At work today I said to another ham there after seeing a downpour
of rain around 4:30 in the afternoon, "Guess that I won't be making
my June European contact on 160 tonight." I set a goal of working
Europe on June. But, it was a heavy rain that soon quit. With a
fairly clear sunset I was getting a little more optimistic...
I started listening around 0200z (0202 sunset). The static level
peaked at 20 over 9 with crashes, but would dip to S-7 inbetween--
the lowest minimums in a week. With nothing heard by 0215 I left the
radio until 0230. Then I heard a weak signal on 1828.5: DF2PY!
On a day coming within about a minute of the longest day,
I finally had the June European QSO that I was looking for...
I didn't call him until 0242 (479 sent/559 received). His signal
stayed about the same from 0230 - 0255, but seemed a bit better
copy around 0240.
160 and HF will be history for me after this weekend until either
September or October (whenever it "feels" right). My annual summer
radio sabbatical will begin and I'll make sure that both my antennas
and perspective are ready for another winter...
73, Bill K0HA
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