Topband: Down Under Diary 13/10/00

[Steve Ireland]

Black Friday (13/10/00) was a pretty bright day for topband conditions in
Glen Forrest, Western Australia.

Conditions into North America just after VK6 sunset were very FB, with 21
stations worked between 1033Z and 1056 when I had to QRT.  The strength of
signals was very good, mostly S6 to S9, and signals ranged over the eastern
seaboard from Maine and Mass, south to VA and AL.

For those who are discouraged from using 160m by lack of a big lot or a
vertical antenna with lots of radials, the last signal in the log at 1056Z
was George, K2UO, in NJ.  George was a solid RST 569, and uses a bent
(almost Z-shaped) 160m dipole which at no point is higher than 10 metres
above ground.

For those who would like to see exactly what George's antenna looks like,
see page 14-4 of ON4UN's Low Band DXing book.  

I was back on the band around 2100Z (about 45 minutes before VK6 sunrise,
which was at 2140Z today) looking for XT2OW.  Although there was no sign of
Sigi, there was amazing propagation into Scandinavia, with SM5BFJ, LA2GV
and LA3XI well over S9.  As sunrise approached, signals began to show
increasing amounts of polar/auroral flutter, with Rag LA5HE's 559 signal,
worked right on sunrise, sounding like a 144MHz auroral signal!  

Maybe the propagation will go east-west tomorrow and the XT2 will land in
the log.

Vy 73,

Steve, VK6VZ
PS After spending much of the day in the hot VK6 sun, repairing the
antennas/cables from damage by galahs (pink and grey parrots who love to
chew soft plastic/rubber), Black Friday struck.  The 40m inverted vee that
I had carefully trimmed (after winter winds had stretched it so it
resonated down on 6.8MHz), now resonates on 7.2MHz instead of the desired
7.0MHz.  It is a four hour job to take down/put up the tower and fix
this...  


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