My first HF QSO!

[KC3LUM]

Last weekend I made my first HF contacts on the #CherryTreeNet @ 3.920Mhz I had so much fun! Thank you to @K3MRI for letting me operate on his mobile deploy rig, and thank you so much to @K4RT and @wb4kfo for sending my these nice post cards! It looks like I am going to need to order my own custom cards to send back. I realize this is a normal custom for HAMs to send these cards, but being a new HAM I somehow never expected to be lucky enough to get one! 

 

My Lovely wife, "Babe, you got fan mail from your radio people!"

[K3MRI]

Awwwwwww. Some spouses would say: "What, not only are you taking up precious space with your stupid radios, now you're going to collect postcards as well???"

[WA2WMR]

You do realize that those cards are supposed to become wall paper in you house?

 

[K3MRI]

My only regret in life is not having a photograph of my dad's QSL card wall!! I'm serious when I say that there were about four layers superimposed. Apparently, long before I was born it was a neat array of cards but as they kept coming in, he just piled them on. His concession to my mother: never show the wall to guests... as you can imagine, every single guest that ever came in the house got to see the wall 😂

[KD3Y]

On 10/17/2019 at 11:33 AM, WA2WMR said:

You do realize that those cards are supposed to become wall paper in you house?

 

How about a "virtual wall"?  Does that count?
http://www.kd3y.com/qsl.html

 

 

 

 

 

[WA2WMR]

When I first became a ham, a printer at my mother's place of business was going to print cards for me. When he asked what I wanted I told him that I wanted something that would stand out in a wall full of cards. In those days, a picture card was a rare thing. Usually they were large call letters against a plain background with a small grid for filling in info. He suggested a solid black card with yellow lettering. However, for a press that used linotype, that would have required something called a "cut" which would have been a block with the printing cut into it and, when used on yellow stock would cover the entire card with ink except for the lettering. It would have been an expensive proposition. So I had to settle for black lettering on plane yellow background. The card was nice but not what he had suggested. 

Fast forward to a few years ago. I had a computer with drawing capability. So I broke out Windows Paint and created a card that was yellow on black. I liked it and since color printers were common, I printed a couple out on paper to see what they looked like. Then I had to have them so I looked around for printers that used ink rather than a xerographic process (toner tends to stick to things) and had a bunch made up. These are what I use not. And, since a very high percentage of cards now have pictures, the solid black card with yellow lettering seems to really stand out.

Whenever I have a QSO with new hams I make damned sure to get cards off to them. 

[K3MRI]

As you all know, my HF has been limited recently. As some of you might know, soonish, that will no longer be the case. Methinks it’s time I start to get thinking about my new QSO cards. For now I’ve been using the Ham Community ones but K3MRI needs some love too 😉