What a morning! I walked into the shack early this morning with my first cup of tea of the day when I noticed an email from Gary G0FWX saying “10m is open to VK!” What? At sunspot minimum surely not? I quickly put the cup of tea down almost spilling it all over the lap top! Turned my Hexbeam towards VK and tuned the radio to VK6, time to warm up the amplifier. Sure enough there was Kim VK6TQ in Western Australia 5/4 in my shack on 28490 KHz. A quick call to VK and I was in the log, we had a short conversation about antennas and band conditions before I let other UK operators fire their calls across to VK6.
A short while after that I also worked VK6KRC Bob near Perth, Western Australia. Thanks lads for my first 10m QSO to VK! Crikey what a morning!
Image Left – VK6KRC Antenna
15m once again today was also very busy in the run up to CQWW SSB 2009 Contest.
A Sad End RIP
I must also comment on the terrible sad news of the loss of 4 Radio Amateurs from the USA that sadly perished as their aeroplane crashed shortly after take off 250 yards off the end of the runway in Jedburg, South Carolina, about 20 miles northwest of Charleston. The plane, piloted and owned by Peter Radding, W2GJ, carried Ed Steeble, K3IXD, Dallas Carter, W3PP, and Randy Hargenrader, K4QO. The four men were on their way to the Bahamas to operate in this weekend’s CQ World Wide Phone Contest as C6APR.
They died following the hobby that they were so pasionate about. May they rest in peace.
