[IRCA] Funny: WCXH-780 Test in CT (Duh)

[Konnie Rychalsky <dxbox87@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Funny, WCXH-780-ME DX Test heard here in SW CT:  Overslept the start time, I awoke to 4:47am on the VCR (thaaaats right, kids, I said Video Cassette Recorder!)  Last ten minutes is better than nothing, but couldn't hear anything through the mix, so went back to bed and left running the cassette recorder (thaaaats right, eat your heart out kids, a cassette recorder!)  Oh Crap!  The next day, I remembered the VCR reset the clock back an hour... when it shouldn't.  That means I missed the test?  Wait a minute, I DID reset the clock manually just before I snoozed off - then why was it still wrong the next day?  Instead of automatically resetting to the cable signal, it reset itself again by internal.  Long story even longer, the last ten minutes of the hour (the first ten minutes of the tape) netted nothing and I was just about ready to throw in the towel.  Just happened to keep the tape playing, while in the middle of  doing something else, and Bingo: right after QRM: CBS tone at TOH, CW blasted in!  The test ran one hour later.

Two comments:  I've made it a rule to "always" place a WWV time stamp at the beginning of each recording, especially when you're half asleep, and in this case.  It sure helped the next day: I began recording at 0847-UTC, meaning the test began 0900-UTC (or 5am).  Second, I enjoyed the fact this was no free-bie, and presented a real DX challenge - how badly do you want it to wait another hour?  Good Stuff.  What's one hour when countless hours are spent during a season to catch that one long-awaited right-moment DX catch?

Konnie
DX-440, Grundig-S350
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