WA5IYX - Cycle 21 6-meter/10-meter Crossband QSO Log San Antonio, TX The following have been abstracted and are presented here in order to put the North American-European conditions of Cycle 23 6-m F2-paths (especially Nov 2001) into a better perspective. Many of us on back then will maintain that the propagation conditions then were as good as (or, perhaps, even likely better than) this Cycle. The major different factor was the extremely limited number of special permits issued for direct 50-MHz transmitting in Europe. The UK still had their low-band TV, with Ch B2 extending from 48-53 MHz. (In fact, a few ops there were able to detect the stonger US 6-m signals on their TV sets if no local Ch 2 was on in their area!) Before the fall of 1979 the 10-m crossband frequency used by the Europeans had been under 28.5 MHz (then the lowest end of the "US Phone Band") to cut down on stateside QRM. However, as 28.885 MHz had fast become a default 6-m (perpetual) DX-Info Net during that year, things gravitated up to there. Sometimes conditions were so widespread that keeping 28.885 MHz itself clear (for reports of direct, two-way 50-MHz spots) became a problem! At times the Europeans might be spread out 25+ kHz each side of there on 10 meters calling "CQ Crossband" and designating their QSX spot on 6 meters. The fear that F2 dispersion effects might have 6-m signals peaking into an area and at a time where 10-m signals might not was really never a factor. Once, on Dec 14, 1981, not long after dawn in W6-land (1605z), a solar flare blacked out the 10-m signals while the Europeans were just starting to get US West Coast on 50-MHz! During one crossband QSO in 1981 an un-named G station asked me to listen on my own 50-MHz frequency, whereupon the IC-551D s-meter swung over to about 20 over 9 with a British accent on ssb saying "hello". That was likely with only 10-watts out at the G station! Just one indication of how strong that the 6-m paths were then. In fairness, it must also be noted that the US 6-m ops on during historic Cycle 19 never saw this current mass of European signals on the band either, though more special IGY permits were issued over there then than in Cycle 21. A substantial proportion of US 6-m ops were either unaware (or didn't care) about crossband work as was evidenced by their being perplexed at hearing all these "one-way" QSO's going on (or the frustrated Europeans hearing their big signals doing endless CQ's!) For the US Technician Class operator, 28.885 MHz was a "listen-only" prospect, perhaps making for additional discouragement. It also may have served as an incentive to upgrade for a few! Luckily I had, to Advanced in May 1977, and I fielded more than one long-distance landline from Techs who hadn't yet - wanting me to relay info. (Not too easy with a phone not co-located with the rig until Mar 1981.) By Cycle 22 several European countries had provisions for (limited) 6-m operations, still only a tiny percent of the current levels. Most US ops had given up crossband as they attempted to harvest the new, direct signals. ============================================================================== Up until my two-way QSO with EI2W on Nov 7, 1979 at 1428z, any concentration on crossband work was limited by the risk of perhaps missing one of the few European stations then (legally) active. EI2W was in on many days after that, but I steadfastly left him alone due to his rarity. My 1980 logs are incomplete, being derived just from QSL cards received. Several stations were reworked, and some did not QSL, so any more-complete data will have to await my finding the original logs for that season. My Nov-Dec 1981 observations are not as "complete" as the other years due to the fact that I was undergoing chemotherapy treatment, which required my often being absent in that 1430-1600+z prime "window" five days a week for one week with a 5-week cycle. Thru 1980 Swan 250; later IC-551D (With Swan Mark 6B linear in 1982); 5-element Cushcraft Yagi @ c. 23' AGL. RS raw mm-dd-yyyy GMT call got gave SFX ========== === ======= === ==== === 11-01-1979 1527 DJ2RE 519 59 214 11-02-1979 1539 G4BPY 539 59 213 11-05-1979 1552 SM6PU 549 59 240 11-06-1979 1442 DK1PZ 539 59 285 11-07-1979 1404 G3ZQW 549 59 294 11-07-1979 1505 GM3WOJ 59 59 11-07-1979 1529 G3FXB 59 59 11-15-1979 1606 DJ8ZL 559 59 245 11-15-1979 1617 DF7VX 579 59 11-16-1979 1527 G3SSO 589 59 235 11-17-1979 1617 G4ANT 57 59 237 11-18-1979 1708 G3XBY 57 59 237 11-19-1979 1505 GM3RAO 589 59 220 11-20-1979 1555 G5KW 559 59 211 11-20-1979 1604 GW3MHW 579 59 11-21-1979 1514 G3PWK 229 59 195 12-06-1979 1548 G3FXB 51 59 230 12-08-1979 1552 HB9QQ 559 59 247 12-08-1979 1612 G3VZJ 59 59 12-08-1979 1630 G3GVM 579 59 12-08-1979 1636 G3COJ 579 59 12-08-1979 1704 GW4HBZ 529 59 12-09-1979 1533 G3RRS 539 59 240 12-09-1979 1543 G3OSS 559 59 12-09-1979 1650 GW3AHN 57 59 12-11-1979 1619 G3MCS 55 59 241 12-12-1979 1526 G3ZQW 59 59 240 12-12-1979 1614 GM4IHJ 559 59 12-13-1979 1647 G3SSO 59 59 238 11-26-1980 1545 G4JCC 59+ 59 195 11-26-1980 1550 GU2HML 58 59 11-26-1980 1625 G5KW/a 59 59 11-01-1981 1529 HA6ND 559 59 232 11-11-1981 1612 GU2HML 539 59 221 11-11-1981 1656 DJ2RE 519 59 12-07-1981 1548 G4BPY 529 59 288 12-10-1981 1608 G4JCC 599+ 59 287 12-10-1981 1615 GW3MHW 539 59 12-10-1981 1644 G3APY 549 57 12-10-1981 1658 G5KW 559 59 12-11-1981 1528 G3APY 559 59 278 12-11-1981 1533 G4BPY 59 59 12-11-1981 1545 G3FXB 59 59 12-11-1981 1620 GJ3YHU 419 59 12-11-1981 1630 G5KW 579 59 12-14-1981 1545 PA3AAN 569 57 199 12-07-1982 1757 CT2EE 599 55 252 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Many of these ops later became 2x on 50-MHz as the regulations eased in the various European countries enabling permits to be more-widely granted. In places where low-band TV was totally eliminated a segment of the 6-m band was fully allocated for amateur use. The emergence of thousands of stations on the band in Europe in the space of 20 years was beyond the most optimistic hopes of many. That activity has demonstrated time and again the many long propagation paths that only the TV signals had been traversing since that service expanded after WW2! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- March 12, 2002 version - to be revised as the "missing" logs are found