We’re all creatures of habit. We tend to get up at around the same time each day, work the same hours each day, eat dinner about the same time every day, and if you’re a ham radio operator, you get on the air about the same time every day. I know that’s happened to me. I’m still a working stiff, so by the time I get on the air in the evening, it’s 7pm or later.
If you can, though, see if you can get on the air at different times of the day, and perhaps, on bands that you normally don’t work. One thing that you’ll find is that you’ll meet different people than you do during your normal operating hours.
One reason for this is that they’re creatures of habit, too. If they normally get on in the morning and not in the evening, while you get on in the evening, but not in the morning, you’ll never have a contact with them. If you make an effort to get on the air in the morning (if you’re normally an evening operator), it’s possible that you’ll meet a bunch of new people.
Another reason for this is that propagation is different at different times of the day. In the evening, 40m can get quite long, sometimes easily spanning the Atlantic and opening to Europe. In the daytime, however, skip on 40m can be quite short, sometimes only 100 miles to 200 miles. You’ll work guys that you’ve never worked in the evening just because the skip is different.
You might also consider working different modes, too. If you’re a CW op, get on phone once in a while or fire up the computer and work PSK. Not only will you meet new people, it might be a nice change of pace for you.
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