I had emailed back and forth with KJ6AMF, a ham radio operator from California, where Ray was looking to log a NJ contact on PSK-31. As I was about to head off the computer for the evening I got another email from him indicating he was on the radio if I was around and able to make a contact. I fired things up and we had an easy contact on 20m. After we finished the QSO, across the screen comes “K2DSL Dave de WD5EAE WD5EAE”. I immediately recognized the call as Stephen is the developer of Ham Radio Deluxe Utilities (HRDU) and we have exchanged emails many times. HRDU is an invaluable tool if someone uses HRD for logging.

Stephen had a great signal from Texas and we chatted for a few minutes. He indicated he hasn’t been on the radio since November so I can’t imagine a bigger coincidence then him being on for the first time after half a year off and me being on PSK-31 for the first time in a long time AND him seeing & recognizing my call on the waterfall. I’m sure glad it happened. Thanks to KJ6AMF for needing NJ and contacting me. Both KJ6AMF and WD5EAE are already confirmed on LoTW within a couple mins of both QSOs, thanks to HRDU of course!

I also have 2 new DXCC’s confirmed the past 2 days. The first was on LoTW by 9K2MU in Kuwait. I had made a SSB contact with Murtada back on April 11th and now have it confirmed. I also received a direct QSL card from YB0PAH in Indonesia for our RTTY contact during the BARTG Contest back in March. That brings my DXCC count to 157.

73,
K2DSL