[Elecraft] K1, calling CQ, 2x QRP QSO.

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Larry, W2LJ wrote:

One must also remember that propagation "conventions" are not always 
correct, either!

Take for instance the 80 Meter QRP-L Foxhunt a few weeks ago.  The two 
foxes were in Virginia and Utah.  I am located in New Jersey.  Before 
the hunt began, conventional wisdom and experience told me that I would 
probably work the Virginia fox and probably wouldn't even hear the Utah fox.

In reality, the exact opposite came to be!  I guess when it comes to 
propagation you should "expect the unexpected".

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Good point Larry!

After all, we Hams were given the "shortwaves" to play in because all the
experts with decades of on-air experience knew what we "couldn't get out of
our own backyards" on those frequencies.

It's significant to me that it was only a few of the Hams who did the work
to open the shortwaves, and then to prove that even "daylight DX" was
possible on the right frequencies. 

The majority of the Hams stubbornly hung around the longest wavelengths they
could because they knew what the experts told them.

The moral of the story is that if you want to experience something exciting
and new, don't travel with the crowd.   

Ron AC7AC