Between chores and other duties, I managed to find some "On The Air" time for station W2LJ today. It was quite a treat as propagation was favored in the higher bands today. 20 Meters was open today as well; and I managed QSOs on the 20, 12 and 10 Meter bands. DX was plentiful to find; and while I didn't work any new countries, I did manage QSOS with fellow Hams in the Slovak Republic, Germany, Ireland, Austria, Mexico, England and the good ol' U.S. of A.
I think these bands being open is such a novelty that stations were just rushing through QSOs in the fears that the bands could close at any second. Unfortunately, my DX QSOs were not ragchews, but more of the DXpedition "599 TU" kind of QSOs. I long for the days when the bands will be open for long periods of time and DX QSOs can be not so rushed and more leisurely. I remember back to my Novice days, when contacts with DX stations were ragchews, just like any stateside contact. I still have a lot of QSLs from back in those days that contained letters and photographs that picked up where the radio QSO ended. I enjoyed those immensely and I sincerely hope that they have not gone the way of the dinosaurs.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Hi Larry, I think you're right about the rushed QSOs. It seems people just wanted to "make hay while the sun was shining" afraid that it might end too soon.
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