Re: Topband: Saturday Night
Just waiting for my flight back From GD.Whenever I ran, we had immense pile ups, seems that there is less discipline each year. It can be frustrating in EU for us too , I am betting some dx would have called me , but wouldn't have got through the wall.I did work FY5, CX6, KP2, KP3, JT5, PJ4, V47, and all US zones.Couldn't raise HI3CC, C6AGU, or ZW5BI think 160 was in good shape. 73 Dave G3NKC / MD4K Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone. Original message From: Roger Kennedy Date: 25/11/2019 14:49 (GMT+00:00) To: topband@contesting.com Subject: Topband: Saturday Night I too came on for a couple of hours on 160m during the CQ WW . . .Top Band wasn't at all noisy here in Europe, although conditions weren'tnearly as good as during the week - most signals were about 15dB down.I worked everyone I could hear (about 20 NA stations, and a couple ofCaribbeans) . . . but as Dave G3NKC posted, the problem is that there aredozens of very strong Europeans on the band (some S9 +40dB with me!), sopicking out the weak DX signals in-between can be hard work, even with goodfilters ! (especially as they weren't as strong as normal)That's the problem with Top Band, even compared to 80m, there's no Skip, soyou hear everyone on the band ! (on 80m even other Gs can sometimes be quiteweak . . . but that never happens on 160m)Actually I heard several other NA stations . . . including K1WHS . . . butthey were calling EU stations, so I couldn't call them. If they had calledCQ I'm sure I could have worked them. (I didn't want to put out a CQ callmyself, as I would have had hundreds of EU stations calling me! Do you thinkyou can call CQ DX during a Contest?!))Roger G3YRO_Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Topband: Saturday Night
I too came on for a couple of hours on 160m during the CQ WW . . . Top Band wasn't at all noisy here in Europe, although conditions weren't nearly as good as during the week - most signals were about 15dB down. I worked everyone I could hear (about 20 NA stations, and a couple of Caribbeans) . . . but as Dave G3NKC posted, the problem is that there are dozens of very strong Europeans on the band (some S9 +40dB with me!), so picking out the weak DX signals in-between can be hard work, even with good filters ! (especially as they weren't as strong as normal) That's the problem with Top Band, even compared to 80m, there's no Skip, so you hear everyone on the band ! (on 80m even other Gs can sometimes be quite weak . . . but that never happens on 160m) Actually I heard several other NA stations . . . including K1WHS . . . but they were calling EU stations, so I couldn't call them. If they had called CQ I'm sure I could have worked them. (I didn't want to put out a CQ call myself, as I would have had hundreds of EU stations calling me! Do you think you can call CQ DX during a Contest?!)) Roger G3YRO _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Topband: Saturday night
Same situation here on S.Europe, back home when contest start and hear only EU and Jeff VY2ZM loud i suppose band is on good shape but after all dropping down , wake up on the middle of the night no signal at all from NA or Caribean like the day before contest, very sad, i prefered go on the bed again _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Saturday night
Dave,You have to witness the LF bands from EU, with so many countries in a relatively space, packed on small bands, you don't have a clear frequency. If you have directional receive antennae, that does help. I couldn't raise C6AGU ( eu qrm), HI3CC didn't hear well, nor PJ2T, OR ZW5B. But I'm doing an all band effort, so not dedicated to 160.I did work CX6VM, FY5FJ, KP3DX, KP2M, XE2B, PJ4K JT5DX that come to mind73 Dave G3NKC @MD4K Sent from Samsung tablet Original message From: David Olean Date: 24/11/2019 18:46 (GMT+00:00) To: Topband Reflector Subject: Topband: Saturday night Hi Top BandersI was dabbling in the CQ WW contest last night (Nov 24 UT) and noted a few things that seemed quite different to me here in NE USA. The normal situation at my sunset occurred. I could hear many many EU stations but almost none of them could hear me. I am used to that. I quit and had dinner and spent some quality time with the XYL for the evening. At about 0300 UT I was QRV again. A storm was blowing through New England and There was a fair amount of lightning static, but I was able to call many stations who were very good copy, but almost always got the impression that I was barely audible with them. I am running 1300-1400 watts output. Most stations took three or four calls to get my call correct. A few gave up and had my call wrong but went on to other callers. Other loud stations CQed in my face. This was very different from many of my past experiences. I actually went and checked the electrical passband of my TX antenna to make sure it was performing normally. (It was) I also kept looking at the wattmeter to make sure that I was transmitting into the antenna!I did note that there was deep and rapid QSB over a 30 second period. I am wondering what the hearing conditions were in Europe Saturday night on 1.8 MHz. I suspect that noise was a big problem.Around 1000 UT until my sunrise arpund 1200, I did a fair amount of listening but heard very little in the way of Pacific DX. I was operating un assisted so do not know who was QRV, but tuning across the band produced only two HI stations heard from the Pacific. No KL7, no islands, and no VK/ZL. A few CQs produced no QSOs for points. Very disappointing morning.73Dave K1WHS_Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Saturday night
David, I was the 160 m operator at C6AGU Saturday night. During the week, ahead of the contest, I was on 160 a few nights and worked 100-s of EU-s under good conditions. But conditions here towards EU on Saturday night were poor: most stations were weak, and the normally strong ones were just OK. Even the Russians and Ukrainians were weak! Sat night was a struggle (until I went to 40). I was surprised because conditions were so good all weak and I was looking forward to having fun on 160. Such is TB! 73, George, AA7JV/C6AGU On Sun, 24 Nov 2019 18:46:56 + David Olean wrote: Hi Top Banders I was dabbling in the CQ WW contest last night (Nov 24 UT) and noted a few things that seemed quite different to me here in NE USA. The normal situation at my sunset occurred. I could hear many many EU stations but almost none of them could hear me. I am used to that. I quit and had dinner and spent some quality time with the XYL for the evening. At about 0300 UT I was QRV again. A storm was blowing through New England and There was a fair amount of lightning static, but I was able to call many stations who were very good copy, but almost always got the impression that I was barely audible with them. I am running 1300-1400 watts output. Most stations took three or four calls to get my call correct. A few gave up and had my call wrong but went on to other callers. Other loud stations CQed in my face. This was very different from many of my past experiences. I actually went and checked the electrical passband of my TX antenna to make sure it was performing normally. (It was) I also kept looking at the wattmeter to make sure that I was transmitting into the antenna! I did note that there was deep and rapid QSB over a 30 second period. I am wondering what the hearing conditions were in Europe Saturday night on 1.8 MHz. I suspect that noise was a big problem. Around 1000 UT until my sunrise arpund 1200, I did a fair amount of listening but heard very little in the way of Pacific DX. I was operating un assisted so do not know who was QRV, but tuning across the band produced only two HI stations heard from the Pacific. No KL7, no islands, and no VK/ZL. A few CQs produced no QSOs for points. Very disappointing morning. 73 Dave K1WHS _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Saturday night
Dave et all Friday night was better to be sure than Saturday night. Here in the deep south we got no sunset or sunrise bump. In fact early in the evening there were almost no EU to be heard, a few Caribs which were quickly worked through. I gave up around 0200 and set an alarm for 0500. Things had picked considerably. Then this morning there as you noted there was almost no pacific opening at all , one KH6 and not that strong, No JA's which were loud earlier in the week. Friday by comparison EU was loud well above average with many stations registering an honest S5 to S8 on the BOG ! In all I worked a total of 46 countries on both nights (40 of those on Friday/Night Saturday Morn..A personal best) . Funny you should mention QSB there was almost none noted here. The only one I missed that I really wanted was 6V7A, just didn't have the patience for the rude crowd calling on top of each other (please dont hijack this thread to play aint it awful with me... we cant solve that problem here) . The personal best catch for me was OY9JD for an ATNO . I was surprised and disappointed that 5N7Q or the energizer bunny 5T5PA was not in fray at all on any band? Dave NR1DX Florida On 11/24/2019 1:46 PM, David Olean wrote: Hi Top Banders I was dabbling in the CQ WW contest last night (Nov 24 UT) and noted a few things that seemed quite different to me here in NE USA. The normal situation at my sunset occurred. I could hear many many EU stations but almost none of them could hear me. I am used to that. I quit and had dinner and spent some quality time with the XYL for the evening. At about 0300 UT I was QRV again. A storm was blowing through New England and There was a fair amount of lightning static, but I was able to call many stations who were very good copy, but almost always got the impression that I was barely audible with them. I am running 1300-1400 watts output. Most stations took three or four calls to get my call correct. A few gave up and had my call wrong but went on to other callers. Other loud stations CQed in my face. This was very different from many of my past experiences. I actually went and checked the electrical passband of my TX antenna to make sure it was performing normally. (It was) I also kept looking at the wattmeter to make sure that I was transmitting into the antenna! I did note that there was deep and rapid QSB over a 30 second period. I am wondering what the hearing conditions were in Europe Saturday night on 1.8 MHz. I suspect that noise was a big problem. Around 1000 UT until my sunrise arpund 1200, I did a fair amount of listening but heard very little in the way of Pacific DX. I was operating un assisted so do not know who was QRV, but tuning across the band produced only two HI stations heard from the Pacific. No KL7, no islands, and no VK/ZL. A few CQs produced no QSOs for points. Very disappointing morning. 73 Dave K1WHS _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector -- Dave manu...@artekmanuals.com www.ArtekManuals.com _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Saturday night
Dave I’ll give you some more disappointment. At about 7 PM Saturday night (00Z) an incredible noise came on and wiped out all of bands. Something local and from the SW. Pointed my 10 m Yagi to the source. Killed my interest at that point and went to bed. Got going again at 1130z and the noise was thankfully gone. If it shows again, will have to do some DFing. Thought conditions Saturday night were starting out better than the first night. When you worked UW2M, worked him after but fighting that noise big at the time. PITA Regards, Mark, K1RX > On Nov 24, 2019, at 1:46 PM, David Olean wrote: > > Hi Top Banders > > I was dabbling in the CQ WW contest last night (Nov 24 UT) and noted a few > things that seemed quite different to me here in NE USA. The normal situation > at my sunset occurred. I could hear many many EU stations but almost none of > them could hear me. I am used to that. I quit and had dinner and spent some > quality time with the XYL for the evening. At about 0300 UT I was QRV again. > A storm was blowing through New England and There was a fair amount of > lightning static, but I was able to call many stations who were very good > copy, but almost always got the impression that I was barely audible with > them. I am running 1300-1400 watts output. Most stations took three or four > calls to get my call correct. A few gave up and had my call wrong but went on > to other callers. Other loud stations CQed in my face. This was very > different from many of my past experiences. I actually went and checked the > electrical passband of my TX antenna to make sure it was performing normally. > (It was) I also kept looking at the wattmeter to make sure that I was > transmitting into the antenna! > > I did note that there was deep and rapid QSB over a 30 second period. I am > wondering what the hearing conditions were in Europe Saturday night on 1.8 > MHz. I suspect that noise was a big problem. > > Around 1000 UT until my sunrise arpund 1200, I did a fair amount of listening > but heard very little in the way of Pacific DX. I was operating un assisted > so do not know who was QRV, but tuning across the band produced only two HI > stations heard from the Pacific. No KL7, no islands, and no VK/ZL. A few CQs > produced no QSOs for points. Very disappointing morning. > > 73 > > Dave K1WHS > > _ > Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Saturday night
I don’t go in for contests but I did spend some time on top band this morning. From about 0600 to 0830 UTC. I was hearing a lot of E Coast at very good strengths plus several in the Caribbean. Unfortunately because of the universal use of 599 reports to everybody in contests (a practice that I really deplore) I have no idea how I was getting out other than that I was being heard. Last time I was really active this never happened but that is progress and computerised logging I guess. 73 Richard G3OQT > On 24 Nov 2019, at 18:46, David Olean wrote: > > Hi Top Banders > > I was dabbling in the CQ WW contest last night (Nov 24 UT) and noted a few > things that seemed quite different to me here in NE USA. The normal situation > at my sunset occurred. I could hear many many EU stations but almost none of > them could hear me. I am used to that. I quit and had dinner and spent some > quality time with the XYL for the evening. At about 0300 UT I was QRV again. > A storm was blowing through New England and There was a fair amount of > lightning static, but I was able to call many stations who were very good > copy, but almost always got the impression that I was barely audible with > them. I am running 1300-1400 watts output. Most stations took three or four > calls to get my call correct. A few gave up and had my call wrong but went on > to other callers. Other loud stations CQed in my face. This was very > different from many of my past experiences. I actually went and checked the > electrical passband of my TX antenna to make sure it was performing normally. > (It was) I also kept looking at the wattmeter to make sure that I was > transmitting into the antenna! > > I did note that there was deep and rapid QSB over a 30 second period. I am > wondering what the hearing conditions were in Europe Saturday night on 1.8 > MHz. I suspect that noise was a big problem. > > Around 1000 UT until my sunrise arpund 1200, I did a fair amount of listening > but heard very little in the way of Pacific DX. I was operating un assisted > so do not know who was QRV, but tuning across the band produced only two HI > stations heard from the Pacific. No KL7, no islands, and no VK/ZL. A few CQs > produced no QSOs for points. Very disappointing morning. > > 73 > > Dave K1WHS > > _ > Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Saturday night
> On Nov 24, 2019, at 10:47 AM, David Olean wrote: > > . until my sunrise arpund 1200, I did a fair amount of > listening but heard very little in the way of Pacific DX. I was > operating un assisted so do not know who was QRV, but tuning across the > band produced only two HI stations heard from the Pacific. No KL7, no > islands, and no VK/ZL. A few CQs produced no QSOs for points. Very > disappointing morning. I operated S on 80 and 160 from San Jose, CA. 80 was very good to N. Africa , SA, Caribbean, Asia and ZL . Lots of Qs. Great fun. No EU. 160 had “much” less activity (from here)! I worked a bunch of JAs - which was fun - but little else. If I only had a 160 antenna it would have been a sad affair for me. 73, Bob AA6VB _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Topband: Saturday night
Hi Top Banders I was dabbling in the CQ WW contest last night (Nov 24 UT) and noted a few things that seemed quite different to me here in NE USA. The normal situation at my sunset occurred. I could hear many many EU stations but almost none of them could hear me. I am used to that. I quit and had dinner and spent some quality time with the XYL for the evening. At about 0300 UT I was QRV again. A storm was blowing through New England and There was a fair amount of lightning static, but I was able to call many stations who were very good copy, but almost always got the impression that I was barely audible with them. I am running 1300-1400 watts output. Most stations took three or four calls to get my call correct. A few gave up and had my call wrong but went on to other callers. Other loud stations CQed in my face. This was very different from many of my past experiences. I actually went and checked the electrical passband of my TX antenna to make sure it was performing normally. (It was) I also kept looking at the wattmeter to make sure that I was transmitting into the antenna! I did note that there was deep and rapid QSB over a 30 second period. I am wondering what the hearing conditions were in Europe Saturday night on 1.8 MHz. I suspect that noise was a big problem. Around 1000 UT until my sunrise arpund 1200, I did a fair amount of listening but heard very little in the way of Pacific DX. I was operating un assisted so do not know who was QRV, but tuning across the band produced only two HI stations heard from the Pacific. No KL7, no islands, and no VK/ZL. A few CQs produced no QSOs for points. Very disappointing morning. 73 Dave K1WHS _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
