A momentous day – I made my 500th contact this evening (at last – phew!!).
At the end of December 2017 I had amassed the grand total of 4,295 contacts in my amateur radio logbook. Yep, I know what you’re thinking, pathetic for an operator who’s been on the air since 1991.
However, Joe Taylor’s new rapid-fire FT8 digital mode, together with the ARRL’s International Grid Chase, has spurred me on and barely has there been a day in 2018 that I haven’t been on the air and made several HF contacts. In these few short weeks of the new year I’ve made contact with Japan (a first), had my signal hear in Australia and worked more stateside stations than ever before.
This evening I managed my 705th contact of the year and, in turn, my 5000th logged contact. The lucky station was OH1LFX from Finland (locator square KP10) using, yes, you guessed it, FT8. Thanks Pekka, much appreciated.