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I made my first QSOs of the year this past weekend. Haven’t been on air since late last year, mainly due to the sun not cooperating when I spent a few minutes in the shack. But – true to my suffix – Any Bloody Thing goes, so I did some medium wave listening instead. Still good to be back on air and conditions were not too bad so VK5CZ on 10 meters was my first contact of the year. Ian had a wonderful signal and we had a pleasant conversation, so cheers to him.

And as an SKCC member I tried to gather some points during the WES and contact some K3Y stations. Andy E50A and Jerry DW3GKT are in my log for Saturday and Lyn VK4EI on Sunday. Rather a successful weekend.

I don’t think I will top the 614 QSOs I made in 2014, anyway. Late last year we found a house with a garden, in a location that we liked, and thanks to the excellent negotiation skills of the realtor our bid was accepted. The only downside: it is a very old house and noy vert well maintained. It needs a lot of work (and money) before we can move in there, but we already had architects, contractors and designers to look at what can and has to be done. Precious radio time has to be spend on getting things in order. But with our own house there are also possibilities for better antennas and so sacrificing some radio time now is going to be rewarded. At night in bed I already dream of stacked monoband yagi antennas on 40 meter masts in our garden. The reality will be a bit different, though, but more about that later. 73