Topband: JAs on TopBand

[w1tc at arrl.net]

Hi Mark,

Congrats!

I got up with the dog at 4:30 then took a listen.  RW0CR and RA0FF (both zone 19)had good signals on 160 FT8.  I worked Alex RW0CR.

Then caught Harry, JD1BMH, at my sunrise on 80 FT8.

Then switched to 160 cw and heard the JA’s.  Worked 3.   Big pile on JA0MVW on 1824.5 for some reason.   Completely forgot to call CQ myself. Band was quiet and the JA’s were perfectly readable.

I had a day like this last feb, where I worked 6 JA’s and Kim HL5IVL.

According to legend, band will be awful tomorrow.

73 All
Tom W1TC



On 12/22/2018 11:57 AM, Mark K3MSB wrote:
> This morning was surreal.....
>
> I couldn't sleep so I got up around 0900Z, had a cup of coffee, read for a
> while, then went down to the shack.  I worked 3D2AG on 80M CW and was
> listening to him put in a very nice signal to the east coast while I did
> some email correspondence.  I QSY'd to 160M around 1145Z.
>
> I worked JH1HDT, JA7BXS, and JA0MVW between 1202Z and 1216Z. 3 JA's!!!
> Wow!!!
>
> My SR is around 0723Z.  I figured what the heck, parked on 1823 and called
> CQ DX.  This is where it gets surreal.....  I worked JH7PFD, JO1WXO,
> JH2FXK, and JA2ZL between 1222 and 1234Z -- They called me!  I had to dig
> to get some of them, but we made it.
>
> I was going to shut down and noticed BG2AUE was spotted on 80M.  I went to
> 80M.... and oh my God.... I'm hearing him.   Coffee flying,  I quickly
> changed feedlines and turned the linear so the knobs would match my red
> electrical tape marks.  Squirted some RF....  He was 20 KHz down from where
> I had worked 3D2AG and the SWR was higher than I'd like..... but 3500Z are
> forgiving so more RF was squirted.    He came back to me!  Well, I'm pretty
> sure he did as he was weak as water,  when I worked him at 1259Z, which is
> my SR + 35 minutes or so.  I have an email out to him and I am checking
> LoTW periodically.... well,  more than periodically......
>
> I'm waiting for Rod Serling to walk around the corner...... "Here we have
> one Mark K3MSB, an unknowing visitor to the Twilight Zone......."
>
> Days like this are what make all the days upon days of crappy propagation
> worth it!   As my TopBand Elmer Glenn K3SWZ always tells me -- "you have to
> put in the seat time and be there when "it" happens..... "
>
> 73 Mark K3MSB
> _________________
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