[NCC] ARRL CW Feb 20- next weekend

[Bob Liddy (K8BL)]

Tom,

It was just a matter of time for that tree work. Now is certainly a good
time to get it done. I foresee a good amount of wire work in the Crew's
future.

Speaking of wires... Since moving to the new QTH and not having anything
other than wire antennas and a homebrew trap vertical, I'm pleasantly
amazed how well things performed with them. Domestic Contests have
worked out pretty well.. My scores in SS/CW and ARRL 160 look pretty
good. Working DX only works out by doing S&P with the loud guys. But,
now I know how those weak guys feel when calling us at 'AZ in the big
Contests. They feel good when they finally get through.

We are all so lucky to have our Ham Radio Hobby during times like this. We
can hunker down and cruise the Bands from the safety of our shacks. I'm 
really grateful for the new modes FT8 and FT4. (I know some folks cuss at
them.) I've logged almost 20K Q's with those modes since this Covid mess
started about a year ago. Lots of fun for me and thousands of others worldwide.

Wishing everyone lots of Q's & Mults this weekend!

73,   Bob  K8BL

On Monday, February 15, 2021, 01:17:19 AM EST, tleek8az <tleek8az at gmail.com> wrote: 

Yo Dan & group.

Hope all of you are hunkered down for another NE Ohio February storm.  We
should all take comfort:  Word from the Southwest is that big stations in
Texas and Oklahoma are getting clobbered with ice, wind and snow.  Lots of
big antennas are getting ruined this week.  Thoughts and prayers go out to
those guys.

It's been more than 30 years since we've missed entering ARRL CW DX Contest
at K8AZ, but it looks like 2021 will be the first year that happens -- at
least as for any serious entry.  Last week, I signed a $5k contract with a
tree service to take down eight trees, most of which suffered damage during
the December/January ice storms (plus a couple of which were close to the
guys for the 40m tower and just too big for comfort.)  To accomplish that,
lots of elevated radials needed to be out of the way -- and about half of
the ones at issue were already down because of the earlier storms, so some
of the decision was simple.  But a lot of the antennas are just not usable,
and then there is this COVID thing, and (in Ohio) the inability to get
vaccine appointments, even for those who are eligible.  So, I decided to
pull the plug on any serious operation.

(This doesn't mean I won't get on and hack around.  But a serious operation
is definitely out of the question.)

Good luck to all the Warriors.  And remember -- the point of these contests
is to suck up the joy of this radio hobby we all love and HAVE FUN!

73,
Tom, K8AZ