Topband: Top-Band Remininences - My Old Sao Tome 160M Contact Totals

[charles Lewis via Topband]

I decided to use my LoTW log entries to see how many 160M contacts I made from Sao Tome long ago.  Given the extreme problem with constant high level of QRN I experienced there, I was surprised by the totals.
S92SS  ('92-''97)    1,606S9SS  ('02-'07)    1847
Total  3453
That represents a tremendous amount of difficult operating time.  QSO's were usually minutes apart as I waited for a signal to rise to the crest of the constant grind of S9 plus QRN from equatorial thunderstorms across the African continent.  Some find it hard to believe, but I seldom heard any evidence of a pileup, just the occasional signal that exceeded the noise level.  It usually took many repetitions for me to piece a call sign together.  Many stations faded back into the noise before I got the complete call sign. Yes, I was "deaf" as many cited on the cluster, but I did my best.


73,Charles Lewis - KY4P
ex K4OVA, A22AA, S92SS, SV0LM, A25/KY4P, S9SS