I spent the last month with the ham radio gear shut down and the feed lines disconnected. This, after hitting it a little too hard. I found myself burned out on radio and in need of a break. It’s a calibration issue. Despite having been retired for two years I guess I haven’t adjusted to the unlimited hours available in the shack. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t quit bathing and become a radio hermit. I still worked on the endless around the house to-do list, kept the lawn mowed, bought groceries, and all the things people do to keep life moving forward, but I spent every spare moment in front of the radio and eventually, that got old.

Missing from my normal routine was visiting friends, keeping up with the personal diary, trying new recipes, reading books, sitting down with Earl Grey…

I managed to replace all that with more time in the shack and became burned out in the process. This last month away from the RF was a lovely break and by the end of it, I was ready to spin the dial again. This time with hard limits. I’m permitting myself back in the shack now on a limited basis. While there was never a worry this episode would cause me to drop out of the hobby, I just want to switch off the shack light each evening anxious to return to continue the adventure the following day.

I returned to the air to find the bands in a good mood and worked a lot of DX. Europe, Japan, Australia, and several stations in the Caribbean. There were numerous band slots filled, four of them on 17 meters alone, but it was VK9DX on 30 meters that was an all-time-new-one (ATNO) for me!

Via LoTW: KP2BH, CE7GFN, VK9DX, JR6EZE, DJ5FI, R2BDR, JA2HYD, JA1IOA, SP3DOF, JA8KSF, JE2EHP, FM4LV, JA3DAZ, PA3KUS, JH8JWF, RA4FHO, JJ2HCM, SP5ELA, KL7J, HK6DOS, VK7AP, HB9HSJ, HI8S, LA8ENA

Thanks to all for the DX fun and the LoTW confirmations!

It seems we are either at solar maximum or very near. It’s an event best determined in the rear-view mirror six months after it has been passed. In any event, there should be years of good propagation and more DX ahead before we slip into the doldrums.