01/15/2003 | DU1/K6ACZ I have just returned from a month in the Philippines with a side trip to Bangkok. I carried my Kenwood TS-50, AT-50, and PS-40 in the little carrying case that Kenwood designed for that purpose which I placed in a larger Pelican case with some clothing for padding. The Cushcraft R-7 vertical, coax, and tools were packed in a golf club bag surrounded with bags of clothing for padding, hence, no extra baggage charges. I arrived in Manila about a week before the contest weekend and set up my station. The R-7 went on the rooftop of a two-story home with the coax snaking down the staircase, along the floor, to my room. I obtained a 10-foot piece of 1 inch EMT pipe from a local hardware store and attached the base of the R-7 to it. Then, with some help, the R-7 on its 10-foot pipe was raised to a vertical position. The mounting pipe was then attached to some heavy rebar pieces protruding from the roof with some heavy gauge GI wire. It was not pretty to look at and did not look too mechanical strong but it worked and that is what counts.
Now on the air, I discovered a high noise level on 20 meters. A look at the nearby power lines showed all kinds of poor splices to the power lines, some being illegal drops to avoid having to pay for the electricity. However, the rest of the bands were fairly quiet. While working DX the week before the contest 15 meters turned out to be my best band. I could work all of Asia in the morning then all of Europe in the afternoon on 15. I could work Asia in the morning on 20. I could hear US stations on 20 but for the most part, they could not hear me. 10 meters seemed to be dead with only hearing a VK or ZL and them not hearing me. I was afraid of the contest being a bust based on what I could not hear on 10 meters the week before the contest. I listened to the band for about 30 minutes before the contest started but did not hear much. However, as soon as 0001Z rolled around starting the contest the signals started coming thru. It was early morning in Manila and sundown in the USA. First station in
the log was K4WI in Alabama. I played search and pounce and was getting some Midwest and West Coast US and VE stations in the log. One station said I was S-9 plus so I tried calling CQ Contest for a while with no takers so back to search and pounce. For the next two hours I was working US and VE stations with an occasional JA that I would hear calling CQ contest. Then the US and VE stations were gone and I was working KL, KH, JA, HL, UA, XW, VK, ZL, and T32 for the next couple of hours. Four hours into the contest the Pacific and Asia were fading out and Eastern Europe such as EX2T, UA4's, EW4's, etc, started coming through. Then the OH's, OE's, LY's, SP's and DL's. Even though I was using a vertical, the signals I was hearing were very selective. I was hearing only one area of Europe at a time. I might have a run of DL's calling CQ contest then they would fade out and the S5, 9A, OK, OM, HA, LZ, and Z3 would come through. They would fade out then the I, TK, 9H stations came through. The first day Europe run ended with the first African in the log, ZS5NK at 1400Z, way past sundown. The next morning started the same with a string of US and VE stations coming through as far east as W4DD in GA. Last station worked in the Americas was ZX2B. Now again coming through were the Asian stations with new mults AP2IA and VQ9X. Then EX2Z and EX8O and more Eastern Europe such as LZ1NG and LZ9X. Signals then proceeded to move across all of Europe, hearing and working several stations in a country at a time then having them fade out as I was hearing further west out to F, ON, CT, G, GM, EI before the band went dead for the night at 1300Z. The next morning I was up before daylight tuning for anything that could be heard coming through. First contact for the remaining 1 hour and 15 minutes was W5WMU in LA starting a run of stations west of the Mississippi River except for K4XS in FL and KY5R in AL. Then, just as the contest was down to the last 15 minutes the US and VE's faded out and I worked a run of JA's
calling CQ contest looking for US contacts.
I was quite surprised just how selective were the areas I could hear stations calling CQ contest from. It was almost as if a pipeline was forming between Manila and different parts of the world. The effect was most profound in Europe as different areas would boom in then fade out and another area would then boom in.
I was impressed by the operating skills of the European operators. Most got my call on the first try even with it's awkward portable designation or got it correct after asking "who's the DU1 stroke something". On the other hand, some US stations tried to make me DU16ACZ or some such call. I would have to repeat several times I was a portable station in the Philippines.
I had many stations thank me for a new mult, so I am happy to contribute to their total score. A good time was had by all, including the mosquitoes that managed to sneak onto my back and have a feast.
CU next year! 73, Alan, DU1/K6ACZ -- K6ACZ