Topband: Timor Leste report #8

[Michael Tope]

Interestingly, conditions on the west coast seemed pretty good this 
morning around our sunrise. I was able to decode HS5NMF between -8 and 
-5 and 9M6NA got as high as +1. I suspect both could have been heard 
reasonably well on CW. OTOH, the QRN level on their end might have 
precluded 2-way contacts.

Thank you for your efforts to keep CW alive on Topband, Dietmar. I do 
operate FT8. It does seem to make contacts possible that would not be 
possible on CW (all other things being equal), but I don't find it 
nearly as satisfying as a good CW contact.

73, Mike W4EF......................


On 11/22/2023 1:43 PM, Dietmar Kasper wrote:
> GM topbanders
> propagation was not good. No US on CW but terrible crashes from thunderstorms between Singapore and Tarawa.
> The complete north was a thunderstorm, just see https://www.accuweather.com/en/tl/national/weather-radar
> Took my free time what actually was adicted to sleep to improve US beverage. It was extended in length
> and converted into a two wire beverage also to cover backside to Indian Ocean.
>
> Had to pay the price for extra sunshine and had to take some sleep in the evening, so missed the US time.
> As soon as I was away the station was hijacked by the FT-lovers to play their computer games.
> Spots show that computer cannot work US better as humans during thunderstorm crashes, so most contacts
> were loud JAs and US stations we already worked in CW.
>
> I feel like the last person on earth fighting for the CW mode on topband. However FT lovers
> were not seen when it came to put out the beverages, look for the noise source near the property or
> to reconstruct the beverages far away during hours and hours of hard labour.
> Originally it was planned to have another 160m antenna on second location but nobody wanted to do the
> work - is is so much easier to take over a good working CW station when the lonely after many nights
> tired person is away for a while.
>
> Band was closed most parts of the night but a few loud JAs (mostly dupes) called in. At sunrise
> we had a short opening starting with G4AMT followed by I3, ON, EI, DL, HB9 and then the sun was
> up and the band was dead again. These are the moments I like so much to do the real top band DX
> what you can hear and feel - and good to know lot of the person behind the call.
> Artificial intelligence just clicks the contact and goes ahead - obviously our future :-)
>
> OK - lets bring this DXpedition to an end and this will be my last entry in this group or in
> any other group mostly addicted to the FT modes.
> 73 Dietmar DL3DXX
> _________________
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