[Elecraft] My turn !

[Tom Bosscher]

	Just so you folks know, I've been watching this list for a little over a 
year. Last year, to help balance out the fact that I turned 50, my wife 
really surprised me and gave me a K2, with several options, for my 50th 
birthday. I was so busy at work, that I could not even start the kit for 
four months. Well, it's been built for quite a while, and I've listened to 
a lot of activity on the bands, including PSK31.
	Maybe I should explain that I was one of those "licensed at age 13 geeks" 
I started out on the low bands, but by the time I was 16, I was into VHF. I 
bought a used SB303/401 twins maybe 25 years ago, sold them six months later.
	I was heavily active on the FM scene, building repeaters and packet 
digipeaters, and then I burned out about ten years ago. One thing I did do 
right, was get a lifetime subscription to the ARRL when I was 21, so I 
still continued to get QST.  I work as a chief engineer for four radio 
stations, so I am knee deep into electronics all day.

	Two years ago I saw the K2 at Dayton. This is were I made a mistake. My 
wife caught me more than once studying the Elecraft web page ( wireless 
laptop in the living room!). She caught on to that, and called my buddy to 
figure out what options I might need.
	So here we are. Finally, tonight, I tuned around, and there was V31LZ at 
14.025 . He was at 22 wpm, I hit him at 15. He came back! My first HF 
contact in 25 years. Bulgaria! In that awesume art form called CW. With 
five, count em, five watts!. OK, so it was over in sixty seconds, but what 
a ride. And, yes, I even had the presence of mind to record it on a pocket 
solid state recorder so that I could play the QSO back. I'm taking that to 
work and burning a cd of that!

	Wooo-hooo. This is going to be fun.

	And to Wayne and Eric and the crew at Elecraft:

	Thank you for putting the fun back into ham radio.


	Tom Bosscher   WA8URE K2 -3206