12/14/2009 | NQ2W 48 hour contest...36 hours of operating time...4 hours to make more than half of my total Q's - What a band! Lots of listening to static and tuning through my Capital Region fellow contesters calling CQ - Thanks for letting me know my radio was still working during the lulls. The band was eerily quiet except for Saturday night and just before the end Sunday. Throughout most of the contest I was afraid I wouldn't be able to meet my personal goal of more Q's than last year...especially Sunday...no substantial openings anywhere...none that I heard. Then someone did something...ionization...and my headphones were singing.

A big thank you to everyone that heard my QRP signal radiated by my temporary full-wave quad supported by a step-ladder - see last year's soapbox for a picture. What a band! Hopefully, I'll have a better antenna...at least the house got new vinyl siding last summer...no new 2-element phased quad sitting on the roof...maybe this summer...

Thanks to all that heard my signal. Maybe next year it will be a little louder. -- NQ2W