Elecraft CW Net Report for January 25th, 2009

[Kevin Rock]

Good Evening,
   The band was quite happy today!  So much so that I was having problems discerning separate signals ;)  More than once I had to call again to attempt to get one character out of the howl.  Stations checked in from Connecticut to Southern California and from Georgia to Oregon.  Only a couple had QSB so then they too jumped up to at least S5.  It was very nice after some of the problems we have been having with propagation lately.  I took a flakey tuner out of the antenna path which made some improvement and did a little work on the higher of my two antennas.  A good spring day will be required to do all the work necessary to unwrap the lower antenna from its trapped location amoungst the branches.  A couple raising and lowering operations with some pulling in between will get it free but that means I will be up and down the ladder a lot.  
   From the reports I heard winter is back; in force for some and in a pleasant way for others.  The California stations spoke of rain.  I know my southern neighbors would like to fill their reservoirs and water their lawns before summer returns.  I would gladly send the clouds down there to get some sun now and then.  There are times during the winter months when the sun is only a fond memory.  Waysides east of Hood River, Oregon are filled with RVs of folks trying to find a day or two of sun in their vacation from between the Cascades and the Coast Range.  However spring is only a month or so away if you follow the calendar of the hummingbirds.  They start flitting in during the late part of February.  Since there are not many flowers then they must survive on the tiny insects which hatch around that time.  
   On to the list =>

   On 14050 kHz at 2300z:
NO8V - John - MI - K3 - 820      QNI #55!!!
K6DGW - Fred - CA - K3 - 642   * QNI #115 *
K9ZTV - Kent - MO - K3 - 21
W0CZ - Ken - ND - K3 - 457
AB9V - Mike - IN - K3 - 398
W0JFR - John - CO - K3 - 994
W0RSR - Mike - CO - K2 - 5767
K4JPN - Steve - GA - K2 - 1422
W6ZH - Pete - CA - K1 - 553
K1THP - Dave - CT - K3 - 686
NS7P - Phil - OR - K3 - 1826
W0NTA - Dick - CO - K2 - 4141
WS7L - Carl - OR - K3 - 486

   Hopefully next week will have similar or even better conditions.  The sun is definitely on its way back.  During my morning sked I track when the sun pops up over the mountain on the clear or hazy days.  There is one anomaly when it rises in a notch in the mountain but that is only for a day or two and then it is back to its normal progression until it clears the mountain entirely from daybreak until sunset.  Soon we will read if the ground hog in Wisconsin foresees an early or a later spring for those in the Midwest.  It is time to get in the last month or two of iceboating and ice fishing before the breakup.  And then, in a matter of a day or two, the lakes will be clear and the sailboats will appear.  At the ARES meeting last week I had a discussion with another operator about the fall colors so I am feeling a little homesick.  Maybe one day I will move back home.
   Until next week I hope you stay warm and stay well,
      73,
         Kevin.  KD5ONS (Net Control Operator 5th Class)

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