Night Owlers

Late at night a few weeks ago, when I bored with practising the 7th symphony by Beethoven, I turned on the rig. It was before 14Z. Pretty late for the path to the west coast on 40m. The band was still open that way and I could have a few contacts with W6/7. 

For the last time before closing down, I called CQ and was called by VK4YD. This call sounded familiar to me. But I could not recall Dave until I looked up his call with my PC log. We have had several QSOs years ago. 

He used to be VK3ABR before '80s and VK4CEU there after until he got the present call sign some 10 years ago. I met him first time in 1968! He is 81 years old now and still have very sharp memory. He told me he had just called our mutual friend Tim VK3IM on the land line. Tim told him he had been getting along well at his home with aid for routine by someone. Tim seemed to have been at his own home in Mt. Eliza, a suburb of Melbourne. As I have written elsewhere in this blog, I have had wonderful chats with Tim on his way back home from the work in Melbourne. Tim has had, however, the same health issue of chronic pain which annoyed him for the past years. I only wished him peaceful days with less pain now.

In '70s through '80s, Dave told me, there had been several hams in or around Melbourne area who used to be active on 40m at their midnight. Such as Ron VK3BRC, Frank VK3FC, Snow VK3MR, Tim VK3IM, Dave himself and so forth. They have called themselves as "night owlers". They have enjoyed QSOs with Ed W7COB or Merle K6DC, formerly W6ULS then. What a surprise I have worked all of them either in '60s or '80s. Merle used to be an elmer for ragchewing for me those days. Sadly, all of them except for Dave and Tim have gone SK for now. 

As I repeatedly posted in this blog, there used to be a schedule between K6NB and VK2NS on 40m around 08Z or so almost every day. There used to be several patticipants in it around the Pacific ocean. I was the last one joining it from time to time. It was a real fond memory for me. I am sad to have shared it with very few ones for now. I was, however, delighted to know this night owlers group having kept a regular round table over the Pacific Ocean at almost the same time, or at least, sometime in common. CW was taking the place of the internet at present those days. Ham radio, especially CW, was the only window open to the world for me and for many young people those days.

Wondering if there were any people who knew of these round tables over the Pacific Ocean, I posted on this topic in a group of CW lovers in the facebook. But no one has shared this memory with me there, even if they were mostly newbies on CW in that group. Anyway, the fact there used to be such hams enjoying ragchewing over the Pacific Ocean is passing into oblivion. There is still a memory that I have participated in such excitng groups on this old mode those days.