I didn’t intend on participating in the North American CW QSO Party this afternoon, but I got sucked into it anyway. Silvia and I had gone out to the grocery store and got back just a little bit before 3 pm. I sat down at the rig, intending to make a few QSOs, and was a little astounded when I heard all the activity. Then, I remembered that today was the contest.
I’m not much of a contester, but I thought I’d listen for a while and see what was going on. I listened to a few QSOs and it seemed simple enough. All the ops were doing was exchanging names and locations, so after about 15 minutes I decided to jump in.
I responded to the first station I heard call CQ NA, and he came right back. Just like on Field Day, I was hooked.
After about five or six contacts, I decided I needed more speed, so I cranked up the keyer to 20 words per minute. Since I wasn’t calling CQ myself, only responding to CQs, all I really had to send was first my call, and then once the other station came back to me, “TU DAN MI”. Even I can send that at 20 wpm.
Also as on Field Day, I often had to listen to a station give his information more than once before I could log it. Towards the end of my two hours, though, I was getting good enough at it, that I only occasionally had to listen to a station twice to get the info.
All in all, I made 40 contacts over the course of two hours. Not a great feat, but it was fun, and good practice for Field Day. If I keep working at it, I may just be ready to crank out some points this June.
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