Not exactly what I was hoping for ...

 but I'll take it!

I met with W3BBO for our weekly ragchew on Skype at 3:00 PM. He let me go early so that I could set up for the QRP ARCI Summer Homebrew Sprint. I was going to set up on the big deck they have here where we're staying, but the skies have been overcast and threatening all day, so I set up on the porch instead.

At 4:00 PM I tuned to 20 Meters and I heard quite a few SKCC Weekend Sprinters (WES) all by their frequency and up into the QRP Watering Holes. However, I did not hear one single solitary QRPer calling "CQ QRP" or whatever. Undeterred, I called CQ for a while on 14.062 with no result. I switched over to 40 Meters and that band was pretty dead as a door nail, too.

Rather than call it a day so soon. I decided to go back to 20 Meters, but down the band a bit. Maybe I could catch some DX?  Sure enough I did! I heard F5PLC calling CQ on 14.037 MHz with no takers. I crossed my fingers, took a shot and put out my call. I got an answer immediately. Michel "Mike" was a solid 599 and he gave me a 579.  How could I help but not be 579 when my signal was being picked up by this antenna?

Mike was transmitting with 50 Watts from near Belfort, France which is not too far from the Swiss border.

I think I may have been close to his QTH when I was in France during my second visit to Switzerland in 1994. And looking at his QRZ page, Mike is quite the CW aficionado and a QRPer, too. Look at his KX1 !

After we signed, I decided to go back up to QRP Country to see if I could hear any Summer Homebrew Sprinter's and alas I did not. But I did hear OZ30EU coming in like gangbusters!

Svend was 599 +++, but I was avery weak 329 to him, but as I said up top - I'll take it! Svend was very gracious and patient. He stuck with me when he could have easily resumed calling CQ right over me. He didn't and I sent him an e-mail of thanks, explaining my set up. I just hope that his e-mail address as provided by QRZ.com is current and accurate.

I finally gave up when Marianne joined me on the porch, nudged me and said, "Don't you hear the thunder?" In all honesty, with earbuds in, I did not and I didn't see any flashes either, but maybe I was just concentrating too hard on the KX3 and the DX. I tore down and brought everything in, not desiring to take any chances as minute as they might be. So no Summer Homebrew Sprinters, but France and Denmark running 5 Watts to a magloop. Nice way to start off the week here!

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!