Dan Robbins wrote:
>
> Here's the story of the recent HS1AZ operation on 160 meters.
>
> N6AA, N6ZZ, W6MKB, W6XD, AB6BH, OH2KI and KL7Y went to Thailand to operate
> the CQ WW SSB contest. We had requested the call HS1AZ for the contest. In
> addition we had requested 80 and 160 meter privileges; while those bands are
> not normally allowed in HS, the Post & Telegraph Dept has allowed operation
> there in past contests so we expected no problems. The local Thais said we
> would get permission for the contest and the day before.
>
> We were to operate from the HS0AC club station located at the Asian
> Institute of Technology. There was a lot of station work to be done prior
> to the contest and this included antennas. On Wednesday, I went to work on
> a 160 meter antenna. Since this was the end of the monsoon season, the
> ground was saturated with moisture, so an inverted L was a logical choice.
> Unfortunately, there was a lot of foot traffic around the ham shack building
> so an antenna hot with RF at ground level was deemed not a wise choice. The
> second choice was a quarter-wave sloper. We had just installed an A3
> tribander on a 25 meter tower and I tied the half sloper right underneath
> the A3 with the help of some locals. The last few feet feet of the sloper
> had to run close to horizontal to keep the RF above the heads of passers-by.
> I tied the sloper off into an immense bush with razor sharp thorns which
> assured that nobody would fool with the antenna. The half sloper ran out
> from the well-grounded tower over a drainage ditch filled with water. I had
> to stand in mud to tie the far end off in the razor bush, so the ground
> seemed good.
>
> Took a listen on 160 - the S meter pegged on the TS-950. Garbage all over
> the band. Threw in 10 db attenuation, not much help. At 20 db of
> attenaution the garbage dropped way down, but who wants to work 160 with 20
> db in the front end? Tried the AIP with no attenuation, still lots of
> garbage. So much for the front end of the TS-950. Tried an ICE 160 m
> bandpass filter, the garbage disappeared and the noise level dropped to S3
> at some spots with the RF gain wide open. Had some carriers or birdies
> between 1830 and 1850, but there were holes at 1831, 1833, etc. Below 1830
> was not too good, and there was a huge signal at 1908 - 40 over 2nd harmonic
> of BCB station. Good luck JAs. Didn't get to listen in the evening either
> Wednesday or Thursday as we had dinners and get-togethers planned with local
> HS hams.
>
> Friday AM arrived, still no HS1AZ permission. Apparently the guy at PTD who
> was working our license request had been in the hospital and so nothing got
> done. N6AA and N6ZZ visit the PTD and Thai hams go out of their way to
> help. Friday afternoon, we get the call - HS1AZ licensed to operate the
> days of the contest plus the day before the contest. And 160 and 80 meter
> permission granted. Whew!
>
> So Friday evening I hit 160 meters with HS1AZ. No signals, although the
> band is quiet. 80 is almost as bad. Later on 80 starts to perk a little and
> around midnight 160 opens. I believe the first station I worked was RA3AUU.
> I go on to work over a dozen stations, mostly EU, but the band dies in less
> than an hour. I get up early , about an hour before sunrise and proceed to
> run about 25 stations, mostly EU before the band dies. The signals are very
> strange. Rapid QSB, unlike the slow fades we get up north. Typically I
> hear part of a call well out of the noise and can't hear the rest. Nobody
> is very loud and I can tell some are having a tough time copying me. I
> expected loud signals on 160 with big static crashes, but everybody is weak
> and the occasional static crash isn't nearly as much of a problem as the QSB
> is. The QSB continues like this all weekend.
>
> The contest is on Saturday. First signal out of the murk is IG9. I easily
> work him as his signal builds. He runs a solid S9 thereafter with peaks to
> 20 over. SM6DOI gets up to S9 plus 5, but he can't hear me. I also hear
> him most of the night. YU1ZZ hits S9 on peaks, but he doesn't hear me
> either. HA8BE doesn't hear me. I call Europeans all night, but none hear
> me. Spend most of my time on 80 with a little better luck, but not much. I
> wind up with 3 topband QSOs the first contest night, pretty sad.
>
> The second night is about the same as the first, although stations are even
> weaker. The IG9 is in most of the night, but rarely climbs above S9. I do
> manage to get SM6DOI to hear me, but things are pretty poor. Wind up with 7
> QSOs for the whole contest. I listen on some of the other antennas,
> thinking maybe the sloper is hurting, but it hears things no other antenna
> hears. In fact, I use the same sloper on 80 a lot (with a tuner) as it
> hears and works some 80 meter stations better than the 80 m inverted vee.
>
> I get back on Monday evening, the last night permitted. Plan to try 160 at
> 1430Z in hopes of hearing some West Coast. 80 meters opens that way and
> NI6T convinces me to go to 160 a little earlier. Drop down there and
> immediately hear NI6T about 2 S units out of the noise. Work him - he even
> peaks S7 for a bit - that's about 4 S units out of the noise. Don't hear
> any other signal. Absolutely none. A few minutes later a signal starts
> building and it's N7UA. He gets to about S5 and stays there long enough for
> a QSO. Then nothing again. Finally I hear one more signal come up out of
> the noise - it's K7IDX, and I work him. Nothing after that, despite
> repeated CQs. Over an hour later I work some more EU's, including a 3rd QSO
> with HA8BE. After the band fades I go back to 80.
I think it was K7DX you must have worked.
It's also hard
> to fathom that I heard NI6T peak 4 S units above the noise and nobody else
> within probably 25 or 30 dB for a couple of minutes. Similar thing with the
> EU stations - one would peak head and shoulders above the rest for a short
> period. It was certainly strange.
Dan:
Strange is not the word for it! Believe me, you had many callers on this
end, from up and down the coast, and nearly all of them have better
signals than I. K6VX, in far Northern California, was calling you until
about 1500Z! N6TR/7, near Portland, says he could not hear you well
enough to call, but most of the west coast regulars were in there at
some point.
The only thing that occurs to me is that I serendipitously called you
right at the moment I got the high-angle transition at my sunrise, and
that the QSO was made with the benefit of an E-layer duct (Pederson
Ray), while most of the other callers were radiating at lower angles. My
TX antenna is a bent-end dipole with its highest point at about 130
feet, so I radiate primarily at high angle. It would be interesting to
correlate N7UA and K7DX exact sunrise times with their QSOS's, and also
to know what kind of TX antenna they were using at the time.
As I told you privately, this was one of the most exciting topband QSO's
I have had, for which many thanks!
--
Garry Shapiro, NI6T
Editor, The DXer
newsletter of the Northern California DX Club
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