This was fun.  I'm not a dyed-in-the-wool contester -- I don't really have the patience.  But to have a chance to fire up my trusty EFJ Viking 1 (throttled back to 50W out) and Hallicrafters SX-111 and expect to make some QSOs with other oldtimers was attractive.  I brushed off my old EFJ-badged straight key, fed my horizontal loop with balanced line and my had-it-forever EFJ Matchbox, and tuned around 40M for awhile in the last few hours of the event.

I ended up making just two contacts and enjoyed ragchews with both ops.  As luck would have it, *both* of them were in towns called Loveland -- but in two different states.  Ted AB8FJ is in Loveland, OH, and Chris WD1W is in Loveland, CO.

Both seemed to be real gentlemen, and when I started to chew the rag with each, they seemed to enjoy not having to race off to catch the next signal for a score.  It very much reminded me of my first as a 9-year-old Novice in 1961 in Camden, SC, as WN4ANT,.  Back then I had to work very hard to separate signals on the 80M Novice segment (then 3700-3750) on my 3-6mc ARC/5 receiver.  The novice band was only about 3mm wide.

I don't maintain any fantasy of being voted "Best Fist".  I could see maybe a "Rusty Key" award.  I'm afraid my fist sounded like I was using a loose toggle switch for a key and sending Japanese Kana Code.

I had a great time.  I heard many "CQ SKN" calls from folks with a better ability to copy, so I know there were a lot of participants. This was a great oportunity to dust off my boatanchors and limber up my wrist.

Many thanks to all who set this up and participated.

73 de Barney KL7HNY/4

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