Just had to share this with someone who'd understand. Made my first HF contact today! I'm still just a Tech but found some CW activity on 40m that I could legally use. Fired up my old Kenwood TS-430S that I bought used and threw up a random wire antenna. Called CQ and got an answer from W5ABC in Texas - I'm in Vermont! He gave me a 559 report and we exchanged names and locations.

• Used 25 watts
• Wire antenna in the attic
• Propagation was decent around 1400Z

Still shaking from the excitement. This hobby is incredible!

That's awesome! Your first skip contact is always magical. 40 meters is great for that kind of medium-distance work during the day. Keep at it and you'll be working DX stations around the world once you upgrade to General. Congrats on the successful QSO!

Nice job! CW on 40m is perfect for learning. That TS-430S is a classic rig - they work great. Random wire antennas can be surprisingly effective too. Wait until you try 20 meters with a General license - you'll be amazed at the DX you can work with similar power levels.

Congrats on the first HF QSO! I just got my General a few months ago and still get excited about every new contact. The magic never gets old. Your setup sounds similar to mine when I started - proves you don't need expensive gear to have fun on the bands.