Here are the two latest additions to my collection of QSL cards from stations whose callsigns spell words. These two are good enough to eat!
I worked this station during the PA QSO Party. It was as easy as, well you know…….
I worked W6OAT during the CA QSO Party. He was really booming in on 20m phone. You can see why. I bet his neighbors just love having that tower in their neighborhood!
Here are a couple of new QSLs from stations whose callsigns spell words:
I’m not a big fan of eQSL, but Barry, K3MY told me that he doesn’t do anything but eQSL. I was happy to accomodate him, as long as I could get his card.
I worked Anna, W0ANT, during the Colorado QSO Party. Anna’s quite a ham. She got her Tech license at age 8, her General ticket at age 9. Check out her QRZ.Com page for more info.
Acronyms
Up to this point, I’ve avoided the temptation to collect QSL cards from stations who callsigns include acronyms, but this evening my resolve was sorely tested as I heard both KC0URL and KC2LSD on 30m.
Here are a couple of recently-received QSLs for my collection of cards from stations whose calls spell words:
Tom, W1EAT writes, “…because W1DRINK is toooooo long!”
When Pigs Fly. A blog posting by a reporter—who also happens to be a ham radio operator—on the art of QRPing.
70 years of ribbing, hamming and wedded bliss. Bob and Dorothy Truhlar attribute their long marriage to a healthy sense of humor, as well as a clear division of duties, and a common interest in ham radio. And, they both admit, a bit of blackberry brandy every now and then doesn’t hurt.
Ham radio verification cards on exhibit at Harford Community College. This exhibit features QSL cards as examples of an “operator’s personality and home life.”
Well, here are two new QSL cards from my collection of QSL cards from stations whose call signs spell words:
I also got a letter from the XYL of VE3CUR. I don’t remember exactly when I worked him, nor when I sent him a QSL card, but here’s what Marj Robinson wrote:
Dear Dan,
I have taken a long time answer your note, but I have not been on the air now – since my husband has been in a nursing home. He’s 94 now.The call – VE3CUR – was his originally, but when he was able to get a two-letter call, I took over “Can’t Understand Radio.” I have had lots of fun with it, but never had a card with my name on it, and I can’t find any of his. They’re long gone, I guess. Sorry about that.
Well, Marj, if you read this, your note was even better than a QSL card. I’m adding it to my collection.
I had a busy ham radio Saturday here at KB6NU. It started early Saturday morning as I headed out to the Ann Arbor Mini-Maker Faire. It’s a small, locally-organized version of Make: magazine’s Maker Faires that take place in San Francisco, CA and Austin, TX.
This year’s exhibits included:
Basically, it’s a bunch of geeks showing off the geeky things they’re working on and demonstrating the geeky things that they like to do.
I organized the amateur radio exhibit, which, like last year, consisted of me getting people to send their names in Morse Code, and Dave, N8SBE, demonstrating the capabilities of his Elecraft K3. Dave’s K3 was really the hit of the show, with its panadapter and digital modes display.
This being a geeky kind of event, I was quite successful at getting people to send their names in Morse Code. After showing them how to use the touch keyer that I’d brought, a lot of them really got into it. I even managed to amaze a few of them, when after they’d sent their name, I was able to say, “Well, nice to meet you Sally or Joe or whatever name it was they’d sent.”
All in all, there was quite a bit of interest in our display, amongst both kids and adults. We had one girl, for example, who I’m guessing was about 11 or 12, come by several times, looking at everything we had with intense interest. One time, she even dragged her parents along with her.
After all was said and done, I ended up passing out quite a few brochures and handing out quite a few business cards. As far as PR goes, it was a very successful event.
You can see more of Roger Rayle’s photos of the event here.
More Stations Whose Callsigns Spell Words
After the Faire, I went out to dinner with my wife and in-laws, but later that evening, I got back on the radio. I tuned around for the AL QSO Party, and only made about a dozen contacts, but two of them—W4HOD and W4CUE—are stations whose callsigns spell words. Both are club stations, too. My cards are in the mail, and I’m hoping to get their replies soon.
I worked parts of three contests this weekend:
Jim, K8ELR, and I had planned to work the New England QSO Party, but oddly enough, it didn’t start until 4pm EDT. Instead, we worked the 7th Area QSO Party. We just pointed the beam west and racked them up. We only worked it for about four hours, so I doubt we’ll be winning any awards, but it was fun to hand out some Qs.
Later on, here at home, I fired up the rig, intending to work just the New England QSO Party. There were so many Indiana stations still pounding in, though, that I decided to work both of them.
The funny thing is that I ended up using N1MM for the Indiana QSO Party and the N3FJP software for New England QSO Party. I couldn’t figure out how N1MM wanted me to input the exchange for the NEQP, so I just downloaded the N3FJP software and used that.
I didn’t make a lot of contacts in either contest, but I had fun working them.
My First GAL
Last Friday, I got a card from W4GAL. That’s my first QSL from a GAL. In the New England QSO Party, I worked N2AT, while in the Indiana QSO Party, I worked W9GO. More cards for my collection, I hope.
Finally, I wanted to mention working KD8HES Saturday afternoon. Zeke’s a 16-year-old ham who lives just down the road in Jackson. It was great working another kid using CW. He told me he only operates QRP CW on 40m. I joked that he was breaking a rule, and that if you look closely, you’ll see that you need to be at least 50 years old to work CW–at least it seems that way.
Yesterday, I received the QSL card below from Gordon West, WB6NOA, who, as you may know, has also written a series of amateur radio exam license study guides.
Now, I’m kind of wondering why he sent me this card. I hate being a skeptic, but I wonder about the sincerity of the message. He did, after all, misspell my last name and called my study guides “study notes.”
What do you think?
Here are three items that caught my eye in the last couple of days:
Here’s a selection of some of my recent QSLs. The first two, from K0BE and VE3SO are for my collection of QSLs from stations whose callsigns spell words. I’m including the card from OM2VL just because it’s from Slovakia, and my XYL likes Mickey Mouse.
