I'm sure I've told this story before, so for those on the list who have heard it, just delete this post.

I tuned down to just a few KHz above 28 300, checked the frequency to see if it was clear, and proceeded to call CQ D X.  I don't know if it still is the case but 10 meters used to be the Japanese novice band including running only 10 watts for either CW or SSB.  At least, a long rag chew I had with a Japanese station once told me.  His English was better than mine.  Anyhow, let me give you a flavor of what it sounded like first and then I will tell the story.

Calling CQ D X and standing by," I said.  By the way, I wasn't K0NX back then but I'll just use my current call sign to demonstrate what happen.  As I said in a previous message, I am really bad about understanding anybody that doesn't sound like he is from Iowa.  Anyhow, I let my signal drop and a guy, all alone, called me.

Keelowatt serro November x-ray, keelowatt serro November xray, this is Ja-pan Amerika one, Mexico Quebec Mexico.  Ja-pan America one Mexico Quebec Mexico.  And he repeated it a couple of additional times.

Q R zed, I called.  I didn't get all of your call.  Please say again, this is Kilowatt zero November x-ray.  He repeated it several times.  It took me a couple of more transmission to even get his call.  Finally, I got it.  I gave him his signal report, my QTH, and name, and turned it back to him.  I had to get him to repeat his QTH and name three or four more times before I got it.  I was going to sign with him without telling him what I was running for a station, and that out of plane old embarrassment, but when I turned it back to him, he said, "Feel.  I am going to ask question.  Is this ok, feel?"  I reluctantly said, ok, and he asked me a question.  I asked him to repeat it.  He asked me again and I asked him to repeat his question.  This happened, God as my witness, two or three additional times until I understood he was asking me if I lived in the capital city of Denver or did I live in another town near Denver?  I thought, what in the sam hill is he asking me that for?  I mean, isn't Denver good enough just for a short contact?  I finally got it and so I told him I was in Lakewood Colorado.  I spelled it.  Lima, alphas, kilo, echo, whisky, oscar, oscar, delta and I repeated it several more times and pronounced it a few times.  He asked me to repeat it all again.  I did.  He came back and said, "Ok, feel.  I now understand.  You leave in Lake wud Co low ri doe.  Now, feel.  I ask you question.  Is this ok?"  Very hesitantly, I said it would be ok.  "Now, feel, in Lake Wud Co low ra da, I am asking your address."  I asked him to repeat his question.  He did.  I asked him again to repeat his question.  He repeated it two or three additional times.  To my surprise, he was indeed asking me for my address.  I thought, "Oh, good.  He wants to QSL direct," so I said my address was 8427 West 6th Avenue.  I was figuring that he'd never get such a weird long address but after repeating it two or three more times, he repeated it back and I confirmed he had it ok.  By the way, ok is a great word used often in any language.  He said, "Ok, feel, in Lake Wud Co low raido, I am asking you your zip code.  See?  I was right.  The guy wants to qsl.  Hot dog.  I got it now.  He got the zip code just fine right off.  I am telling you the truth how this all went down.  In fact, it took probably 10 or 15 minutes to get this far in the QSO.  I was kicking myself for sticking my neck out working sideband by this time.  Finally, he said, and this is the truth, "Feel, this is ok.  I have, what you say is, map called Atlas.  I see you right where you live from map.  Very nice talking you.  I see on map exactly where you house would be."  Now remember, this is long before computers and google maps and almost before satellites, haha.  I mean, we didn't have cable channels, the internet, and the most modern thing in my shack was a push button telephone.  I've give a dollar to your favorite charity if I had a recording of that, one of a kind, classic QSO.  Now you know why I don't work phone.  I'm kidding, of course, but I made the same mistake once, when I had my 4 element 20 up at 40 feet.  I cranked up my amplifier that I finally purchase, 4 811 a tubes with 700 watts output, pointed my beam straight north, shouldered my way between two huge signals, and called CQ D X United Alpha, cq d x USSR, cq United alpha, cq the soviet Union.  I called cq like that for maybe 15 seconds and at that time of the evening, in the early 1980s, Russian were 30 and 40 over nine.  They were even louder long path pointed southwest in the morning hours.  I worked Russians for the next two hours, some short 5 or six minute rag chews, too.  I also worked Willy, who operated from UK 9 A A N, or as he used to say, UK9 Able, able, nan, for two hours on phone one night but again, his English back then was better than mine.  Willy and I worked high speed CW on 20 occasionally and UK9AAN was a big Russian contest station back then with about 20K of output.  This was when Russians were only supposed to run 200 watts maximum.  Willy told me, in a rather clever way, what their amplifier was putting out back then and he told of some of the other big Ukraine contest stations and other calls with which I was familiar, and none of them ran less than 10K and some even more than 20K.  Great d x days back then on all the bands.  Anyhow, from a guy who can hardly understand guys on sideband from New York, New Jersey, Mississippi, northern Georgia, and Alabama, I try and stick to 75 meters at 4 PM in the afternoon before the band goes long and starts filling up with all them foreign accents from near by states, haha.  By the way, the only Japanese I know is the word Tokyo but even Eloquence pronounces it incorrectly as most of us do.  It is not pronounced Toe Key oh, as three syllables.  If you listen closely, Japanese pronounce it as just two syllables as in toke Yoh.  I still pronounce it as three syllables myself but then again, we CW guys don't need to know such piddly information, haha.

Phil.
K0NX