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+---- Thread: Call Me Marconi (/showthread.php?tid=628)
Call Me Marconi - VA3KOT John - 2021-11-20
I participated in the one hour CW Slow Speed Test ("slow speed" means 20wpm or less) again yesterday. I enjoy this weekly mini-contest and participate nearly every week. I missed last week due to the clocks changing. The contest runs on UTC and started at 4pm local time through the summer. Forgetting about the clocks changing, I tuned in just before 4pm and caught just the last 5 minutes!
Anyway, I got another personal best yesterday; 20 QSOs worth 340 points. I started on 20m but conditions were not great. I logged 4 stations in California, Florida, Arizona and Nebraska. Then I switched to 40m which was in fine shape. I logged another 16 stations, mostly in the northeast. I heard a station from the UK calling. "Not much chance there" I thought to myself. "He probably has a full blown contest station and I have only 100w into a simple wire antenna." I called him anyway and he responded right away. Bingo. Canada to the UK on 40m has been a rare catch during the solar minimum for those of us with humble stations. Maybe things are looking up on the bands.
By the way, the UK station was G3WZD in Cornwall, England. The operator's name was Mac. It occurred to me that a radio signal was once sent from Cornwall, England to Canada by an Italian gentleman over a hundred years ago, and it caused quite a sensation at the time. It also involved huge antennas and a lot of money. Thank goodness it isn't that difficult these days.