My first contact as VE9KK
Well once the headphones were repaired and I ran through the starting of the radio software and making sure it was speaking politely to the radio I was off to try my hand at FT8. I was calling CQ on 20m and on Hamspots my call was being spotted in Europe and I was thrilled! Back at my condo QTH in Toronto I was only spotted in the U.S. and there was a spot in Iceland as well. It was not long at all until IU8DON from Italy answered my CQ call on FT8!! I was amazed that my signal was making it finally across the ocean. I did not have to much time after the sorting of the software and radio communication testing but the contact with Italy just made my day!
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].