I sent an earlier email on this but it may have gotten lost, so here it goes-
28 Oct 1999
at 12:20 I started hearing VK9LX, Nick, call CQ on 1.830.3. For the next hour
and 45 minutes, beginning at 12:25Z I was able to record him. At 8 am local
time, 14:00Z, out of the grayline and well past ourt sunrise, I mean where it
was almost a bright day, with no pink left in the morning sky, he is still
coming in- working JA's spilt-
I worked Nick 3 x with litle if any competition, once at 12:20Z, then at
12:45, about our sunrise, and at 13:13Z with the disk of the sun coming over
the horizon- ....a few W6 and 7's worked him too but nothing east of my QTH
here in SE WY that I was able to copy-
A few things to know about Nick's stay- on 20 mters last night, he told me of
several equipment problems. First, his amp blew a resistor but he was able
to fix it- Then, his TS930 went south but he had another on the island for
parts and he fixed it. This from a guy who admits he has no technical
training- believe, he doesn't hi hi
Now I learn from Nick that The Ebbtide, his place of operations, and mine as
VK9LZ, is upgrading the property and no longer doing ham operations- this
is a major bummer- Nick has done a huge favor to ham radio by hauling all his
gear out there over the years, leaving it for months at a time, only to get
to Lord Howe once or twice a year to dig it out, set it up, and hope the
island spiders and winter storms don't create to much havoc on the gear in
storage-
The ability to ship to and from the island is big bucks, and a lot of
redtape- re: weight etc for plane luggage etc......
If you can, please record Nick at any opportunity you have- a $2 tape
cassette would mean a lot to a guy who spends his time, $$ and vacation time
on not just activating Lord Howe, but insuring a decent signal is put out for
all of us to have an opportunity to work him- and after almost no sleep on
Lord Howe, he spends hours at home on QSL's.....
OK, so he is in the most beautiful spot in the world, palm trees, singing
birds, awesome seafood- but ....seriously, thx Nick for all your hard effrots
to put LH on the topband- it is now 14:20 and I just heard you, fading out
barely in the background, work another JA- EU should be hearing you soon-
awesome!
73 Paul N0AH ex VK9LZ
Carpenter, WY
--
FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/topband.html
Submissions: topband@contesting.com
Administrative requests: topband-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems: owner-topband@contesting.com
|