Topband: VU2BGS

[Bill Tippett]

	Wow!  The band sounded fairly good tonight at my
sunset so I decided to try a few CQ's.  I worked about half
a dozen EU stations with fairly good signals.  I was just
finishing a QSO with EA3AKY and was going to head for
dinner with Charlanne when I heard this weak signal calling
"??2BGS".  I thought it was possibly a KA2 or WA2 so I
QRZ again.  Lo and behold "VU2BGS" came through clear
as a bell and we exchanged 559's for a new one (#312).  This
QSO almost reminded me of when 8Q7BE called me a few
years ago.  He was running 100W to a Gladiator I recall.

http://lists.contesting.com/archives/html/Topband/1997-03/msg00122.html
http://lists.contesting.com/archives/html/Topband/1997-04/msg00057.html

	Kumar sent me the following message which I
thought you all would enjoy.  And thanks to all for not
filling the band with SSB contest QRM so this QSO
was possible!  As I said last week after working G3XGC's
1 Watt signal, anything is possible on Topband!  Hope
some more of you can catch Kumar before the QRN
season begins!

				73,  Bill  W4ZV

P.S.  The previous QSO Kumar mentions below was
on 10 meters...not 160, hi.

Dear Bill
It was my my greatest pleasure to hear and work you this early morning !!! 
I was to have a sked with my friend Marko OH3XR and i was calling cq off an 
On from 20:00hrs onwards I worked uk8dan and hrd on2lv .Later i worked you 
and was blown-out !!!the noise level is S9 and i have to build some noise 
cancelling devices  now i am using a dual band coaxial loop.  very glad you 
could hear my humble 70w signals !! and the humbler 10m wire vertical with 
10 m of wire top loaded. I feed it at the bottom with a big loading 
coil!!   the wire is 18swg and hardly visible  . I cant find good aluminium 
here , abt 25 years ago i had put up a vertical 5/8 for 20m but now any 
aluminium pipe more than 20 feet bends like wet noodle!!! so i lashed up 
some bamboos and put up this wire    contraption .
I have been a ham since 1973 from the age of 13 almost following your 
footsteps!! always homebrewing (designed & built a uhf/vhf transponder for 
the amsat-india ) am 42 years old now , work as a electronic engineer for 
the defence. I have been new to the TOP band  and working you was the best 
of this effort . I was hrd by W4DR W8JI and VE1ZZ abt a month ago. but i 
did not hear them  .
   I Come home from Madras abt 375 kms every weekend to spend time with 
hamradio and family(is the reason !!).
    I will send you my card direct (IRC's are of no use here)but would 
appreciate some help with low band propagation and any literature on 
antennas , excerpts from the antenna compendiums etc ( i have wkd you 
earlier and will surely qsl direct )
hope you will help me in this regards . kindly put me on the dx cluster 
when you here me , what freq is good for working your friends  in USA.
73 to you and your family  and please tell your friends i will be on 
tomorrow same time
de kumar
VU2BGS