Darwin, Keith wrote:
If a person wants to work DX on a shoe string which band should they
focus on?
...and you've added that he prefers SSB and may not be able to put up a
horizontal antenna more than 20' above ground. I suppose he wants to do
it with QRP, too? Keep in mind that the sunspot cycle is at its low
point now.
He is not going to work a lot of HF DX in the traditional sense today.
There is a reason that DXers have beams on expensive towers, and it's
not all ego. There is a reason that QRPers like CW.
He might try 6 meter e-skip, where -- at least in the summer -- he can
have fun trying to work grid squares. It isn't traditional DX, but DX is
relative. He can do this with a homemade yagi at 20 feet, turned by a TV
rotor or by hand. When the cycle improves, he can work 'DX' in the
winter, too, by f-layer propagation.
OK, back to HF and DXCC-type DX. Any horizontal antenna at 20 feet will
be horrible. A vertical's performance will depend where he lives. If he
lives near saltwater or on a farm, or near Dallas TX where the ground is
relatively conductive, a vertical won't be too bad. If he lives in a
built-up area, it will be less good. He will need a radial system (much
has been said about the various approaches to doing this), but a
vertical's performance is also dependent on ground characteristics in
the "Fresnel zone" which is a few wavelengths away from the antenna and
over which you have little control.
The best band to work DX on with low power is the highest frequency one
that is open. I suggest 40 meters and up, if he can put up an efficient
40-meter vertical (this means NOT a multiband trap vertical) with a
decent ground system. If not, he will have to use the higher bands.
Today it will be a struggle. As the cycle improves, he will find that he
can work more DX on the higher bands. When 10 is open, he will be able
to make worldwide QSOs with low power, a simple antenna, and SSB.
--
73,
Vic, K2VCO
Fresno CA
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco
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