Topband: Down Under in the Stew 99

[Steve Ireland]

Stew Perry TBDC 99 was a real rollercoaster of a ride from VK6.  

A few hours before the contest, I was dragged away from clearing up the
kid's Christmas preparations by a phone call from Mike VK6HD to say ZF2NT
was on the band - Caribbean stations are next to South American stations as
the holy grail on 160m from here.  Not only was Bruce ZF2NT there at 1140Z,
QSX JA but peaking S8, but stacks of North American stations and UA0MF.
Looked like the Stew was going to be a great one...

The start of the Stew found me kitted up and ready to go.  Unfortunately,
the band was dead, except for a weak VQ9DX for the first QSO.

What then followed then was four hours of cat napping on the shack floor
and hearing nothing until around 200Z when the first weak Eu signals were
heard.  An hour of reasonable conditions produced around 28 European QSOs,
plus Ralph 5H3RK who was a genuine 579.

Sunday was a very hot day here, humid, over 35 degrees C and I watched the
thunderclouds gather around the QTH.  A big rain storm turned up in the
early afternoon, but there was still thunder in the distance.  

Switching on at 1100Z, the band was staticcy, but bearable.  Then North
American signals started popping up, as sunset approached at 1115Z.

What followed was almost four hours of the most memorable 160m operating I
have ever experienced.  The band started with good signals from the far
eastern seaboard and, despite a drop in signal level and increase in
static, opened across North America as the sunrise terminator moved across
from one coast to another.  It was like I was on 40m, chasing the sunrise
as it moved across, but with much lower signal levels - hard operating but
bloody great!

Usually NA propagation is spotty on 160m, even when it is good, but this
was something different.
At 1448, I made the last very difficult - but extremely satisfying - QSO
with Stew organiser Lew W7EW (I think) who was about S4 buried in the S4 -
S8 static.  My ears were shot and I was only just awake, but there were 123
QSOs in the log - and some very long distances indeed.

It was hell and it was great - and a contest I will remember for a very
long time.

I am too tired and busy to work out my score now and the family is in the
throes of its Christmas preparations.  My wife Deb's father died just over
a week ago, so family is very important thing for me to take full part in
right now.

Thanks to Tree, Lew and the Boring gang for organising such a great
contest.  Thanks to all those who called me and made it so memorable.

Vy 73,

Steve, VK6VZ


 
 



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