Marathon early in the spring

 

Since I uploaded the last article, I have been thinking of the problem of the skimmer/RBN. I read in the QRZ.com page of Jim W6YA telling that the skimmer was the worst thing he had experienced in his ham radio career since 1954. When I introduced it with my full approval fot him, I got a personal comment by mail from Alan KF3B on the standpoint to accept it as a cutting edge technology, which was also persuasive to me. It might be involved with the conflict between liberty and necessity in modern technology. I would further consider how to treat this interesting issue by myself andsubmit it here or somewhere else. Any comment on this issue is welcomed.

 

I have been active in FOC Marathon last week end. I was going to fool it for a while saying hello to some old friends. But, since I could spend as long time as I want now, it has lit something in my mind. I have been on any band where there were paths open to Eu or NA. They say it has been in very good condition. But, in this area of the world, the path over the pole to either the North Eu or the East Coast was not very good. They were surely open but in a manner with a veil.

 

I still had much fun working some 300 stations. Since I operated only with a pen and the check sheets, I haven't summarized it yet. I won't care for the result. My main purpose was to meet old friends and to say hello to them as told in the beginning. Ken GW3KGV told me he had been inactive because he had been caring for his sick wife. I didn't recognize Wino PA0ABM operating his fancy call of PI4HQ. I have ignored him until he introduced himself as Wino apparently in an anger. Sorry for that. I fully understood why he got mad at me. Ron K5XK seemed to have had a family member seriously ill for months, which also kept him away from ham radio. Welcome back, Ron. It has been quite sometime since I heard Dave VK2AYD as well. His new or repaired antenna made him comeback on the radio. Congratulations, Dave. And so forth. It has not been a competitive event but a real QSO party all over the world for me. I won't be so active or could not be so active as this time from now. But I still go on enjoying it every early spring.

 

We have some flowers getting ready to bud out here. This is a kind of camellia along the north wall of the house. It is one of the coldest places in the house/property. But, amazingly, some flowers are already coming out. Life is still going on. 

 





 

 

 

 

 

 

The plum tree along the street on the western side, suffering from a kind of mold, seems to be alive. I hope it will show us fresh leaves very soon. The strawberries, planted on the ground but not in a green house, are still alive. But it seems tough for them to survive. No room ro bear fruits! Spinach is almost over. I should be ready for the vegetables in the spring very soon.