I don't want this to sound like a "brag tape," but with only 5 days left in
this DXpedition there are probably lots of other RTTY ops out there who are
getting as nervous as I was about working VK0EK.
Heard Island is an ATNO for me, which puts it in the category equally
important for both DXCC Mixed and DXCC RTTY. I managed a few Qs on CW and
phone in the early days of their deployment, but as we all know the bands
collapsed around them and working them from NA has become very difficult.
I've only seen RTTY spots on 40 meters - which is not gonna happen from MI,
and on 15 meters - which looks limited to the times between 1200 and 1400
utc. RTTY operation has been split from 21.079 MHz working up. Several days
ago a neighbor ham called (caught me in the shower!) to say he had just
worked them on 15m RTTY. By the time I got down to the radio, they were
gone. <frustration>
This morning I decided to "camp out" on 21.079 from 12:00utc with vfoB set
for a modest 3KHz up and just wait for them. At 12:35 an undecipherable
signal was heard in my radio speakers. By 12:38 2Tone was printing legible
character sequences confirming the sender as VK0EK and revealing they were
working NA and SA stations (a PY2, K4, W4). Three minutes later VK0EK's
signal was solid enough (but certainly not 100% copy) that I threw my call
out there, and they replied. Yippee! I listened for another 5 minutes as
other NA/SA stations worked them, and then they faded into the propagational
ether.
My station is no "big gun" by any measure: 2 element quad, 500 watt
amplifier. But... go camping. At 12:00z pour yourself some coffee. Set the
radio to 21.079. Split vfoB a few KHz up. Select the right antenna and turn
the rotor. Adjust the amplifier. Be prepared, because when it happens it
will be a very short opening. By the time the packet spots arrive it will be
either too late or too crowded.
-larry (K8UT)
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