Thirty days have gone without any opposition from the competent authorities, so it’s now official. From today on, I’m IX1CKN, and can operate as such with full privileges. I’m ready to go: the qrz.com profile is up and running, I did create the new log file in my BBLogger, I did subscribe to eQSL (see above how my eCard looks like, while I'm at IQ1VD controls), and I obtained the LOTW certificate for that call. Furthermore, I’m planning also to subscribe to a log online service, like Hrdlog.net (and, about this, I accept suggestions). I hope the new call, other than allowing me a fixed station in the Country where I’m born and have been raised, will ask less patience to worldwide operators, as IX1/HB9EYT/P was fun to use (I scored some 250 QSO, so far), but pretty long and not always easy to understand, especially as used in low power. As far as expectations are concerned, it’s quite strange: radio has been a part of my life since the mid nineties (read here, although in Italian, my story about the first receiver I owned), and so it can be said I awaited this day for something like twenty years. However, I can’t see clear goals, nor want any. It’s the reason itself of my crush out of HF: you don’t know who’ll give back to your call, nor from where. Propagation wind will bring answers to your questions, day after day, night after night. You learn from experiences, but also from mistakes. However, I know the way I want to live my radio journey: no super-power, home-made (or, anyways, very simple) antennas, field equipment and operating whenever weather conditions will allow, paper QSL as much as possible (but without demonizing virtual confirmations), and – to put it with a Bruce Springsteen record from the days when I became an SWL – with a lot of “that human touch”. That’s how I had tons of fun, met interesting hams (and some became very good friends… if you’re reading, you know who you are), and deeply enjoyed radio, even if the spectrum scene changed since my beginner days. If a promise has to be made when taking a new road, that’s mine as a freshly licensed Italian ham. I will engage myself in keeping it, and hope to meet as many as possible of you on the air really soon.

73,
Chris