TopBand: Down Under Diary

[Steve Ireland]

Dear all,

After some very unsual late December doldrums - virtually nothing from the
west at sunrise from Europe except heavy QRN and the odd LP signal report
from W1 land - the topband is behaving in a more customary manner.  Good
openings to EU on 4/1/98 and 8/1/97, the latter producing 18 QSOs despite
only coming on a few minutes before sunrise.  Boy, do babies take it out of you!

On the 8/1/97 opening at 2143Z, my noise/QRN was way down from its usual mid
summer level and managed a LP QSO with W1JZ.  He was pkg a solid 559, but
seemed to be the only NA station calling - be interested if anyone else out
there on the east coast was copying me at the time...

On a lighter note scientific note, on 6/1/97 I had the briefiest opening to
Europe I have ever heard - about 20 seconds!  At 2115Z, I had been calling
CQ DX for some time and could a very weak station calling me in the noise.
Suddenly, a signal shot out of the noise and went ...Z1LX  559 K... I sent
'R 449 PSE UR CALL (or something like that) and went over.  The signal came
back R at 439 and went straight back into the noise...

At first I thought it was a miscopied call of a NA station, but am pretty
sure it was OZ1LXJ! 

Conditions to NA seem to have been patchy, with very high QRN here.  3/1/98
from 1211Z produced K1, W2, W3 and W4 on SP before my ears and the band gave
out.

73,

Steve, VK6VZ


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