Monday, October 21, 2013

ARS KL8DX AR SK

The USS Constitution at Sunset
The photo to the left is one that I took shortly after arriving to Boston from Denali. The photo represents my final blog post with KL8DX as my callsign. The ship represents my current new life and the sunset represents the wonderful adventures I left behind, all west of here. I made so many great friends in my nearly 10 years of operating in Alaska. What a thrill it was both from casual operating to contesting. Anyone who has followed my blog for awhile knows I very much enjoy contesting. I've had many great accomplishments but then again, fewer contesters allow for great opportunities for wallpaper. 

Upon arriving to Boston, knowing my ham license would expire at the 10 year mark (November), I continued to think about changing my callsign. I did not want to get on the air during a contest and have other contesters think I was still in Alaska. I also saw that having to send /W1 after my call would also be confusing to some. Since I had to pay for round two of my Vanity Callsign issuance, I decided to just go ahead and change my call. Living in 1land, I probably should have chased a 1 callsign but I opted for (knowing pretty much from that start what I wanted) for AK2MA. It meant obviously Alaska to Massachusetts. I had a bit over 5,000 road miles to brainstorm on what a new call could be. Also, in doing a bit of research, it's a callsign that I don't believe has been issued before. I have yet to send it on the air but it seemed like a pretty good CW callsign. I'm looking forward to trying it out both on the keyer and with the straight key not to mention on the digital modes.

So, with a new callsign, I decided to start a new blog. I can't thank all those that have taken the time to read my ramblings over the last several years. I'm afraid my ham radio life will not be nearly as interesting as it has been. I hope to do more portable operating here in the lower 48. Something tells me that propagation will be a bit more user friendly here than it was at 63 degrees. Either way, I'm hopeful that my ramblings will continue to be of some interest and worth reading. 

My new blog can be found at  http://ak2ma.blogspot.com/

I'm sure I will be returning to this blog to travel down memory lane and how knows, maybe, just maybe, I will be operating from Alaska again someday. 

4 comments:

  1. Hi Philip,

    I was hoping that I would run into you on the bands one day, but for some strange reason Alaska still eludes my log.

    Good luck with the new phase, looking forward to following your blog from MA.

    73, Pierre ZS6A

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  2. Thanks Pierre! I have had a few nice openings to ZS6 land from Alaska and it sure would have been great to catch you on the bands. Best time for Alaska is obviously during the contest season when the BIG GUNS come out and play. Good luck with getting AK my friend!! And for what it's worth, I'm now chasing it again myself ;0)

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  3. Hello Phil, I'll put the new blog in the blogroll. Last weekend I had QSO with Alaska on RTTY 20m. Big signals in the evening here. Did remind me of our QSO long time ago. Anyway. I will be following the blog. 73, Bas

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  4. Many thanks, Bas! I can't wait to get back on the air and congratulations on snagging AK on RTTY. I will sure miss contesting from there, even though it was extremely challenging at times. Looking forward to keeping in touch and working you with my new callsign. 73!

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