SUMMERS END

Well Labor day is upon us, my grand kids are back at school and that all seems to signal the end of summer. In ham radio world that seems to mean the end of the E-skip season, my last 6m QSO was Aug. 5th out here in the West. A very mixed bag of HF propagation and dismal solar cycle made 6m almost all the operating I did this summer.
I know summer is for other things not radio, and I did all that stuff too but I try to enjoy the hobby year around when I can. A few bright spots for me was getting my RTTY setup working better and learning the software so I do not look like a total fool on the air, and working some late night 20m DX a few times. First real DX on RTTY in well over 20 years it was fun.

Also enjoyed doing a restoration on my old but wonderful Yaesu FT-301 station ( now I have to find a place to set it up)

Also working my first South American stations on 6m CW this summer so you see there were some bright spots. Had a nice FD trip with K7BUY but conditions were sooo bad we mostly enjoyed a nice visit and nice scenery from our seats in my Jeep.
I hope you all had some good operating this summer, and in my part of the world it was a hot, hot summer with smoke filled Sky's due to many forest fires here in the western U.S. So I am looking foreword to cooler weather, some fall contesting and getting to tryout my new FT-950....

Get on have fun and best 73.....