JU2DX has been appearing regularly and loudly on 40m CW in the morning.
On the 12th I moved him to topband at my sunrise; I clearly heard him
calling me, but, alas, I was not heard. I tried again yesterday but
nothing was heard either way. Today, the 14th, I asked him again at
1500, and the reply was "sked?" "NW NW NW SUNRISE PSE TRY NW ES 15 MIN."
He agreed---and went on working guys. Clearly, I was not making myself
clear, so I asked again. "QSO B4" was the reply. I persisted, and he
agreed to move---but then again resumed QSOing on 40.
I decided to risk the catcalls and asked him yet again. This time, he
understood, sent "160 QSY" and left. I tuned up on 1835 and waited. A
few seconds later there appeared a substantial signal, tuning up. "An
eavesdropper/opportunist from the 40 pileup," I thought, and girded for
a battle. Not so--the tuner became a caller, JU2DX, calling me! The QSO
was swift and crisp--he was FINE copy! Zone 23 in the log!
Fearing he would return immediately to 40,I repeatedly asked him to stay
for others. I posted him on PacketCluster with the succint comment "!!"
and hit the telephone. Meanwhile, K6UT, about to QRT for work, instead
dallied for an easy #107, and then the pileup swelled. I heard veterans
and newbies swarming---one old veteran QRMed the hell out of everybody,
making no friends. My buds K6UR, AJ6T and KG6I were among the
victorious.
At that point, less than 10 minutes before sunrise, I moved quickly to
80 to attempt to move XW30 to 160. Visions of an unbelievable
double--one worthy of Zoomah's book--danced in my head. Alas, the XW30
appeared not to be hearing well, and, although the pile was not HUGE, it
took a while to bust it. It took as long to receive acknowledgment of my
request, but the operator finally agreed to move. I went to 160--by then
well after sunrise--and called for five minutes, but heard nothing. Dan,
KL7Y broke in to tell me XW30 had called me! Alas, it was too late--160
is terribly unforgiving about such things.
Well, one outta two ain't bad, McGee! I went to packet and proudly
posted "JU2DX courtesy of The NI6T Moving Company of Los Gatos." It has
been a while since I had been able to do one of those! I dunno how many
west coasters ultimately got through to Mongolia, but there were a
bunch.
I went back to 40 to thank the operator, AND TO REQUEST THAT HE SHOW UP
EARLIER FOR W5/7/0. Now that he has logged some people on 160, he just
might! Good luck! And don't be shy about asking!
--
Garry Shapiro, NI6T
160 meters: not a band, but an obsession
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