Now That's a Happy Little Kid!

I just love this photo of our grandson, Kristopher, who was here for Christmas. Have you ever seen a more genuine smile of happiness?

We had several families visit us on Christmas day, including the Duffy's from Riverside, the Daoust's from Carlsbad and the Cordray family from Murrieta. Our daughter Carrie Ann took this photo. Our son Matthew was also here.

Our son Bill Jr. and his family (Becca, Bailey, Bristol and Liam) celebrated Christmas a little closer to the North Pole from their home in Ketchikan, Alaska.

This year we had our gift opening early, and did something a little different for dinner... we had pizza! Not a traditional holiday dinner to be sure, but everyone seemed to like it, and there were some good left-overs!

On Christmas eve Robbin and I visited her mom, Florence, who couldn't make it to our party due to illness.

Some great talent... enjoy!

Our granddaughter Kayla posted this on Facebook, and I thought it was really worth sharing with everyone else. Note the 5 string violin -- don't see many of these.

Kermadec Island, ZL8X, Contacted...

Recently I was able to contact the operators of ZL8X, a DX-pedition to the Kermadec Islands, on four different ham bands... including 80 meters.

The islands are located about 700 miles northeast of New Zealand. A group of ham radio operators from Germany spent several weeks on these uninhabited islands.

Above is a map showing the islands (Kermadec is at the very top right of map).

At left is their on-line log showing the bands I worked them on. The photo below shows just one of several operating positions and antennas the group set up.

This was a first-class (and very expensive) ham radio operation to a part of the world that seldom has any visitors, much less ham radio activity.