Tuesday, May 24, 2022

When you haven't been on the air for a long time ...

 ... you tend to forget how much fun it is.

2022 has not been my best year. As I've told the tale here before, I injured my hand at work in January and had to undergo surgery. I've been dealing with physical therapy twice a week since then. Sessions are right after work and I get home really late. It's all I can do to grab something light to eat and then melt into bed.

Then, in March, my latest PSA results came back and were not good. That led to having a prostate biopsy done, which in and of itself was not terrible, but at the same time was no fun. The results of that were not what I was hoping for. I'm now in the process, along with my doctors, of determining a course of treatment for prostate cancer. The good news is that it has been caught early and it can be totally cured. CT scans and bone scans have revealed it hasn't spread. Within the next few weeks a decision will be made to either go with surgery or radiation treatments.

Guys .... get those yearly physicals and blood work done. The life you save will be your own!

Needless to say, with all these pre-occupations, my desire to be on the radio has not been Priority #1. But tonight, as I was scrolling through my Facebook feed, Brian KB9BVN posted that good friend, and QRPer par exellence, Dave AB9CA was doing a POTA activation on 7.035.50 MHz, at K-1945 in Ohio.

I figured "What the heck!"

I ran downstairs and turned on the KX3 and Dave was right there, just where Brian said he would be. The KX3 was switched to the W3EDP and sounded pretty good. I gave him a few calls as he had quite the pileup going. Sadly, no dice, so I switched over to the Butternut HF9V. 

Wow! His signal was now much louder - a true 599. A few more tries and I made it into his log! My cares and worries had me forget how much fun this radio business is! It was only one QSO but I enjoyed myself immensely. I will make it a point to get on the air way more often than I have been. It's a good tonic for the weary soul.

My backyard neighbor totally removed all the vegetation that was on his side of our mutual fence. For the first time in a few years the Butternut is now totally in the clear. It may not be as stealthy without the foliage camouflage, but it seems to be performing better than it has been.

One other note before I close. Please remember that Sunday, August 21st will be the 11th annual NJQRP Skeeter Hunt,  I will be handing out Skeeter numbers in response to e-mails sent to me beginning on June 21st, the first day of Summer.  Please don't send in your requests before then. I will update the Skeeter Hunt website within the next few days. Thanks for your cooperation!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:40 AM

    Good morning Larry, thanks for sharing with us and our family prayers are with you. I am very happy to read that it was found early. Well enough about that onto radio always very nice to get back in the chair for sure! Larry it's good for your well being to take that step away from the goings on and have some good old RF time.
    73,
    Mike
    VE9KK

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  2. Larry - sorry to hear of your prostate cancer diagnosis but very glad to hear that you caught it early. Thoughts and prayers to you as you ponder your treatment options. 72, Jim - K0RGI

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  3. Anonymous9:07 AM

    Thanks for the update Larry. It's good they caught it early. Sending continued prayers and good wishes to you and your family. God Bless.

    73,

    George
    K2WO

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  4. Hello Harry

    From June 11th at 08:00 UTC to June 12th at 18:00 UTC, come in large numbers to participate in the first national QRP week-end.

    The spirit of this new activity is the opportunity for the QRP community to have a weekend dedicated for this kind of trafic on all HF bands from 160 to 10m, all modes (CW, Voice, MGM) using mobile or fixed station from the moment you take pleasure. So, there will be no first, no last and no prizes to be won.

    In order to make the QRP activity, and this weekend in particular, known to as many people as possible, we would like to receive from the participants a small report reflecting their activity. Just a few lines to tell us about your best contact or exchange, a funny, incongruous, picturesque, atypical situation, etc. A brief description of the station (transmitter, receiver, antenna, power, …) will be appreciated.

    The nice meetings and our efforts to be active with a maximum number of QRP stations should help making this weekend a lively one.

    To send your reports : intlqrpwe@gmail.com
    72/73 F5MPN Stéphane

    ReplyDelete