hard to believe the tree huggers have reached this remote spot!!
w7gg
----------
> From: Chris R. Burger <CRB@knersus.nanoteq.co.za>
> To: topband@contesting.com
> Subject: TopBand: ZS8IR: Bad news
To: <topband@contesting.com>
> Date: Wednesday, May 07, 1997 3:24 AM
>
> Chris just called me in a rather sullen mood. The ship is anchored
> off the island, and a new linear amplifier has been installed.
> However, a work crew has started taking down all the tall towers!
>
> Apparently, the HF system is being downgraded to a single wide band
> dipole (read: air cooled dummy load), on a single tower.
>
> The environmentalists have objected to the terrible towers and
> Rhombics, and have won the day. With a satellite telephone system,
> the Rhombics are no longer the primary antenna system. Chris had no
> advance warning. Obviously, this news will also impact severely on
> future Marion Island operations. In the past, operators have had to
> do relatively little antenna work, and have managed to produce fair
> signals despite the remote location. In future, they will probably
> have to carry their own antennas, and will have to obtain prior
> permission.
>
> Chris promises to try his best to work some stations in the coming
> weeks, but with only a resistively loaded dipole at modest height, it
> is unlikely that he will work much on 160 again.
>
> QSLs have essentially all been answered, although a few hundred cards
> have yet to be mailed. I expect these to be mailed early next week,
> after which all the Not in Log contacts will be fully investigated
> and returned.
>
> Incidentally, I recently had a very irate message from someone about
> the information I published on the Reflector. The objection was that
> he'd lost several nights' sleep, and hadn't managed to work Chris.
> I'm afraid Chris has had rather poor results the past few weeks, but
> not for want of trying. Conditions have been really poor, and noise
> levels are still relatively high. As an indication, I've spent half
> a dozen nights on 160 in the past few weeks. I have exactly three
> contacts to show for it; one 9X, one YB and one G3. Apart from these
> three stations, I only heard two others. None of these were Q5 copy,
> even out in the countryside, with a Beverage for Europe.
>
>
> Chris R. Burger
> ZS6EZ
> QSL manager for ZS8IR (gee, I can almost resume a normal life!)
>
>
> --
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