In the pre-stew, I was honestly surprised how many EU guys I worked for the first time ever. Not just the first time on 160M, but first time ever on any band or mode.
I have been quite impressed with W3 <-> W6 QSO's at 100W CW on topband in the past few weeks too. It really seems easier than in past years. Tim N3QE On Fri, Nov 2, 2018 at 3:02 PM VE6WZ_Steve <ve...@shaw.ca> wrote: > This season there has been some discussion on this reflector about > activity levels on 160m (or lack thereof) and the possible negative effect > of the FT-8 on CW. > Here are my observations. > > CW is **very much** alive and well, and DX activity on TB has been > exceptional. > Compared to many on this list, I might be considered a “newcomer” to TB, > but I have been QRV on 160m for 28 years so I do have a baseline. > > I did a .csv export from my log and a pivot table in Excel gave me a quick > analysis of my 160m QSO for the one month period beginning Oct 1. Mode- CW > only. > > Looking at EU-AF only, the log shows 270 total EU-AF trans-polar QSOs. 34 > EU-AF DXCC, and 162 unique callsigns. There are many first time ever > callsigns in my log on 160 this season so far. > Three evening sessions stand out, Oct 19- 54 EU qsos, Oct 29 - 76 EU qsos, > and Oct 31- 35 EU qsos. > The log shows that 196 qsos or 72 % of the EU contacts were made in the 2 > hour period between 0400z and 0600z. > > I suspect that one significant contributor to the high level of EU > activity were the numerous OC DX-peds…5W, YJ0, VK9X, VP6D etc. Its likely > that more EU operators were compelled to be at their radios early in the AM > to try and get a new one. However, I suggest that to work EU on the > low-bands we need to be aware of the local times at the DX end. This may > seem like I’m stating the obvious, (and I AM stating the obvious) but to > expect a lot of activity at 0300z may be unreasonable. How many EU hams are > that dedicated to get up at 2-4 am local time to sit at their radio except > during a contest? During my CQ sessions, I can observe the activity sweep > across EU as the sun is starting to rise and the operators are getting up > and taking the first sip of the coffee. The same is true with EU > expectations of NA. As my log analysis shows the peak time for EU > trans-polar QSOs (72 %) is from 0400z-0600z. That is around midnight local > for me. I am on the westcoast, but for the east and central NA boys its 2-3 > in the morning. Sure there are a few dedicated ops, but most are sound > asleep. > > Calling CQ. If no one calls CQ, there will be no QSOs. However, before I > moved the station to the new remote set-up, I rarely called CQ for two > reasons. > 1. I would usually modulated my neighbours stereo and computer speakers in > spite of my efforts to fix it. Less TX was better. > 2. With my limited inner-city RX capabilities I knew I was an alligator. > There was just too much RFI to hear well. > The benefits of calling CQ for extended periods is to beat the usual 160m > QSB. Short (2X2) CQs allow callers to time the QSB wave and call on a > peak. The 160m “cat-and-mouse” game as signals go from 579 to oblivion in > 30 seconds. It can be slow going, but a lot of chair time listening to > static can pay off waiting for the callers to get you on the peak. > > There is no doubt that this last month from VE6 has been excellent for > trans-polar propagation, and I know that its just a matter of time until > the aurora door will slam shut and I will be sitting on the sidelines > listening to the guys down south working all the DX. > However, my point is that there is still a great deal of CW activity on > TB….maybe as much as there ever has been? Not everyone is exclusively using > FT-8. > > BTW…my log also shows 120 JA-Asia QSOs for the same last one month period. > > de steve ve6wz. > > > > _________________ > Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband > Reflector > _________________ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector