Topband: Down Under Diary October/November 1999

[Steve Ireland]

The last two months have been something of a mixed bag with regard to 160m
propagation and DX, with a few very good days and a lot of poor ones.
Checking the band regularly has proved the key in order to take advantage
of what good conditions we have had.

October started well, with good openings to North America at VK6 sunset in
the first two weeks, extending for one to two hours after sunset.  The
hightlight in DX terms was the presence of ZK3CW, whose skill in handling
160m pile-ups was noteworthy.  Thanks, Mats and the gang!

In contrast, conditions to Europe during this period were poor, with only a
handful of stations worked - plus Jack, VE1ZZ on the LP, of course.  Jack's
ability to time his calls perfectly and take advantage of a 'window' that
is often only open for a minute or two never cease to amaze me.

Around the middle of October, conditions seemed to change, favouring Europe
at sunrise rather than North America at sunset.  Unfortunately it is rare
for VK6 to get openings both towards Europe at sunrise and North America at
sunset on the same day.  On 15/10 there seemed to be a spotlight into the
south of G, with G3PQA, G4BUE and G3YYD worked quickly over a few minutes.

Around 20 October Mike VK6HD and I started a series of skeds with stations
going to the Caribbean for the CQ WW SSB at our sunset.  This was the
result of a lot of e-mailing and good will on the part of the
DXpeditioners.  Although there were good conditions into North America on
several days (25 and 29 October in particular), the propagation just didn't
drop far enough south to allow a contact and Mike and I spent a lot of time
calling CQ and listening to noise.

Special thanks to Brian N3OC, Glen W0GJ, Ken K7ZUM, Jose CT1BOH, Bob K4UEE,
Dan K8RF, Carl K9LA, Joe K8JP and Craig N7KG for their time and patience in
listening for us when they were flat out getting ready for the big one.
Thanks blokes - it was much appreciated.  Thanks also to the gang in North
America who stood by and gave Mike and I a clear run at getting a Caribbean
QSO.

However, all was not doom and gloom.  The post CQ WW period resulted in log
entries from Joerg DL8WPX at 5C8M and Jeff K1ZM at ZX0F.

I should add that it was only a telephone call from Mike VK6HD at 4.30am
local time that meant I could take advantage of a brief opening to Morocco!
 Thank you Joerg for your patience in listening for Mike and I for over a
week - and to Mike for that telephone call.

Hearing ZX0F come out of the noise at sunrise was one of the most
spine-tingling experiences of my 28 years as a radio amateur.  Jeff's
signals went from S0 to S4, up and down in the QSB, in a manner that
resembled a meteor scatter or moon-bounced signal on VHF.  A special thanks
to Jeff for his amazing efforts under difficult working conditions.

Signals to ZX0 from VK6 skirt Antartica, making it a particularly difficult
path from here.

Whilst the Southern hemisphere spring of 1999 may not have been up to those
of the past few years in topband terms, it certainly has been memorable.
 
Vy 73,

Steve, VK6VZ

CQ 160 - The Twilight Zone



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