Huh?

I remember seeing this mentioned on the QRP e-mail reflectors last week.  Someone's paddles were stuck in "dit" mode on 17 Meters - 18.0855 MHz, to be exact.

Then I saw this article mentioned on Facebook:

http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-official-observers-team-with-fcc-to-solve-rogue-keyer-problem-on-17-meters

It appears an Official Observer notified the League and then the FCC got involved and the source of the dits was found and all was well again.  But then I took a closer look at the story, and I saw that the timeline was July 15th to the 18th.  Three whole days of dits!  Who the heck leaves their station on and unattended like that?  I mean, c'mon!

Think of the things that could happen.  A pet could cause something like this to happen.  Kitty comes by, rubs again the paddles and the next thing you know, you're tearing up the airwaves.  Or you could have a bad thunderstorm come through the area - who leaves their station attached to the antenna and on with THAT possibility looming?

Obviously the manufacturer of the offensive rig might want to brag about their duty cycle capabilities!

You guys know I'm a sucker for a good Ham Radio story, right?  There's a good one on e-Ham, written by Don N4KC, titled "The Roundtable".  If you can read this through without getting a lump in your throat, you're a much stronger man than I.

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