Yes! Qsl cards are very much still alive and well. Some traditions will never die. The special event stations are fun to get cards from.

Super cool anecdote on the telescope thing, I’ve never heard of that.

I hope you get back on the radio, it’s a great hobby. It’s a nice stress relief outlet for me these days too.

Love to hear things like that! When I first got licensed the solar cycle was utter trash. We’re past the peak now, but band conditions are still pretty good generally. A few watts and a wire will still get you somewhere with CW and some other forward error corrected modes (like FT8). I have a lot of fun with the digital stuff like AREDN, but it’s definitely a different ball game and the old school SSB-based radio still has its place in my heart.