Hi all,
When I started operating on Topband as XV7SW
on 1827 kHz, my solely assigned FQ on that band,
I was a very inexperienced Topband operator. To
which I should add that local conditions were not
exactly encouraging, since the electric noise level
in Hanoi was typically S9+20 dB.
With 100 watts and an inverted L with elevated
radials zigzagging between buildings, a sudden
call from N6DX one day made me realize that I
could reach beyond Japan.
But it wasn't easy, due to the ambient noise. I had
worked K6SSS regularly on 80 but I could not hear
him on Topband, although he copied me well there
according to several e-mails. We tried and tried, but
alas.
I spent a weekend making a coaxial loop, and guess
who was the first caller to creep just a dB or two above
the noise floor? There he was, K6SSS! An hour or so
later, I got a _very_ short e-mail from him: "Hallelujah!".
That QSO & that "QSL" made my day - and probably a
great deal of the rest of the year too.
73,
Rolf
SM5MX, ex. XV7SW, XV9SW etc
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