Hi Group
Writing this report means it's all over for another year.
This year, 2010, means I
have operated my old faithful Number 19
set for 16 years in a row on November 11th. Every time I do so, it reminds
me how much I like the newer modern gear, and I appreciate more just how
difficult operating the vintage gear (when it was modern) must have been.
Anyway, this year I had 15
contacts. One station contacted me twice, so officially it is 14 contacts.
This means, of course, 14
colour certificates are being printed, 14 QSL cards are being filled out and
14 of the new Canadian Mints 25 cent pieces will be enclosed.
November 11th, 2010, dawned
bright and early for me. I was up at 0730 hrs Atlantic Time (1130Z).
Slowly wound my way into
the basement ham shack and turned on the 19 set and the ICOM 751.
Then went back upstairs to
get the first of many mugs of coffee. Washed my face and sort of woke up.
Back to the 19 set I went,
coffee close at hand. At 1155Z, I started sending CQ and David, VA3ORP,
was quick as a wink in answering me. We exchanged RST of 4-7-9 each way.
Off to a good start as I expected the usual local guys to be first on the
scene. First contact was from Inverary, Ontario.
Chris, VE3CBK in Kanata,
Ontario, was quick in becoming contact number 2 at 1202Z and we exchanged RST of
5-7-9 each way.
Third contact was with an
unexpected N3HAM, Gerry in Philadelphia, PA . When I commented on his neat call
sign, he assured me it completely by luck. His RST was 5-7-9 and mine 5-6-9. I
think he was kind enough to not mention the chirp as I didn't tell him my
setup. It will be a complete surprise to him when he gets the certificate
and coin.
I sent a whole bunch of
CQ's between 1227Z and 1239Z before I heard Bob, VE3BDB, answer from Orillia. He
was contact number 4. We each exchanged RST of 4-7-9. Got an e-mail
from Don, VE4AY, saying he heard both Bob and myself. Don
called in but I didn't hear him probably because VE1AIR was so strong.
(Bob didn't hear him either, due to QRM.)
Fifth contact was with
Jack, VE1AIR in Riverview NB at 1302Z. Jack used to help me each November 11th
when I lived in Dieppe, New Brunswick He gave me 5-8-8 and I gave him 5-9-9.
Sixth contact was with Bev,
VE1TL, in Walton, Nova Scotia, at 1310Z. All I was able to copy was RST
and call sign as Bev was sending way to fast for me to copy anything else. We
both got 5-9-9.
Seventh contact was with
Dave, VE2EDB in Hemingsford, Quebec, at 1403Z. He gave me a 5-7-9 and his report
was 5-9-9. Dave runs the TP Net (Trans Provincial Net) Mondays and
Thursdays at 1300Z on 7055 kHz. When he finished his net, he popped in to
make a contact.
Eighth contact was again
with another old friend, Jean-Guy, VE9BUF, in Moncton NB, at 1407Z with 5-9-9
each.
Ninth contact was with
another very fast (for me) sender, Lloyd, VE1VEI, in Aylesford NS. All I got
out of 15 minutes was name, QTH and I was 5-7-9. He of course was another
5-9-9 at 1421Z.
Tenth contact was with
George, VE1XP, in Truro NS, at 1444Z and we each got 5-9-9.
Eleventh contact was again with Bev, VE1TL, in Walton NS, at 1448Z. This time I was 5-7-9 and he remained 5-9-9.
Twelfth
contact was with another old friend, Al, VE1AKT, in Keswick Ridge, NB. He gave
me 5-9-9 and his report was 5-9-9 at 1453Z.
Thirteenth contact was with
Lew, VE1CA, in New Minas, NS. I met Lew a number of years ago at his
place. He sure does a lot of HF amplifier construction. Nice looking
stuff. His report was 5-9-9 and he gave me 4-8-8. Lew reported
having some RF getting into his keyer and causing some trouble. He also
mentioned it was nice to hear the 19 set on the air. Time was 1457Z.
Had some family stuff to do
after Lew's contact and was away for a spell. Sporadic operation for the
next few hours resulted in no contacts for awhile.
At 2100Z,
I started calling Chuck, W1HIS, as arranged in an e-mail. At 2117Z,
VE3EZP, John, in London, Ontario, called me. We exchanged 5-8-8 in each
direction. Towards the end, John said I dropped down to 3-5-8. John was
contact number 14.
Kept calling Chuck through
the high speed CW and some data transmissions until finally, I heard W1HIS
calling me at 2151Z. Sigs were
fantastic at 5-9-9 for both of us. Good path between Belmont
MA and New Brunswick. Reminds me of the pipeline
Vic (W1NU) and I used to have. Vic was always strong to me.
That's it for this year. Hope to see you all again next time.
Oh yah, the reason I had
the ICOM751 on was to try and keep as
close to 7040 as possible. No antenna on the ICOM, so all contacts were
heard on the Wireless Set, Number 19 and a 40 meter dipole fed from an antenna
tuner.
Thanks to all who
participated.
7 3
Reed - VE1NU,
Number 10 on the Wireless Set No.19 Group
Lest We Forget
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