February 2011 PBMME

It has been a LONG time since my last post. Almost the same amount of time since I was last on HF!

First and foremost, all is well here. We are settled in to our new home in Swansboro, NC. The kids have done well with the move and adjusted much better than expected. I am busy with work and will be headed to far off lands here in the near future.

With that being said I decided to join in the Polar Bear QRP group's Feb. event. I didn't put a ton of effort into the cause, but I did have fun and make some contacts.

I kept it simple and used my PFR-3 with a random wire & counterpoise. My location was the very scenic front porch of my house. I wasn't expecting much, but by my results speak for themselves.

Prior to getting on the air I performed a mod to my PFR-3. I never really liked the play and sloppines in my paddles so I shortened them. The difference was exactly what I was looking for. Less paddle travel and better response.

My first QSO was with my friend Aaron N9SKN in Illinois. As always Aaron's signal was good. I sent him a 589 and got a 579 in return. I wasn't expecting a decent report back considering my antenna selection. We had a few minutes to chat which was great. I will apologize to Aaron now for my fist and copy ability. I AM VERY RUSTY! QRM from another station forced us to end our QSO but it ended with a smile on my face.

My second QSO was a quick one but impressive nonetheless. I heard 9A5W calling CQ in some contest. I didn't know what contest or what country he was from. I threw my call out and he came right back. One quick exchange and he was back on his way. It wasn't until I sat down on the computer that I looked him up and saw that he was in Croatia. Not too shabby.

Thanks to all my friends and family who follow the blog. I will try to get on the air a few more times before I head out. So many people to talk to and so little time...

72,
Steve