The Magic of radio

Good morning Operators.
Normally I’m trying to share practical things about amateur radio and alternative means of powering our stations at home, and in the field. Last night however, I was reminded of just how wonderful radio can actually be.

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Last night I had QSO with Teme OH7T using JS8Call. Little did I know a station in the Philippines ( Max 4F1BYN ) was actually monitoring both sides of that QSO. So Teme and my own station, made the trip to the Phillipines, ~8400km (~5400 miles), a third of the way around the world from the Arctic. That blew my mind.  I mean I don’t get it, I understand the physics, narrow mode, tight filters, notch out  what I don’t want to hear, …

Rarely do I have a direct path with Teme, since we are within NVIS range.  We would probably have better luck laying an antenna on the ground, than putting the wire up 70 ft in the air. Still, switching from sloping vee to dipole config, brings Teme in far more often.

So just after that QSO with Teme, I also made contact with Max in the Philippines. Now that contact was incomplete, but it was probably the most exciting contact I’ve had in a long time.  as I’m writing this I’m sitting here with the silly grin on my face,  remembering the magic and excitement of listening to the shortwave broadcasts from around the world back in the 70s..  Or having an SSB qso with a station just outside of Chicago while qrp on 17m last year.

I don’t really know why I’m telling you all this story.  Perhaps I just want to remind everyone, it’s excellent to be pragmatic, but  it is also excellent to have fun, and to experience the magic of radio from time to time.

73
julian oh8stn