Topband: Mongolia Report - Final

[JT1CO]

  Greetings - this trip is winding down so I thought I'd grab a little
bandwidth and pass along a few items of interest. We've completed the
installation of four 160 meter long beverages.  I used the northwest one
last night/this morning and it hear's very well!  The other 3 stink but I
believe that was due to an error on my part.  I replaced a short piece of
coax on each of them this morning.  They seem to hear OK now but it's
difficult to tell when I have no idea where the broadcast stations I'm
listening to originate from.  Chak and I will check them further tonight
when the bands open.  This is a very quiet QTH so I expect him to be able to
hear very well now that he has some good receive antennas to add to the
station.
   JT1CO also has a new amplifier in the station so he can operate with a
full 1500 watts down in the lower part of Topband (1800 Khz - 1850 Khz).
Some of you may recall that the amp he had during my last visit was better
suited to the old JA band above 1900 Khz.  I loaded a copy of Geoclock on a
second PC which sits within an arms length from the operating position.
It's fully loaded with maps so the visual display will be a big help in
determining sunrise/sunset and grayline to anywhere around the world.
   I'm very hopeful that with improved conditions this winter, good things
will start to come to all of us who have been waiting for a long time to
work Mongolia and zone 23.  Maybe this winter we can put together a 10 - 14
day concentrated effort from here on 160 and 80 meters but I'll leave that
for later.  Chak and his family have been wonderful hosts and very patient
with all of this crazy ham stuff.

73
Ken JT1/K4ZW

PS - we'll be operating until early Sunday morning local time.  We have an 8
AM flight to catch back to Seoul.