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THARCHU, AND OUR DRIVER, DOPHU, MET US AT THE AIRPORT.  ALONG WITH TWO
HELPERS, PASSANG AND ANOTHER DOPHU, THEY HAD MY BEVERAGE AND INVERTED L
WIRES INSTALLED ON THE NORTH FACING HILLSIDE BELOW OUR HOTEL BY LATE
AFTERNOON.  I STARTED CALLING CQ ON 1,826R5 KHZ THAT FIRST EVENING AND
CHAK, JT5DX, IN ULAANBAATAR, THE CAPITAL OF MONGOLIA, ANSWERED RIGHT AWAY.
BUT I DID NOT CONTACT ANY OTHER STATIONS ON CW THAT WEEK.  HOWEVER, THE NEW
FT8 MODE HAD JUST BEEN RELEASED THAT SUMMER, AND SEVERAL CLUB MEMBERS HAD
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HELPED ME SET IT UP ON MY LAPTOP.  THE EXTRA 20 DB OF SYSTEM GAIN HELPED ME
WORK ACROSS EURASIA AS FAR WEST AS AMSTERDAM, BUT THERE SEEMED TO BE NO
SIGNALS AT ALL FROM THE EAST OF BHUTAN NONE FROM JA, ZL, VK, OR KL7, AND
NONE FROM THE US WEST COAST.  MY CALIFORNIA OR BUST MISSION WAS CERTAINLY A
BUST.  JOURNEY THROUGH BHUTAN THANKFULLY, THE REST OF THE TRIP WAS
CERTAINLY NOT A BUST.  FOR THE NEXT WEEK, MY WIFE, VALERIE, AND I WENT ON A
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