Variety is the spice of life

Variety is the spice of life. So the saying goes. And now I am spoilt for choice. From being faced with just 80 metres and 40 metres - phone only - in the nights of last winter, I have opened up a whole new world this summer and into the autumn with bands and modes to beat the, erm, band. (Awful radio pun!)

I am now QRV on 80m, 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m, 10m, 6m, 4m, 2m, and 70cms. There's probably something I'm forgetting. Ah yes, top band - 160m, to a very limited extent.

And now I have all these modes. Phone, CW, PSK and RTTY. And it's only a matter of time before I hit the ROS mode too! The results are impressive. I have an impressive log these days. Between working Wales on 2m simplex, and getting new countries on PSK and RTTY, to working nice DX on CW and SSB, I have it all!!

Here are some of the recent highlights from the log (with countries in brackets for non-ham visitors):

PY2HL (Brazil) 30m CW
ST2AR (Sudan) 15m RTTY
VE9DX (Canada) 20m PSK
PJ2MI (Bonaire, Curacao) 20m PSK
HK1R (Colombia) 15m SSB
HC2SL (Ecuador) 15m CW
2W0GEB (Wales) 2m FM
MW0BEA (Wales) 2m FM
CO8LY (Cuba) 17m CW
XE1UYS (Mexico) 20m RTTY
FG5LA (Guadeloupe) 20m RTTY
KP4DKE (Puerto Rico) 15m SSB
CX7CO (Uruguay) 30m CW
ZP5KO (Paraguay) 20m CW
VO1TX (Newfoundland) 40m SSB

With a nice log like that, the only difficulty I have is pulling myself away from the radios! It's been great fun. I look forward to more great DX in the coming months. In the meantime, don't hesitate to give me a call on the radio - if you can find out what mode and band I am on! GL de EI2KC.