First off all I would like to congratulate G3LDO, VE1ZJ and VE1ZZ for their
ahievement. Regardless wether some critics accept this as a 2-way QSO or
not, it is a milestone as it has proven that a 2-way QSO is possible.
About the "Peter Bobek Award" : From 1997 on, when my interest in LF
started, I was furtunate to have regular e-mail contact with Peter who gave
me a lot of advice. I believe that he was one of the first that understood
the possibilities extreme narrowband modes on 136kHz, at a time that there
was much opposition that such kind of contacts would ever be accepted are
valuable QSO's.
Today QRSS is accepted by (almost) everybody in the LF community, but maybe
it wouldn't have been so if Peter hadn't set one of the first steps with
his QRSS transmission from DA0LF.
In one of his mails to me he mentioned that circumstances on 136kHz are so
different from the other ham bands that we will need all the creativity we
have if we want to cover greater and greater distances.
In one of his last mails he stated that we might have to prove that we can
make real DX (= intercontinental) contacts to be taken serious my the HF
community, a QSO between Europe and North-America was his dream.
Even if the performance of G3LDO, VE1ZJ and VE1ZZ is not a 2-way contact in
the strict sense it has brought us a step closer to the aim of the "Peter
Bobek Award" and the least that can be said it that these 3 hams used their
creativity to overcome the "missing RX" problem at the Canadian side.
So even if the Award Committee does not recognize this as the first 2-way
QSO it is my opinion that this fine achievement should be rewarded in some
way.
73, Rik ON7YD
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