Gang:
Earlier this evening (At ~0000 and ~0045) several QRPers conducted informal
40 Metre propagation tests. We wanted to see whether stations close to
central New Mexico will be able to contact FOX K0EVZ tomorrow evening.
This is a pretty tough distance, as we all know. I never could make it
work last year. BUT good news = we did get it done tonight! Signals were
very QSB and not super-strong, but they were fairly solid and good enough
to log as a QSO.
Thomas AC7A in AZ got through at 1955, with an RST of 439. If conditions
are the same tomorrow evening, he will for-sure bag a pelt. Likewise, Karl
K5DI in southern NM at about 1720 contacted K0EVZ with an RST of 339.
Signals were very, very QSB, but again good enough for a loggable QSO.
So......don't give up, no matter where you are located. Several years ago,
I lived in Rochester, MN. The FOX one evening was Jim N0UR, living in
Minneapolis, MN, about 79 miles slightly northwest. Technically it would
be impossible to work him, either via skip or ground-wave. But I kept
listening, just in case. My rig at the time was a Ten-Tec Argo 556. All I
could hear for the first hour and 57 minutes of endless white noise. It
was, to me, nerve-wracking--mainly because I actually did not know exactly
where Jim was transmitting. And after a while I could no longer hear any
callers. But I kept monitoring the reflector, reading the various
postings. And SUDDENLY....out of all that white noise here came Jim
calling a huge CQ FOX at about 25 over S-9! It only lasted about 20-25
seconds! I nearly fell off the chair, it was so loud and so unexpected.
Luckily he heard me during that short burst, and we made contact. And I
was in the log. Chuck Adams happened to come to Minneapolis a week or two
later, and Jim and I asked him about this curious incident. And he
confirmed that while rare, this kind of thing did indeed occasionally occur
on 40 Metres, which is one reason he had decided to put the HF FOX Hunt on
40 Metres in the first place!
Good luck tomorrow, everyone. And please wish me good luck, also. I have
been Herr FOXxe several times, though it has been a while. I deliberately
took myself out of the active lineup several seasons, to leave space for
others to have a chance. This season I applied, and was chosen! I am
excited to be back. It will be fun, but I am kinda nervous a bit. Hope I
am up to the task. I want to work everybody in the pack.
I will be listening UP. Always UP. Please do not call directly on top of
where I am transmitting. Leave that frequence open, so folks can hear what
I am sending. Thanks.
CU and 73,
--Doc/K0EVZ Poppa FOX
W.D. (Doc) Lindsey
dock0evz@...
EarthLink Revolves Around You.
