Christmas QS0

[padi56]

'Twas the night before Christmas and outside the Ham Shack, the snow was falling from a sky blacker than black.

Inside the shack the my heater was burning, heating the knobs I soon would be turning.

I stepped inside and shook off the snow, outside I could hear the wind starting to blow.

A Christmas Eve QSO on 80m was the plan, be it CW, AM or single side Band.

The signals were hot, like the heat from my fire, I was ever so glad for my end-fed long antenna wire .

I worked stations far, and I worked stations near, but the last station I worked was interestingly very very strange and queer.

He said he was mobile, and I thought there's no way, but he insisted he was, and that he was driving a sleigh.

His signal was weak, as mobiles can be, sometimes fading well below an S-3.

I decided to play his game for a while, if nothing else, it was good for a smile.

He said he was lost and could I please lend a hand, as I was the only signal he heard on the 80m band.

He asked for a signal to use as a beacon, something to use for the place he was seekin'.

I turned on the amp and gave him full power, I chuckled as I warned, "look out for the tower".

I must have dozed off because as I awoke, I recalled that QSO and laughed at the joke.

The signals were gone, the band was now quite dead, time to retire, and head for my bed.

The snow had stopped falling, the wind had stopped too, but as I gazed at the ground I saw something new.

Sleigh tracks and small hoof prints is what I did see, and on the back porch steps sat a brand new Icom Transceiver for me.

And Merry Christmas from Santa!

[Psmith]