It’s been stormy here the last day or two, I don’t know what the heck is going on. It’s early February and we’ve been above 50F several times over the last few days. Today there is a high wind warning for the area and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with that information. Sometimes I think meteorologists have too much time on their hands and they make stuff up to stay on top of the news cycle…

But there is light rain and there have been a few heavy gusts so I decided the best course of action this morning was to put the KX3 on the kitchen table, near the coffee pot. It’s being powered by a 12v battery and is set to 10 watts output. The antenna is the Elecraft AX2, also deployed on the kitchen table. A single 10-foot radial is stretched across the floor and is connected to the KX3 chassis.

It all tunes to perfection on 20 meters where I call CQ a few times on 14.062. Nothing. I start tuning around my frequency and suddenly a strong, steady ‘CQ’ pops into my ear buds. It’s Tom, W3BYM over in Rockville, Maryland.

We have a short QSO, back and forth a few times, then he says the copy is getting a bit rough, not surprising considering my end of the lash-up, so he sends along his 73 and I return the same and go refill the coffee cup.

I’ve done this often enough that I believe I could log a contact from the kitchen table every single day without fail if I really wanted. I mean, I’m not crushing the dogpile for Bouvet with this indoor arrangement, but I learned a long time ago that there is great pleasure in exceeding expectations. And this easily does that for me.

I’ll keep listening around 14.060 today and probably snatch at least one more signal out of the aether. The wind is kicking up a bit outside making it a good day to stay indoors. 57F, high winds, maybe this is just the start of a very early “March” coming in like a lion?