13 Colonies

Got all 13 + WM3PEN + TM13COL on 20m CW. Got all 13 + WM3PEN on 40m CW.

I never heard GB13COL on CW and never saw him spotted on CW when I was at the rig, and I was at the rig a lot. I saw TM13COL spotted on CW a number of times and got him on 17m CW and 20m CW.

 

I did not have my own QSL card last year. I do this year. Now to put all those envelopes together and mail 'em out. Can't wait for the land battle themed cards to show up in my mailbox.

I remember the daily excitement every day for weeks, checking the mail awaiting all those ship themed QSL cards last year. It was like waiting for a Little Orphan Annie decoder to show up. Many days I was like "aww just another crummy bill".

 

If you reward bad behavior, you will get a LOT more of it. Other operators will notice that the rude caller got the contact, and things will quickly turn into chaos.

 

I found 99.5% courtesy and good old fashioned great hams.
Yeah, there is that .5% ... that's when I turn up the Mercury III a few notches, and they usually go away.
Especially 20 meters, a pretty rough neighborhood.
But I don't like seeing this wonderful special event turning into a contest of state versus state.
And no, I don't give a rat's behind that NC "won." I like to see a nice close bunching, like last year.

Wondering if anyone has suggestions for making this less state versus state, and maybe something more akin to us working together ... like we did at the beginning of this whole experiment called the United States.

By the way, the DX stations are also getting into this. While on 20 SSB with the beam pointed West, I was called by -- and made contacts with -- Norway, Sweden, Latvia, Poland, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, France, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Cyprus, Malta, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela and Montserrat, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, Cuba. Lots more that I couldn't hear ... guys were whining at me "answer the DX." Maybe that's an angle, see if the 13 Colonies can do DXCC in a week?
David, K2WPM
K2B Virginia Coordinator 13 Colonies Special Event

 

I was a Virginia op and I didnt have that happen. Hope you have better luck next time. I really enjoyed my time operating and looking forward to next year. And when did it become a contest for the state with the most QSO's ?

 

The CW stations were going at a blistering pace - no time for niceties, but no nonsense, either. One of two SSB stations I worked was K2J in Mt. Airy, NC. A very, very nice guy. He sounds like someone I'd like to have a beer with.

 

WM3PEN worked 92 countries. De WA3PZO/WM3PEN

 

Mad respect my man! I worked 13 states in 7 days and that’s some kind of record for me. I couldn’t imagine 92 countries!

I unfortunately didn’t work you. I didn’t know what the 3 bonus stations were until way late in the game. This was my first time participating in the event and the only way I knew about it was from another thread. That thread was passive aggressively shut down and for the life of me I couldn’t find this thread until the last day of the event. Lessons learned.

Enough about that. A big thank you to all the ops that ran the special event stations. You all are rock stars in my book. What a great event. Thank you for what you do!

73s from the EFHW antenna farm

 

It was a fun event. Made a lot of the fellows do something on the radio for a change. I don't have any statistics readily available at the moment, but I did work all of the 13 colonies on 40 - 15 meters and some of them on three different modes. As I mentioned, it was a fun diversion. I might fill out the form and send in my "donation", but I'm not all that interested in more certificates on the wall just now.

Anyway, it was fun I too, thank the stations who took the time to activate the colonies and the other folks who participated and made it fun for us all!

 

Way to go! I think you have drank the kook-aid and are hooked! Really fun Event huh! I will look for ya next year on the front row!73!

 

Nope everybody gets the same!

 

I know the feeling! I have almost all QSL cards from 2020- all from 2021- and all 16 in the wind for 22 now! Can’t wait to see them!