01/24/2005 | WB8DQT Running just a stacked pair of M2 halos and a 75-watt brick on 2 meters, I never expect to be competitive in the January contest, but it is fun to see who is active. The tail-end of a major blizzard in the Great Lakes appeared to cut into rover activity and band conditions were definitely sub-par. Many signals had a pronounced aurora-like "flutter", but without any evidence of propagation enhacement.

For me, at least, this turned out to be a CW effort. Of the 23 stations I was able to work (12 grid squares), 22 were worked on CW. A few of those might have been worked on sideband, but most could not. A few of the casual locals were commenting on the fact that they had misplaced their keys, but the serious contesters were pounding brass with a vengence! -- WB8DQT