Always keep twiddlin' that dial

even when it seems like there's nothing out there.  You never know what might come up!

It's a beautiful sunny day here in Central NJ, so as per my custom, I headed out to the Jeep, the KX3 and the Buddistick at lunchtime.  From the get go, it seemed very disappointing.  There wasn't a whole heckuva a lot of DX activity. What I was hearing were stations I have worked before and you don't want to keep pestering guys on the same bands, just to get a contact in the log.

I started calling CQ at the 20, 17 and 15 Meter QRP watering holes with no takers.  I was slightly discouraged (Momma said there'd be days like this), and was ready to pack it in and head on back to my desk, slightly early.  That's when I decided to give 17 Meters just one extra twiddle before coming in.

TM70UTAH - Courtesy of Reverse Beacon Network

Bam!  There was TM70UTAH loud as all get out!  This is a Special Event station, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Allied landing at Utah Beach on D-Day in 1944.  First call and they were in the books!  I have to admit, I was so excited when I heard them that I had to send my call a few extra times as I fumbled it in my eagerness to work them.  I did hear a confirmation of W2LJ come back to me and I was smiling ear to ear. Next,  just a few KHz down, I heard SP3DOF calling "CQ DX".  One call and I was in Jerzy's logbook.

 

Wow! A WWII Special Event station and a Polish DX station worked within a few minutes of each other - a red letter day as far as I'm concerned.  And all this was after I was tempted to throw in the towel for the day. So it's a good reminder (to myself included) to keep throwing that fishing line back into the water.  You never know what's going to land on the hook.

TM70UTAH site - Courtesy of QRZ.COM

The funny thing is, that TM70UTAH wasn't even mentioned in that ARRL article on D-Day Special Event stations that I posted from the ARRL just a few days ago.  So in addition to TM70JUN, keep an ear open for TM70UTAH. I would like to work both of them!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!