…that's the way you are. Good ole Frank perfectly applies to what happened me yesterday night, during my OM hours. I was exploring 20 meters, looking for some not too crowded signal, when I heard, on 14170.7, a PY station calling. I assumed to be the first calls, as the cluster wasn't telling about him. I did tune at the speed of light, but another italian colleague was faster than me in giving back. He got answered, and built up a nice five minutes QSO. When it was over, I waited for some seconds, to see if the Brazilian station would keep on calling, but since he didn't, I feared he could run away, and gave my call. Quite surprisingly for me – don't forget my 40 watts into a homemade "fishing rod" vertical aerial – he asked me ahead, and the result can be heard in the clip below (I edited the recording, as I was plugged to the output of my PC soundcard, and so I'm not in). PY7CPC, Peres from Recife, has been very kind, and highly enjoyed to be my first contact ever from Brazil.We spoke for some seven minutes (propagation was very stable, but I think also his three elements Yagi has to see with that), and then greeted, under the promise of exchanging QSLs (in the clip you can see his, sent to another European OM). I often write, and deeply believe in it, that ten watts are enough to tour the world (if propagation is there), that an antenna the simpler, the better, and everything else that should second operating "barefoot". When you personally experience the results of thesis convincing you, it's wonderful and – Sinatra once again – unforgettable. And there's another thing I'll always be grateful for. It's about becoming an OM after years of SWLing. Not only your ears are trained, but you know the value of turning the dial (as opposite of clicking on cluster spots). If I wasn't conscious of that, yesterday night I wouldn't have found PY7CPC calling.
 

73,
Chris