The monthly NAQCC Sprint was held tonight; and for the first time in a long time, I was able to participate. No meetings, conferences or other duties called tonight - just me and the radio. My heart sank a bit at the beginning as 40 Meters was plagued by the ol' neighborhood QRN. Solid bars on the K2 to about 10 over 9. Wow!
So I decided to do the Sprint mono-band this month. I stayed on 80 Meters the whole time with one or two quick switches over to 40 Meters to see if the QRN had abated. It hadn't. But that didn't spoil my fun as 80 Meters, while a bit noisy with static crashes, was hopping tonight!
35 QSOs in the two hours of the Sprint. And that was darned well better than I thought I would do at the outset. If you had told me at the beginning, that I was going to see 35 QSOs on 80 Meters only, I might have looked at you a tad funny.
It was nice to hear old familiar calls like W1OH, KA2KGP, N8FVM, K4BAI and others; but it was also nice to hear a few unfamiliar calls with higher SKCC member numbers. That means the new guys are jumping in with both feet and getting active. That's a good thing.
I have to say, though, that two solid hours on the straight key was not all that tough on my wrist and arm. Maybe I'll feel it tomorrow; but as of right now, everything feels great!
73 de Larry W2LJ
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