[PaQSO] Rememberances

[Ron Notarius WN3VAW]

(Sparked by KW3U's comment.)

One of the best contests I ever had was 1987.  But it started off rotten.

My (now ex-) wife had signed us up for a church retreat overnight
(Friday/Saturday).  It was supposed to be the 3rd weekend in October, but at
the beginning of the month she informed me it had been moved up one week.
So of course, she wanted me to cancel my Pa QSO plans.  (Hah!)

Instead, I went down to the family farm a week early, set up the TS-430S,
RS-20M, SB-200, and the antennas in my brother-in-law's trailer (leaving
STRICT instructions that nothing was to be touched, to which he agreed), and
went home.

Middle of the week, I get a call from Alb.  Seems that the Astron RS-20M had
shorted out & smoked.  Now, you may wonder just HOW he found that out
without ever turning the radio on (I should add that he & the rest of the
in-laws were very active CB'ers, and that although I didn't tell them, that
TS-430S had been "opened up" to give it full HF transceive by the previous
owner).  I asked.  I never got a straight answer.  Needless, I was ticked
off.  Next day, Alb called me to say he'd borrowed a 20 amp supply from
someone, so I was back in business.

The retreat was supposed to be over around 2.  Figured about a half hour to
get home, another to get unpacked, and an hour to get to Lippincott, be QRV
around 3 - 3:30.  Right.  Retreat ended around 4 and she insisted we spend
some "quality time" together, and couldn't I just forget the whole radio
thing?  (No, she didn't like ham radio much, or any radio much, which is
another thing she didn't tell me until after we married!)  I finally got to
the farm and QRV at 7 PM; figured with most of Saturday blown, it would be a
lousy contest.

Made almost 600 QSO's and set my best record to date for Greene.  When I
first got on the air, you should have heard the (happy!) shocked voices at
my low numbers, but they didn't stay low for long.  And remember, this was
before packet.

Have to admit that it's a good thing that Greene isn't as rare as it was
when I was often the only station running the county, save a few mobiles.
But I do miss being the sought out one and only!

73, ron wn3vaw

"And they give you cash,
which is just as good as money!"
Yogi Berra, AFLAC Commercial, 2002