# Unclose encounters



## Robert M Hughes (Oct 16, 2010)

Leaving port of Sete (near Marseilles) I routinely called Portishead radio to establish Area one contact, after a couple of calls up came VIS Sydney Radio who relayed my TR for me - mid morning - i was staggered !
Anyone beat that ?

Cheers to all,

Bob


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## Larry Bennett (Aug 28, 2005)

Always remember one occasion when taking a QTC from a vessel on 4 MHz around 0830. QSA/QRK 5/5. Assumed the vessel was located around the UK coast, but the R/O on board took great pleasure in advising his location QTO Darwin.....

One GKA Overseer used to get quite excited when radio conditions were good - cries of 'they're coming over the top' when signals from the Pacific were heard coming through from the N-NE aerials...

But - one problem with good conditions (especially on 22 MHz) was the echo when getting strong signals from ships coming from both long path AND short path directions - used to make cw very difficult to read. Had to QSY these ships down to 16 MHz, where QSA only 2/3 but no echo.

Larry +


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Always very annoying when the propogational theory came true! Just trying to remember the Q code for fading. Was it QSB ?

John T


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## mikeg (Aug 24, 2006)

Yes, as far as I recall, QSB Are my signals fading?


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## Robert M Hughes (Oct 16, 2010)

Larry Bennett said:


> Always remember one occasion when taking a QTC from a vessel on 4 MHz around 0830. QSA/QRK 5/5. Assumed the vessel was located around the UK coast, but the R/O on board took great pleasure in advising his location QTO Darwin.....
> 
> One GKA Overseer used to get quite excited when radio conditions were good - cries of 'they're coming over the top' when signals from the Pacific were heard coming through from the N-NE aerials...
> 
> ...


Thanks Larry - I'm not alone out there!!


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## Graham P Powell (Jun 2, 2007)

One morning at GKA I picked up a "road train" in W. Australia working VIS!. I worked the Falklands from London docks which I thought was quite good. 
I can certainly remember the signals as Larry says arriving in two directions with the echo. Mind you we did have 1500 acres of aerials and Racal recievers.
rgds
Graham Powell


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## King Ratt (Aug 23, 2005)

Graham Mercer, when OIC at GPK/Portpatrickradio, used to work ships in Pacific
waters on the 2 Mhz band. GPK working frequency was 1883 Khz. This propagation was along the "greyline" where the line of daylight and darkness kisses the earth.


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## david.hopcroft (Jun 29, 2005)

On nights at GKZ, we often heard coasters in the Medi trying to raise their nearest stations. I have worked several, especially those who were calling on 2182 and listening on 2684 - Cagliari ? or 1792 - Tunis ?

David
+


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## hawkey01 (Mar 15, 2006)

It was amazing the distances that were worked from coast stations during the dark hours. Especially the north south line. Cant remember the exact vessels now but at GLD and GIL we would work well down off Africa. I even put a link call on for a vessels way south. When the owners wanted to speak to him they came back to us but we were unable to QSO again, try explaining that to the uninitiated. Just one of the joys of radio propagation.

Maybe it was Grahams Greyline that did it. 

Hawkey01


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## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

On passage between Capetown and Las Palmas (and vice versa) it was commonplace to hear GPK booming in on both 500 and 2182 when you were off the West African coast. Portpatrick always seemed to have a much stronger signal than any of the other UK coast stations when we were down there. 

Once South of the Equator, the signal rapidly decreased.


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## david.hopcroft (Jun 29, 2005)

Graham Mercer at GPK once told be he had worked an RAF Hercules on the ground at Port Stanley on 1883 !!

Early evening in the south Atlantic a few days out from Capetown, it was usually possible to hear and work ZSQ or ZSD.

David
+


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## Naytikos (Oct 20, 2008)

During one of the sunspot minimums I was mid-Indian Ocean heading for Krakatoa when ZSD and VIP had a chat on 500.


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## Graham P Powell (Jun 2, 2007)

The RAF Hercules had Collins radio tx's ( around 250 watts I believe) and an enormous aerial from cockpit to tail. We regularly worked them at GKA but that of course was all on HF. A QSO from Durban to Perth on 500. Thats amazing. Amazing thing propagation. We had a Ben Line ship that used to go from the UK to the Far East without changing areas. Worked GKA all the way.
Not bad for an Oceanspan.
rgds
Graham Powell


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## Trevor Clements (May 6, 2007)

I worked Mauritius from the middle of Lake Erie, while trying to call CFH with an Oceanspan on 4Mhz, and they QSP'd an SLT which was even more amazing.

However at the other end of the scale, I could never get GKL (GKS) from the Caribbean. There didn't seem to be a frequency that was any use at all during daylight hours. I was only 19 and knew nothing!

Trevor.

TC


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## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

Graham P Powell said:


> Amazing thing propagation. We had a Ben Line ship that used to go from the UK to the Far East without changing areas. Worked GKA all the way.
> Not bad for an Oceanspan.
> rgds
> Graham Powell


Did a West-about round-the-World trip, November 1962/April '63 while remaining in Area 1 as far as the GPO was concerned. Worst parts were in Eastern Canada and off the West coast of Central America. Elsewhere had no problems. Oceanspan for ever!


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## Graham P Powell (Jun 2, 2007)

Well done Ron. Quite an achievement. We seldom heard from ships in the Pacific Northwest area of the USA/Canada and I was told once that it was a communications black spot. From Japan we would get signals on a northerley aerial the transmission coming over the N.Pole. 
rgds
Graham Powell


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## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

Graham P Powell said:


> We seldom heard from ships in the Pacific Northwest area of the USA/Canada and I was told once that it was a communications black spot.


Remember Dick (forget the surname) - the P & O electronics guy who was involved with the initial Princess cruises - telling me that their London office had a hell of a job contacting their vessels cruising out of San Francisco, for just that reason. He claimed it was a well-known black spot. I guess nobody told me or the other guys with Oceanspans. (Jester)

Mind you, in fairness, it really was the area North of Vancouver, up to Alaska that was supposed to be really difficult.


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## keithsparks (Sep 1, 2009)

Does anyone remember the guy or guys ,fishermen methinks who used to spend all night on 2182 sceaming out VIGORADIO i still hear it now in my mind its like a recurring nightmare do you think a shrink might help VIGO VIGO VIGO .


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## Gareth Jones (Jul 13, 2007)

keithsparks said:


> Does anyone remember the guy or guys ,fishermen methinks who used to spend all night on 2182 sceaming out VIGORADIO i still hear it now in my mind its like a recurring nightmare do you think a shrink might help VIGO VIGO VIGO .


 I remember them well ! also how about the ones calling (I think) dijon - they pronounced it something like "ee oon" "ee oon" "ee oon" 
sounded just like a donkey braying on 2182 !


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## TonyAllen (Aug 6, 2008)

not related to the thread as such but when I had a small amp altered at sea to work at home , I found out most times I was recieving stations from abroad while I was Playing, in the end impossible to play without interferance Tony


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## IMRCoSparks (Aug 22, 2008)

Graham P Powell said:


> Well done Ron. Quite an achievement. We seldom heard from ships in the Pacific Northwest area of the USA/Canada and I was told once that it was a communications black spot.
> 
> On a world cruise aboard Caronia in the 60's. Leaving Honolulu bound for Long Beach and monitoring Area 5, NZ our chief, who had only sailed on the Atlantic suddenly changed from Area 5 to direct GKL Area 1c one day out from Hawaii.
> 
> ...


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## Graham P Powell (Jun 2, 2007)

The Queens must have kept up close monitoring of HF stations. I noticed once that one of them was in LPD ( General Pacheco, Argentina) traffic list. By the next list it had gone so they must have picked up their traffic. With Royal Mail we took all USA and Europe c/s traffic lists at least once a day. In fact we had a tick sheet to show they had been done.
rgds
Graham Powell


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## Mayday (May 26, 2009)

We used to be able to pick up KPH and KFS on 500 in the evenings when a day out from Port Chalmers bound for Cape Horn. Never had a two way contact, I did try occasionally though.

John.


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## Troppo (Feb 18, 2010)

Mayday said:


> We used to be able to pick up KPH and KFS on 500 in the evenings when a day out from Port Chalmers bound for Cape Horn. Never had a two way contact, I did try occasionally though.
> 
> John.



They ran 10kW on 500....BIG signal.

The Aussie stations ran about 1.5 kW on 5 ton.....


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## Baulkham Hills (Jul 11, 2008)

I always found working wsl, wcc and kfs, kph frustrating to work on 500 khz 
their signals blasted in because of their high power but they never seemed to receive your calls. It could work the other way as well on the states coast with Lantana woe or Port Arthur wpa which seems to operate on the line of sight principal. Their signals were so weak on all frequencies and did not keep a continous watch on H/F.
Anybody remember wny on W/T M/F which was a station for New York harbor controlled from Chatham or Amagansett with it's aerials on top of the Empire State Building. 
Baltimore wmh was another station which was very weak and I believe owned by the port of Baltimore.
Slidell wnu always seemed to me the best station to contact and work.


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