My tale is not about one QSO but rather an amazing 24 hours of QSOs. It all started with the CQ WW CW DX Contest in November, 1979. I decided to do 15 meter single band entry with my basic 4 element monobander at 70 feet, a Drake TR-7 and a kw.
The band started off as usual, open to JA, a few SA and Carib stations. I had expected 15 to go dark by 01z but to my surprise it was still going. The log was slowly filling with JA, SA and Carib but now there started to appear goodies such as HL9, UA0, VK, ZL and some other Pacific station. So it sent, hour by hour with no let up in sight. By 08z the opening shifted and now there were eastern EU stations coming through! Yeah -- wow. By 09z the opening to EU closed and I thought I might get a little sleep but first I checked long path. I swung the beam to 220 degrees, the band noise came up and my tuning produced some amazing stuff -- a VK6 (who asked for my zone 3 times -- he couldn't believe it), 9V1 and a host of goodies from SE Asia and even stretching into UL7. Even a EU or two snuck through. By 10z the path closed but lo and behold 15 was now waking up as it normally would with Carib stations and ZS. Within a short time, it was open to EU and it was off to the races. I had never experienced anything like this before or since. Truly an amazing 30 hours because the band didn't actually close until 03z the next night. As for results, 1173 QSOs, 95 countries and 37 zones. Number 5 in the world, top US and a USA record score. Pete, W1RM w...@comcast.net -----Original Message----- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net <elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net> On Behalf Of Wayne Burdick Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2018 8:46 PM To: Elecraft <elecraft@mailman.qth.net>; KX3 <k...@yahoogroups.com> Subject: [Elecraft] Craziest / most rewarding QSOs 15 meters never fails to amaze me. During a recent bout of paper log archaeology, I rediscovered a QSO I logged as a teen, in 1972. I was just minding my own business, tuning up using a Heath DX-20 driving 3 feet of coax to a 40 W incandescent bulb. Then a guy in Illinois called me.... Some years later I was using a home-brew rig (the “Safari 4”) while visiting my Mom in Arizona. The battery was nearly depleted, the rig putting out only 200 mW. The antenna: 8 feet of wire running directly from the rig through a window to a clothesline. Tuning slowly, I heard a CQ from Rwanda (9X5). I called him and got a “QRZ?” With a *lot* of patience on his end, we completed a basic QSO. No computer, no narrow filtering, no noise blanker. I would’ve gone nuts for a KX2 back in those days. 73, Wayne N6KR ---- http://www.elecraft.com ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to w...@comcast.net ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
