Here is the new ARRL-Iowa Calenday of events. The list includes the usual hamfests, but it also includes some Operating events. Operating is why we are hams. There is a big subset of hams who don’t check in to 2m nets. They are the DXers and they are a part of US. Listing a few contests will hopefully draw a few folks off their HT and get them listening on HF. Big contests are often “multi-multi”: multiple op and multiple radios. If you are interested ask at your next club meeting.
Old Fart wandering slightly off topic –> Back when I had hair, I was in the USAF. My aux callsign was KH6HOY (Hawaii’s Only Yak). There was a hard core group of DXers. We ran CQWW DX Phone from KH6. It was a very disciplined group, with scheduled shifts, lots of food and refreshments. We had a Collins S Line with a kilowatt on every band. Good antennas and a great elevated location.
I worked 10m in the afternoon and the JA’s were pounding in. I couldn’t dig out calls. One of the older Navy chiefs came over and grabbed the mic. He said some things in Japanese and handed the mic back to me. “Now just work them by number JA1, JA2…” OK! Stomping on the foot switch, I said “Taking JA1’s” and the pileup was much better. After working a few of those, I went “JA2”. I’ve no clue how many I worked in 2 hours. Paper logging was a HUGE PITA compared to today. We placed #19 in the WORLD! It was a good time and still is a great memory!
It is my sincere hope that EVERY ham has great memorable experiences! I hope I’m helping that happen.
WØIY