TopBand: Thank you, Stew!

[Earl W Cunningham]

Hi, y'all,

>From up there in Topband heaven, W1BB must've talked the propagation
gods into creating the best DX condx I've ever heard on 160m during a
contest!

Sunrise occurred here one minute before the contest began, so in order to
not exceed the 14-hour limit, I planned to operate from 0100Z to 1500Z. 
I turned on the receiver at about 0020Z, about 30 minutes before my
sunset, to see if the 
20 over 9 power line noise that kept me off of the band the previous
night was gone.

Gratefully, it was, and I tuned to a small pile in the "window".  Good
grief!  It was GM3POI with a strong signal!  I couldn't resist waiting
until 0100Z to begin, so I fired up and worked him for my first QSO in
the contest, with the sun still shinging brightly here (no one-way skip
this time, either).  This is the first time ever that I've heard EU
before sunset!

These great condx prevailed throughout most of the night, with many EU in
the log, and a lot of new countries.  It was a bit amusing when one of
the new ones (OZ8RO) was met while we were both calling AL7O.  The
Alaskan kept CQing because he couldn't hear either of us calling him.

One of the many highlights of the contest for me was having 4X4NJ answer
my CQ for another new one.  Many tnx, Riki!

The last hour of the contest was as good as the first, with such
"goodies" (for me, at least) as T88JA (new), H44OI, VK6VZ, and YB1AQS
(new).  Joerg, at 1458Z (my sunrise), was my final log entry which capped
a most enjoyable night!

Thank you, Stew!

73, de Earl, K6SE


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