I filled in a number of grids this week in the USA. Gotta say, switching to FT4 every now and then is turning out to be a good strategy!
Internationally, I was able to work Romania, Panama, Asiatic Russia, and Fiji. I never cease to be amazed at where the radio waves will travel to and from.
Locally, Winter Field day was going on but my only participation was working a couple of stations. The pace of contesting is just not for me at this time of my life.
Also locally, my good friend and Elmer K8JNO and I talked on 6m FM. That was very cool! It was my first 6m contact. My antenna doesn’t officially suport 6m but the SWR comes in around 1.7 to 2.0 to 1, so the 7300 was easily able to tune it. Next up: working the 6m repeater in our area.
On Saturday, my good friend Eric came over and we spent a couple of hours in my humble little ham shack. He passed his Technician exam a week ago. I set him up with an HT programmed with most of the local repeaters he should be able to work in his area and hope to be able to contact him via one of them. He’s still waiting for his call sign.
On a related note, I programmed the HT for Eric with Chirp. That was the first time I really got into that program. Very good stuff! And free!
I really can’t wait for the cold weather to come to an end so I can get out and operate at different areas. I have a possible trip to another state coming up this Spring and hope to be able to take the 7300 with me.