 2005 came to an official end. In it's place however, I was able to witness my wife and son and daughter have a blast during our week spent at Lake George, NY. I know I made the right choice. Years from now, when my kids are grown up and married and on their own; I don't want them to remember me as a Dad who couldn't tear himself away from his radio to be with them.
Time to start a new streak!
73 de Larry W2LJ
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