Anyone who can log 300 ULR stations in a month (for one of the Ross Challenge awards) has to be a hero. It took two days to log 100, and 2-1/2 months to reach 300. Chris Knight and I were neck-and-neck at the 280 level, but Chris went to bed early last night, and I was up at 5 a.m. local time this morning. Cubans make up nearly 25% of my ULR total, so it was only logical that one would be my #300. (Stations in Florida, where I live, total 110 in my ULR log!)

There was a nice surprise this morning. Sitting on 1360 waiting for that Cuban to fade up, I started hearing church ads, with South Carolina phone numbers, then mentions of Fort Jackson, which is outside Columbia, SC. Turned out to be WELP in Easely, SC. It was 1130Z, well before sunrise there, and they're supposed to be 35 W night. I suspect they forgot to switch the power last night! Easely is pretty far inland, so I wasn't getting the over-water coastal boost.

Going all out for 300 was fun, but I'm not up to battling for 400! Going to concentrate on Latin Americans other than Cubans.

Thanks to Rob and Gary for keeping the awards program going!

73,

Jim, KR1S
http://qrp.kearman. com/