I started this blog just under a year ago when I was trapped in the depths of a horrible New England winter. I had been off the air for a bit more than a decade, my last contact being a FO29 Satellite QSO in January of 2001. In fact one of my last HF QSOs would have been with my father who passed away in September of 1998.
As I explained almost a year ago, my father was my inspiration for becoming a ham back in 1970. We stayed in contact via radio on an almost weekly basis as I journeyed out into the world. How many hundreds of times I heard his call on CW or the sound of his voice I couldn’t begin to guess.
His equipment and antennas were modest, “just enough” he would say. I suppose “just enough” was all we needed to keep in contact. He never chased DX or contested. Other than our QSOs, he would work a few stations a month, and even fewer as he got on in years. When I got my first real antenna (a vertical) in the mid-80’s he would marvel at my comments about the occasional DX station I worked, and was pleased as I scrambled to complete WAS on the then new 30 meter band. He was, like most fathers, living part of his life through mine, and glowing when I accomplished something new.
So here I am today, February 7, 2012, with tears in my eyes, thinking of his voice and hearing his call in my head again. Today I completed my 100th DX contact since getting back on the air 362 days ago. Although he doesn’t know the significance, Obaid, A61QQ in Abu Dabi UAE happened to mark that milestone with me. We did it dad. This one is for you!
(Should any of you ever venture to the ARRL headquarters and look down on the garden path and see his call sign, KC2ON/WA4SAU, say 73 for me.)
