TopBand: TOPBAND CONTESTING FROM VK.

[vk3ajj]

Dear Reflectees,

Generally a very disappointing contest from this part of the world due to
poor propagation and more particularly significant electrical storm
activity in the eastern part of Australia.

The first 24 hours of the contest was a complete wipe-out. From 0930 thru
to 1300z the only stations heard were JAs and the kh6 regulars. QRN was
20-30 over and propagation well down (apparently over a thousand lightning
strikes on the Vk east coast on Saturday night). Got up for my sunrise
1830-1900z and the only station of interest was e22aaa in Thailand.
Strangely he would only listen up for JA and did not qsx on his freq
despite getting no calls from the Japanese. He did eventually listen on his
freq but after 1900z and by that time he was fading fast.

Back for more on the 2nd evening and again 20-30 over noise. Nothing at all
heard from the Carribean guys (6y4a, fm5bh? and a number of others were
spotted at our prime time but not a whisper heard). Was accordingly
surprised at 1130z to hear ti1c coming in at a collosal 599++ (strong even
on Carlos' high standards). Conditions had taken a turn and the band was
quite active from this point. Regretfully the noise did not drop below s9
until about 1500z and thus I was a source of frustration to many West Coast
callers. I often wonder when QRN is at these ridiculous levels whether I am
simply a nuisance on the bands? I appeared to be the only zone 30 station
braving the conditions and thought a few of the west coast multis may
appreciate the multiplier. The noise was however so bad that even poor old
Bob (n7ua) had to call about a dozen times before I could work him out
(despite an estimated s8-9 signal). Managed to log about 10 west coast
utilising a fair dose of telepathy and callsign recognition techniques (if
you were using a call I hadn't heard before - well forget it!!)

Whilst rambling on about qrn I note the tendancy on topband for stations to
slow down their sending speed to help the receiving station overcome the
qrn. In my experience the slower the speed the harder it is to copy? I
think it was aj6t who called at a brisk 25wpm and i got him first shot
between a crash. Spread your call at a drawn out 15wpm and I have no hope.
Just one of those preference things I suppose.

The most notable event was the first European sunset opening for this
season (for me anyway). In between the West Coast I worked a couple of OHs.
The band remained in good shape until about 1700z and I worked about 30
stations in all (DL, SM, OH, ES, UA9, JA, DX1S, AH2R, UA0, KH7 and a few
others).

My sunrise peak was short and less intense than the European sunset
opening. The mysterious e22aaa reappeared at 1800z and forlornly listened
for JA callers to no avail (never did hear this guy work anyone??)
Fortunately a hs7as appeared and this guy was logged for my third new one
of the test.

In summary a disappointing contest. Poor performance however was due mainly
to the gods of meterology rather than the gods of propagation.

By the way 10m was absolutely red hot and I surprised a couple of the east
coast boys with a longpath contact at around 1600z. 

CU in the CQWW160 test.


Paul (vk3ajj)          	


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