I've been doing more operating this fall, getting back into QRP a
little bit. Tonight I realized it was Thursday, Fox Hunt night! And
I looked up the webpage on google to see what the schedule was.
I fired up my CW Howes 40 mtr, direct conversion rig right at 0200.
Soon I located Don NK6A near 7042. I listened closely, called many
times, and was rewarded with a pelt! Alright!
Now to find Dave. I wandered between 7030 and 7050 so many times I
cannot remember. I tried it with other receivers, only to conclude
that the Howes was actually doing a pretty good job. There just
wasn't much to hear. Sometimes I would get little snippets, as if the
whole world were talking but I was under a radio-blanket-cloud. I
heard a YY1 calling CQ, and an XE1 came in gangbusters for a minute
or two. I would get someone from 6-land or from 4-land for a little
bit. Toward the end I could hear Don NK6A still calling CQ FOX, with
no takers.
At 0355, a ghostly signal arose in the neighborhood of 7035. hn3bvd ?
I heard him send it a halfdozen times, getting a little piece each
time. I looked in my country list in the back of my logbook. HN3 is
Iraq? could it be? My pitiful 4 watts (on a good day) is not going
to make it to Iraq. But I switched the T/R and sent my call a few
times. When I switched back, he was gone. Nothing but static.
Chris
kc0atc
