I had a quick lunchtime QSO with Chris G4BUE on 17 Meters. He answered my CQ and gave me a 559. I told Chris that he was 599+ and that he sounded like he was just down the street.
Just 5 Watts from the roof of a Jeep, parked in a parking lot in Warren, NJ to a house in West Sussex, England. Just thinking about that - !!!! In the blink of an eye - less than the blink of an eye, my tiny signal traverses the Atlantic and made it to Chris' home. Wow! Simply wow!
Having an appreciation for history, to realize it took weeks, even months for sailing vessels to travel from Europe to the New World - and that I can make the return trip (in a manner of speaking) at the speed of light. How cool is that?
I've worked Chris before, but this was a new band for us. Thanks, Chris for your good ears and your superb station!
According to RBN, this is where my QRP signal was being heard this afternoon:
Personally, Amateur Radio never gets old. Each QSO feels like a new adventure. I feel badly for those who feel it does get old, and walk away from the hobby.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Hi Larry, we still can be amazed what QRP can do. My kids say: that's why we have the Internet. And they are not amazed about that. ;-) 73 Paul PC4T
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your enthusiasm and have the same reaction myself. The sense of wonder must be maintained even when we are not always successful in our QRP DX operations.
ReplyDeleteYes, indeed. That's why I said, "Personally, Amateur Radio never gets old. Each QSO feels like a new adventure."
ReplyDeleteDoesn't have to be DX to be an adventure.
Hello Larry, thanks for this very nice entry.
ReplyDeleteThe huge daily changes in propagation and meeting operators with excellent ears is great fun. Yes, Amateur Radio never gets old. FB. 73, Bert