Around 03:15 UTC - I was in the shack reading e-mail and listening
to whatever was happening on 1836. I realized after a while that
I was hearing both sides of the QSOs and figured it was a DX
station in North America - maybe a KL7. Turns out to have been
ZS4TX with a great opening to Oregon.
He went split and work W7GG and myself - signals were fantastic and
the QSOs happened very quickly. Bernie had a lot of noise (it is
the middle of the summer after all). This is the second or third
QSO I have made with Bernie with almost exactly the same circumstances
each time. So, if you want to work him - listen on 1836 around
03:15 and see if he peaks up. My QSO was at 03:24. He was 579,
easy copy and gave me a 599.
I was just noticing that this path is over 10,000 miles from my
QTH - a little bit furthur than VK6. By comparison, UA3 is just
about half the distance.
This sure demonstrates the effect of the polar regions on signals
and makes transequatorial paths very interesting. Maybe there is
hope for a shot to TO0R after all (another 500 miles from ZS).
Later on in the evening (during quick trips to the radio room during
the new year's eve party) I found HB9AMO for a new one. Pierre was
the first signal I ever heard from Europe back in 1985. It is nice
to have finally worked him.
See you in the pileups!
Tree N6TR
tree@contesting.com
--
FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/topband.html
Submissions: topband@contesting.com
Administrative requests: topband-REQUEST@contesting.com
Sponsored by Akorn Access, Inc & KM9P
|