Saturday 13 January 2024

RBN CW SPOTS

THIS IS THE REASON

I found myself wide awake at 5am this morning and so I got up, made a coffee and went into the shack. The room was halfway through being reorganised and so I continued the job for a couple of hours and now it looks all lovely and tidy once again!

Then I went onto Morse Mania and did some CW practise for a while. To be honest, I've been skipping my practise sessions for a few weeks, due to lots of stress at work which makes me feel tired when I get home and not really in the mood for the demands of learning morse.

When I'd done as much practise as I wanted to, I thought I'd connect my key and transmit CQ TEST DE M7MCQ a couple of times on the IC-705 into an EFHW at 5W on 40m. I was surprised to see that  my signal travelled across the Atlantic over 4,000 miles.

THAT'S why I will continue to go down this path no matter how long it takes. I'm trying not to beat myself up when I can't be bothered to practise some days - life just gets in the way and I've got to accept that.

I seriously can't wait for retirement! But that's a couple of years away.



1 comment:

VE9KK said...

Good morning Tom yes 5 watts or less can do wonders for distance. I used to try 1/2 a watt or less and with an attic dipole I was better into Europe. As for practicing CW I can full relate to day to day life getting in the way. There were times when I got home from work and just did not want to use the brain. Watching TV or reading was all I could do. It normal to feel this way and practice when you can and some is better than none.
73 and have a good weekend,
Mike
VE9KK