[Hallicrafters] Rare DX

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On 8/20/06, W4AWM at aol.com <W4AWM at aol.com> wrote:
> This is caused by an atmospheric inversion and is not totally uncommon.  I
> used to operate a lot of 2 meter mobile back in the 70s and 80s and had similar
> experiences several times a year.

Tropospheric ducting or? Happened to me back in '93 when we had a big
blizzard coming into the northeast and I was caled in to activate the
RACES station at the EOC. Snow was already knee-deep when I left with
the trust Land Rover, accompanied by a friend in his 4WD Ford Ranger
(he just wanted to ride along for the fun of it). We were having all
we could do to stay on the road since we couldn't see where it was
really, and the snow was really coming down heavy. To stay in touch,
we were using either .52 or .55 simplex on the 2 meter CB. Somewhere
between Montpelier and Waterbury VT where the EOC is located, we were
hearing some K8 stations coming in like they were 5 - 10 miles away at
most. A few minutes later they were gone. I think we had gotten only
as far as saying where we were located and being amazed when it went
away.

Happened a few years before that when I was taking a walk in a
snowstorm with my girlfriend of the day in Stowe, VT. Carrying the HT
as we walked up a hill, I was listening in on a conversation on a
repeater somewhere. Can't recall now where they were, we spoke
briefly, but I heard one of the guys say to the other "did you hear
where he was??". Must've been some distance.

Of course, nowadays you hear W5 stations in 1 Land, W1's in 5 Land,
etc, so you really can't tell much by what you hear (except that some
ops really are vain).

~ Todd,  KA1KAQ