Got into the Philippines, Mongolia on 30m and 40m CW

They say patience is a virtue, and I can tell you that I have tested this mantra to its utter limits with ham radio. I have sat for an hour, and in some cases more, trying to break a pile-up with my puny 100w signal. And in many cases I have eventually done so. In some, I have failed. Sometimes you just have to let it go and accept that conditions just weren't right.

When I heard DU9/DL5SDF CQing on 30m CW last night, I couldn't resist a try. Especially when I could actually hear him, albeit fairly weak with sometimes severe QSB. At times he was 559, sometimes he would disappear into the murk.

It turned out not to be one of those strenuous nights - I was able to work him within ten minutes of dialling the frequency on the radio. It made me very happy too because it was my first contact into DU / Philippines which was a big deal for my low power station.

The elation was further added to when I worked JT5DX from Mongolia on 40m CW. He was listening around 1kc up, with a growing pile-up. But I got in there before things got too hectic. In fairness, he has a good station and a strong signal would not be unexpected from JT5DX. But it was only my second contact into Mongolia, the first being a mobile 20m cw contact with his QSL manager, JT1CO, some months ago.