Topband: Not so Boring QSO

[Jim Brown]

On Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:11:45 -0500, Brian Machesney wrote:

>I had never heard UA0 before, but
>worked RZ0AF at 11:21Z (near my sunrise) and then again at 21:41Z (near my
>following sunset). Also, I worked JA for nearly an hour after my sunrise on
>18 November.

I'm just south of San Francisco, and often active on topband in the hours 
before sunrise. It is VERY common to hear both JA and UA0 during those hours 
(and also after midnight, around their sunset). What was UNcommon was one 
night last week hearing a UA0 several hours before midnight (when east coast 
stations were working EU). My impression was that he was calling EU. It was so 
unusual that I almost spotted him, just to let others know about the 
propagation. 

73,

Jim K9YC