ZC4MK | Cyrpus Soveriegn bases | 5 Nov 1989 | Cycle 22 had been building and building, the band was full of expectant Gs following the general release of 6m in the UK, suddenly it exploded in November 1989 with wall-to-wall DX. Anyone who was around on 6m that month will remember it. Adrian ZC4MK was first in, rock-crushing signal, followed by wall-to-wall USA stations several days later. |
HI8A | Dominican Republic | 8 Feb 1992 | Cycle 22 had almost gone but there was still the odd opening, heard some very weak CW on a dead band and out of the noise popped HI8A. He continued to call for 15 mins but no others replied. |
XW0X | Laos | 3 Nov 2001 | I'd negotiated a late start at work that day 'cos I had a feeling something would happen, suddenly the band was full of DX: XW, DU, D44, JA, didn't know which to work first. I'd never heard Laos on any band, let alone 6. |
DU1/GM4COK | Philippines | 24 Feb 2002 | I'd first heard needle-bending signals from DU back in 1989, but it took another 13 years to get it in the bag. Cycle 23 was on the run-down and had heard George a number of times, broke the pile-up at last with my 50W. |
BA4SI | China | 16 June 2017 | Struggled to work past central Asia on multi-hop Es in the past, but finally made it in 2017. China copied for the first time, touch and go on JT65 due to the shifting propagation but finally got there. |
The ones that got away
Just to prove that us seasoned 6m DXers have our off days, here are some of the most frustrating misses:
J52US | Guinea Bissau | March 1989 | Heard the beacon so many times but never managed to catch Dave. Worked him later as 9L1US but never did get J52. |
9Y4VU | Trinidad | Nov 1989 | As the cycle hadn't got going yet, my CW was out of practice. Heard a station calling S9 +20dB, though he must be a local as nothing else on, couldn't get the call because it started with a number. By the time I worked out it was 9Y he started fading, never did work him (don't think anyone else did that day, he just kept calling CQ). |
Cycle 22 | Asia | Feb 1992 | KG6DX, KG6UH/DU1, KJ6WO/DU3, VK6PA, VK8ZLX, JA4MBM all heard but not worked. Still haven't worked JA or VK. |
Cycle 23 | Asia S.America | Oct 2000 | First major openings of the new cycle heard, missed 9M6BAA, XU7ABF, FY/W7XU, PZ5RA, JF1TA. |
E30NA | Eritrea | Oct 2001 | I'd already worked a load of DX that day by taking the morning off, went into work but got caught in a massive traffic jam, so may as well have stayed home. When I checked the cluster later loads of locals had worked E30NA, including QRP stations....gutted! |
JA?? | Japan | Oct 2001? | Changed my PC so the e-mails gone now, but was calling CQ to the East one October, heard some bits of JA calls but nothing complete. Got an e-mail from one JA to see if I'd heard him and we'd completed the QSO, unfortunately not (I'm honest). So 2 cycles in I still haven't worked JA despite hearing them many times. |
JA0MRW JA5EXW JH4ALY JA6CRP |
Japan | June 2017 | After a long gap of 16 years my signals finally made it
to JA again, this time via multi-hop Es. My JT65 signals were copied by
4 x JA stations but again never managed to complete a QSO, so JA on 6m
still eludes me. One day.....and I finally made it in June 2019. Since
then, lots of JA in the 6m log, never give up! |
VK8AW | Australia | June 2022 | Been trying to work VK since the early 90s, some big SSB signals
heard but never managed to break the pile-ups. Last VK in here via F2
propagation was Feb 2002. Finally managed to get a signal into VK via
multi-hop Es June 22 but the op was out of the shack, FT8 signals
decoded by VK8AW (PH57) mnay times but he was watching a film with his
XYL! One day... |