[Elecraft] No luck with KX-1 in Peru

[Ray Albers]

(tried posting similar message from an Internet cafe in Lima the other 
day but it got bounced as not coming from me).

We just got home from a great two weeks in Peru - wife, son, daughter in 
law and me, visiting daughter in law's family in Lima over xmas and new 
years, plus a 4 day side trip to Cuzco, Machu Pichu, Valle Sagrado, etc. 
(the side trip was made more challenging with borrowed clothes etc 
thanks to Delta having misplaced all our checked baggage for a few days, 
but it (including the xmas gifts) was waiting for us when we returned to 
Lima)

Only downer was that I made zero contacts with the KX-1. Tried operating 
from hotel rooms in Lima and Cuzco, and one morning also took a walk to 
a nearby park in Lima and sat on a bench with a wire up to a nearby tree 
- to the amusement of dozen or so folks in a Tai Chi group nearby. 
During the two weeks I heard a few weak signals - LUs, PYs, and a couple 
of US stations, but no one heard me, nor were there any replies to my 
many CQs. Tried all three bands at dawn, midmorning, afternoon, evening 
and night. Surprisingly, I heard not a single OA station. While jogging 
or being driven around Lima saw a number of tribanders on short towers 
on house/apartment roofs, most with inverted Vees also, but I guess 
everyone must operate 'phone? Has anyone here ever worked an OA on CW??

I did pay a visit to HQ of Radio Club Peruano (check them out on the 
web), which I had heard described as "the Peruvian ARRL" - well, it's 
much different from ARRL! Paid staff consists of la segretaria and el 
Gerente. No labs and such, but several operating positions in soundproof 
rooms, a small boatanchor collection, but mainly it's a CLUB! They have 
a big on-site meeting room, and a restaurant where members can have 
meals, bring family, etc. Had a nice half hour visit and tour with the 
very amiable manager, Carlos OA4WD, with me struggling in my 
not-at-all-good Spanish, and we finished with a coffee in the nice airy 
restaurant (remember, it's now summer in the Southern Hemisphere).

Ah well, as the Amateur's code says, "The radio amateur is balanced" - 
i.e., there's more to life than QRP CW. It was a great trip!

73

Ray K2HYD