Gee, where did the time go?

It's been a while since my last post. I haven't been very active since last writing save a few occasions. The first was the SKCC Weekend Sprintathon. Have you heard of SKCC? If you like CW using a straight key, this is an excellent club that is free to join and offers a great opportunity to work other friendly hams using straight keys. The Sprintathon is a monthly contest where the goal is to contact other SKCC members and exchange information. This was my second contest and I made 22 contacts. That's not many compared to the big contests but this contest is definitely slower paced and a lot of fun.

Here are the results from the event I entered. I placed 92nd which is not bad considering the previous event, I had 3 QSO's!

My Score

The SKCC page is here: SKCC Page

After the SKCC Sprintathon, I kept it pretty low key. I did work a few SKCC members having some nice ragchews, but I was away for a week on vacation in Orlando, FL!

After getting back to Iowa, I did manage to work one QSO this past weekend. I worked KH6LC in Hawaii on 15 meters. I was on 15 because a SKCC friend in California needs Iowa for a SKCC WAS certificate and I was trying to listen for him. Well I ended up hearing Hawaii and Brazil and no California. I guess that's just how it goes sometimes!

No news on the WAS front. I still need DE, MO, MS, NH, and RI before I have my first piece of shiny wallpaper!

Well, on to wrapping up this week's assignment. I have three classes to go and I'll be finished with school! Yay!

73 all! Joe N0NS

And then there were five...

Needless to say, I have been pretty busy lately. I just wrapped up an Advanced UNIX class and rolled into a general elective class which has a lot of reading and writing.... For the few who do read my blog, thanks!

A big thanks goes out to James, N4EKZ... He sent me a QSL card from Georgia. That means I am down to five states before my Worked All States award is mine! Our QSO was fairly short. We both exchanged 569 on 40 CW. After we "volleyed" our name, QTH, and RST, the band dropped completely. 40 has done that to me a few times lately. A great signal goes to nothing within a couple of mintes. Regardless the contact was good and I have paper to proove it. James, if you read this, your card will be in the mail tomorrow.

Speaking of my card. If you get a card from me, the image is a picture looking out the window of an Airbus A320. I took the picture on a trip from Minneapolis back to Colorado Springs when I lived in Colorado Springs. The sunset made the coolest color effect on the clouds. If you QSL with me, you too can enjoy the view.

I have made a few PSK31 QSO's and even fewer CW QSO's lately. Some day I'll ramp my QSO rate up but I'm in no big hurry!

Well, I have to hit the books. 73 and take care all! Joe N0NS