TV Columbae in outburst : a mass transfer event ?

We have observed a 2-mag outburst of TV Col, the fourth to be recorded. We find that the line emission was greatly increased during the outburst, with the extra flux coming primarily from the impact region of the accretion stream with the disc. We suggest that the outburst was caused by increased mass transfer from the secondary. The 5.2-h modulation, which probably arises from a precessing accretion disc, changed phase during the outburst. We discuss the relation of outbursts in intermediate polars to those in dwarf novae.