After a long day at work there's nothing like spending the time on the commute home working a little HF. I was on 20 meters last evening with my FT-857D while on the way home when I came across S9SS running a pileup. After a few calls I managed to work the station, who's op is named Charles. I didn't know the significance of the catch I had made until I checked his listing in QRZ.COM this morning.
The QTH of S9SS is the island of Sao Tome, 200 miles west of Gabon off the coast of Africa. Turns out that Charles Lewis, a native of North Carolina, is the station manager of the Voice Of America transmitter site there on the island. Take a look at the URL link listed below. After looking at the initial page, click on "pictures" on the left hand side of the page and take a tour of the VOA transmitter site on the island. Ye gods! I've never even seen a megawatt dummyload before. Read up on the solid state modulator for the 600KW transmitter. YIKES! There are 7 pages of photos for the site tour alone (click on the drop down menu that says "page 1"). Lots of photos to enjoy of the transmitter site and the beautiful island. Enjoy!
Am I going to QSL this guy? YOU BET!!
http://groups.msn.com/s9ss/s9ss.msnw