This time, I got a real Two-fer! I bagged both Foxes in this week's 80 Meter Foxhunt! No skunks like on 40 Meters last Thursday. For some reason unbeknownst to me, I seem to have way better luck on 80 Meters.
In any event, both Foxes were loud into New Jersey. I first heard Dave N1IX; but his signal was really fading in and out. He seemed to be working a ton of Midwestern stations. Calling was leading to no success and only frustration; so I decided to go hunt for Jerry N9AW. I found him easily enough; but the spot he was occupying on the band was covered with S9+ noise from the TV that's located right over the shack! I turned on the narrow filtering on the K2 and it helped a lot; but I could tell my wife Marianne was flicking through the channels; as the noise would increase from S9 to 20 over S9 depending upon what was on the screen!
Giving up on the noise for a bit; I decided to go back to Dave's last known spot, which I had written down. Luckily, he was still there and louder than before! The QSB was still making it tough; but I finally managed to snag him. With that pelt in the bag, I decided to give Jerry a whirl again.
About 20 minutes later I threw out my call. Jerry was loud enough to be giving the QRN goodly competition. I figured that I must have been sending a decent signal out his way, in turn. I threw out my call, hoping for the best, when all of a sudden Jerry sent my call but at a substantially slower rate than he had been sending. That contrast was just enough for my ears to make out that it was my call and that he was answering me through all the QRN. I sent my exchange and I heard the "QSL" of acknowledgement.
Time for the Happy Dance! Last year; and so far this year, the 40 Meter Foxhunts have been an utter, dismal failure for me. I've bagged one pelt in six hunts. So far I'm doing much better on 80 Meters. If my memory serves me correctly, I have captured six out of eight possible pelts. The QRP Foxhunts are a ton of fun in any event; but when you have some success, they are even more fun!
73 de Larry W2LJ
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