I decided on a whim that since the COVID-19 scare came up and we have been staying at home as much as possible that it might be worth trying to get on the air and represent my state during the 2020 Georgia QSO party from my QTH. I had a few things to do so I knew I would not be able to work the event from start time to end time, but I thought it could be a fun thing to do anyway.
As expected, I got started late. I came into my shack around 3PM on Saturday and just kinda sat there staring off into space and listening to the activity on the bands. I finally decided to make a CQ call at almost 4PM. I found a clear frequency, asked if it was in use, heard no response, and then called CQ. When I unkeyed, people were talking. Puzzled, I found another clear frequency, asked if it was in use, heard nothing, and called CQ. When I unkeyed, I was immediately asked to QSY because I was operating very close to an ongoing net. I did and felt kinda frustrated with not being able to get started making contacts. None the less, I parked on 14.252 mHz. I heard nothing, asked if in use, and began calling CQ. I quickly had people replying and before I knew it, I found myself in the midst of a nice little pile up. I worked one after another calling, logging, etc all by myself. What fun!
Later, I got pretty tired and took a break. My PTT finger was tired and I was thirsty and I needed to walk around a little. I came back in a few minutes to the same frequency and called a few times to again find a nice group of people coming back to my call. They were coming quickly and from all over!
After about 270 contacts, I decided to stop. I had to grill some chicken for the family and walk the dog etc. I felt good about the runs on 20m and was pleased with the contacts I had made. Later after dark, I though I might come back and try to make just a few more. I decided to park on 80m 3.817 mHz and start calling. I again somehow built up a nice little pile up and worked them diligently. I only worked about an hour or so there and decided I was done. I was very tired and pleased with the work I had done.
I realized after I had finished, according to N1MM logger, I had worked 389 contacts in 49 states! Not too shabby for a few hours of single operator radio time on a whim! I had achieved some DX, Max 4.0 QSOs per min, Max 96.4 QSOs per hour! I was also pleased to hear many kind remarks on my signal and that I helped many others work a new County in GA. I guess Habersham isn't very active...
FB GA QSO Party de W4LSG sk
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