5,000 days and counting !!!

I'm sure most of you who read this blog on a regular basis are familiar with; or have heard of John Shannon K3WWP. John lives in Kittanning, PA and has been an Amateur Radio operator since April 3rd, 1963 when he was first licensed as KN3WWP. In all that time, John has become a devotee and aficionado and advocate for operating using QRP, Morse Code and simple wire antennas. And over that time, John has become a QRP & CW icon of sorts and has many accomplishments. His Webpage has become widely known; and I dare say "famous". Besides being a co-founder of the North American QRP CW Club, he writes a column for FISTS "Keynote" magazine and he maintains a daily diary where share with us his ideas and thoughts.

John is also no ordinary advocate when it comes to QRP, CW and simple wire antennas. A lot of guys "talk the talk"; but John goes farther than that, he truly "walks the walk". Since August 5th, 1994, John has been on the air EVERY SINGLE, BLESSED DAY making at least one QRP CW QSO. And on many days, he's made many more. Talk about "neither sleet nor snow nor gloom of night" ..... John's streak would put any letter carrier to shame. And he's been on the air, doing this many times when it would have been easy to pack it in because of tiredness, not feeling well, lousy sunspots, etc

So tonight, when April 12th UTC rolls along; and John turns on the switch and takes key in hand, it will be his 5,000th day in a row of doing this. Can you imagine getting on the air and making at least one QSO every day for 5,ooo days? While John downplays it and calls it "nothing special", it truly boggles the mind! Indeed, I did the "Make a Contact a Day" routine for the entire year of 2005. I can't tell you how many times I thought I was going to get skunked because of poor band conditions, family commitments, etc. To do this for almost 14 years now is nothing short of phenomenal and gives true testimony to the ideals of patience and perseverance.

Congratulations, John! Outstanding job; and I wish you many, many more years of Ham Radio enjoyment and successful QRPing! In my humble opinion, this streak alone earns you a place in the "QRP Hall of Fame". A lot of guys preach the mantra of QRP. You SHOW us how much fun and how fruitful it can be.

73 de Larry W2LJ