Last night was a fun night on 160. At 2216 worked CT9/UR9IDX who had a fine
signal. Starting at 01:54 worked OK1CF then SP7AS, G3YRO and IK7JTF (100W from
Rino). Also EA5C.
Decided to get back up around western EU sunrise so back at the rig at 05:15 or
so. For the next hour and a bit worked 1
Tonight, Friday, 1/18, around 2300 I came on and band noise to NE, and just
about every other direction, was way up. My noise floor when using the circle
array, is typically around -145 or so. Tonight, -122. Was wide spread with no
modulation or pulsing.
Coming back into the shack around 010
Got on a bit before 10PM local and tuned the band. Karel, OK1CF, had a fine
signal with little qsb. I moved up the band to call CQ and saw several (6) rbn
returns from EU. Many were in the mid 20s or higher for s/n. Best band has been
open for quite a while.
Unfortunately, few others were on
Last night (Monday locally here in NC) I was reading KST chat that Andy,
DL8LAS, was on. After watching a great ISS pass came to shack and indeed, there
he was. And loud! Approx 25dB above my noise floor. Called and easily worked.
Karel, while not quite as loud, also on and easily worked. Thi
Just read comments from G3YRO and others about the band condx during the
contest. As I wrote earlier, Friday night from around 0300Z when I got back on
(earlier, at start of contest, heard many EU stations but only 2 heard me) to
around 0530Z the band was full of VERY loud EU stations. I didn't
At start of CQWW cw lots of EU signals on the band but most weak to moderate
and only 1 dug me out. Decided to take a break. Back up to shack around 0300
(10pm local) and panadapter was full of many strong EU signals! Wow! Many 20 or
30dB above noise floor. Even with QSB and QRN most pretty easy
Tonight (11/21) around 0040Z I saw a signal pop up on the panadapter. Tuned to
it and its 3B9/M0CFW calling CQ. 15dB or more above my noise floor. I couldn't
believe how solid and loud they were. After amp came on line I called and
worked them. During the wait time I did a quick internet search
Seemed participation pretty light. OK1CF called me then later, at EU sunrise,
found two other G stations so only 3 EU in the log. However, a nice surprise
was finding George, AA7JV portable mm in a BH grid (I won't give it here).
George you were up and down quite a bit (perhaps the boat rocking?
My universal response to anyone who publicly complains about how a dxpedition
is being run (and I will always defend you're right to post such input) is:
I am sure you'll do it differently when you go.
Ron
N4XD
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Was listening last night (8/14) to N5J pound out CQs on 1828.5. Hats off to the
folks operating for their patience and dedication to 160. The rate, at least
while I was listening, was pretty low. Certainly not what most dxpeditions are
after. But George and crew continue to spend quality time wo
George, thanks for the Q last night. I'm out in NM and have a very small set
up. Inverted L and maybe 40', beverages to NE and SW (500' long) and just 500W.
As you certainly heard, almost constant QRN. I have no idea how many times you
may have come back to me but finally, enough of a break w
George, T32JV, was quite loud this morning on 160. I worked him from here in NC
at 1000Z. Pretty easy copy with the array listening NW to escape most of the
QRN from the ongoing storms in Georgia. George was not nearly as loud on 3523
when I worked him a few minutes later.
As Dave, W0FLS pos
I've never been DX (well, USVI but that's not rare nor hard to get to) so can't
give a perspective from that viewpoint.
My thinking is this: you either got my call 100% right, or you didn't. Same
standard as in a contest. If you logged something other than my call, then I
didn't have a valid
George had a pretty good signal on 160 this morning (11/26). I was CQing in the
contest and saw a small signal pop up on the panadapter. Tuned there and there
was K8R Cqing. I think I got there before they were spotted since, when I
called, at 1143 or so (my SR was 1205), no one else was calling
Tonight, 11/21 local (i.e. Tuesday night here in NC), Dima's signal went from
-17 (not too bad) to between -9 and -4. Hearing him every sequence for last 15
or more minutes. I think strong enough to work cw. But I think noisier over
there as his reports are not as loud.
Dima, great that you f
They seem to be hearing NA better today (11/14). And again, great of them to
listen for NA.
Seems lots of callers aren't hearing them well. Lots calling even after 4w8X
asks for a specific call or partial. An example I recall. He's asking for XX
and lots of callers with no X in their call cont
George, thanks for getting on both at EU sunrise where you had, on the east
coast, a fair signal with deep QSB, and at east coast sunrise where you were up
to a 569 or so and just a bit of QSB. Gave us some excitement on the band!
Ron
N4XD
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I came up to the shack around 0530 and starting around 0540 worked several EU
stations. DF2PY, G3OLB, ON7PQ, G3ROO, G3OQT, G3PQA, OT4A, OZ4MM. Earlier,
around 0102 worked OK1CF and heard, but didn't work, OK2BUZ. Lots of QRN and
QSB but several stations peaked up to 20dB above noise floor.
St
Yes it will work but, the slope will favor the arrival angle of some signals
and attenuate others.
Yes, of course I'm KIDDING!!
My thoughts are, put it up and enjoy. Someone, as some point, said beverage
antennas "just want to work".
Ron
N4XD
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Listened when first spotted but no joy on 160. Moved to 80 and worked George
there with pretty good signal through the QRN.
Saw he was spotted shortly after that on 160 so went and listened. Switching
through receive antenna options found, by a long shot, best copy on YCCC 9
antenna array. A
Band started out great here in NC. Very quiet. Called CQ and lots of strong EU
rbn spots which hasn't happened in a long time. OK1CF was quite loud and,
around 0046 worked him with 5W. Pretty amazing.
Then, around 0110 or so, something happened. The noise floor jumped 10 or 15dB
across the w
As Frank, W3LPL, kindly pointed out, I had the A index wrong. I use LOG4OM and
apparently the information it shows for A, K, etc are not up to date. The
information Frank provided makes last night make better sense. Thanks Frank!
Ron
N4XD
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Was an interesting evening (1/16 local). With A of 30 hardly expected band to
be open. But, it was and very well.
First Q was Andy, DL8LAS at 22:28. Last was at 23:27 (took some time off for
dinner), Karel, OK1CF. All had very good signals. Perhaps the best of the year.
Worked DL, ON, G (sev
I agree with KQ2M, TN8K was workable last night (Sunday) on both 80 and 160.
Here in central NC they were actually better on 160.
Long periods of very Q5 copy (maybe 10dB above the noise on 160) on both bands
followed by almost equally long periods of very light to no copy.
I was monitori
Over the last several days there has been fair to good propagation both to
Europe and the far east. This morning (1/6) worked JA5DQH with good signals
(but QSB) and heard HL5IVL but didn't work. Others on the east coast did. At
sunrise in England worked G3OLB but not his typical strength.
Ye
Last night (12/21) I got on the band around 0730Z. I was amazed to find several
very loud signals on the band. Over the next hour I worked 5 stations from
England that looked, on the panadapter, like locals. COMPLETELY different prop
than during the Stew Perry contest.
Additionally, worked Z
Re Packet and the contest
May not be of interest to everyone.
Sat evening around 0010 or so, had been running with a nice rate. Then a dupe.
And another. And yet another. This continued for around 15 minutes until I
finally QSY'd to escape.
My guess of what happened: someone spott
Last night pretty good prop to EU. Worked several stations. But, not much
activity.
This morning, K3ZM was waking the band up. Heard several JA and HL5IVL call and
work him. I tried CQing but got no answers (guess I need to improve my
signal!).
But, couple JA's did call CQ as did Kim (HL5
Thank all of you that responded. I had read the article in QST but that was
before I had my question. Went back and read (and re-read again) the
information on polarization. Think I got it. Again, thank you all for the
replies.
Ron
N4XD
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I recently read, from Tom, W8JI, that the beverage antenna is vertically
polarized. I'm hoping someone might explain this to me. Intuitively seems it
would be horizontal.
From here: http://w8ji.com/polarization_and_diversity.htm
Under Best diversity receive antennas.
Thanks
Ron
N4XD
What an unusual morning of prop. Started, at 10:43Z with hearing Mike, KL7QOW,
with a huge signal. Then heard JA8EKM working Dave, W0FLS. Worked JA8 at 1052
with his signal still building. Then found, and worked, KH6ZM at 10:57. Big
signal from him too.
Went up the band and called CQ. Phil, V
Interesting conditions. signals from VK shifted from direct to JA and back
again. Sometimes within the same CQ sequence. I've not seen this kind of swing
before. Well after sunrise heard Phil, VK6GX, on the NW path. Couldn't hear him
earlier when others were. All signals from ZL and VK were wea
this morning, a bit after 1100Z, after working VK2WF and ZL1AZ saw another
signal on the panadapter. Had been listening over JA for both VK and ZL. Turns
out it was JA5BIN and pretty good copy. Unfortunately all I got were a couple
QRZ?? But, nice to see the band open that direction.
Ron
N4X
Here in NC they were solid copy from about 2300Z until they moved to FT8. But I
could not join those that made it through. Operator posted that QRN was bad.
Went to be and set alarm for a bit before their sunrise. Got up and once again,
loud. A few minutes later in the log! shortly after that
Good sigs from EU last night. OK1CF, DL8LAS, IV3PRK all good and worked here in
NC. This morning VK2WF, ZL1AZ also both good signals. QRN and QSB bothersome at
times. Nice to hear more activity.
Ron
N4XD
NC
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Andy, DL8LAS, was right, conditions the last couple days have been quite good.
Last night (my time) I was able to work Andy with 100W. Even when condx are
quiet that's a pretty tough task. Karel, OK1CF, is also a pretty constant
signal from EU.
In my mornings have worked VK2WF, VK3HJ, ZL1AZ a
Last night OK1CF and DL8LAs had good signals into NC.
This morning VK2WF was strongest I've heard in a while. And, interestingly, had
what sounded like AU buzz on his signal. He said same from my end. First time
I've heard that on 160. Wondering if because SF, K and A are all elevated.
Ron
Last night I woke up around 2 local and headed up to the shack. Tuning around
G3OLB was booming. Calling CQ after listening for ZL3IX who I also heard (but
not loudly).
Since I was up and Tom was SO loud decided to give him a call with 5W. He heard
me and gave me, I'm sure, a generous 559. Wh
Couple thoughts.
I agree with Tree. General questions or observations during a contest would
seem, to me, to be OK. Specific regarding call signs, not so much.
I got on a bit last night. Pretty crowded here. Did hear some DX and later,
around EU sunrise, did work some DX but not much. I
For the low bands, I typically listen on my receive antennas. S meter readings
on them are proportional to the signal strength but not an accurate account.
I'd estimate it might be 4 or 5 S units down from the true signal strength. I
never use the S meter reading when giving reports. If I did mo
160 was excellent this morning. Early (1138 with sunrise at 1214) heard, and
worked, Tad, JH1HDT. Not long after worked Kim HL5IVL. Kevin VK6LW answered my
CQ as did AL7JI (not in that order). Worked Adrian, VK2WF. Worked Takar,
JA7BXS too even though he was zero beat on 1820 with a BC signal m
I'd say every minute spent improving your low band receive antenna(s) is well
spent. An example for me.
I always had trouble receiving DX to the west (i.e. JA, VK, ZL etc). Others
nearby would work them and I'd not. Late last year I got busy and built a W8JI
style (as written up nicely by Joe
Here too in central NC conditions were, at best, poor. Bad prop and lots of
QRN. However did manage to work 38 countries. And had a reasonable run last
hour of contest.
However, checking the stats, almost 1/3 of logged Qs were with US stations.
Perhaps more. Several times I stopped calling C
For the first time in weeks didn't hear any DX on 160 this morning. On the
upside, did work VK6LW on 80 lp at around 2155. Did it with just 100W from my
end. Kevin has had a consistent, and consistently strong, long path signal on
3506 for the last couple weeks. Well past his sunrise there and w
Last nite (Oct 9th) seemed excellent condx to EU. Worked several stations and
even a couple with just 100W. this morning the OC contest was going so more
activity than usual. Worked 8 VK and 1 KH6. More in one morning than any other
time. In fact, more in one morning than in many years!
Sinc
I enjoy low band dxing and contesting. And have an above average set up. All
that said, I get on when I want.or not. Last I checked ham radio is still a
hobby not an obligation. Re FT8: My only gripe is its location on 1840. PLENTY
of room above 1900 so it wouldn't interfere with other modes
Last night, Oct 2nd, worked VK6LW on 80 lp, then OK1CF and DL8LAS on 160 with
just 100W. All had good signals into NC. Andy, DL8LAS, was like a local.
Then this morning had noise to the sw so was listening to the NW. Heard JA1LZR
and JA5DQH early (around 1017). DQH best but could not hear my
Getting one of these radios (7000LDE Mk2) and want to get it set up for
contesting using N1MM+. Anyone in this group doing that? If so might you direct
me to any information you've found useful/ helpful in getting this combination
working? Or, off line, send me links if that works best/ is easie
Using a Comtek box I phase 2 shunt fed towers. Was tuned centered on 1830.
We have had a LOT of rain to the point the ground is saturated. For the
Stew it appears the resonant center point for the array has moved down to
around 1815.
I'm not certain what that is indicating. My guess is a need for
Taking the chance to show my ignorance :)
Here is my thinking. While adding cores along the length of a beverage may
make it appear electrically longer, how can that help its performance?
I'd think that the true mechanical length is what matters. Each inch/ foot/
meter of the wire is what "gather
Solid copy on them from my ss to their sr. But obvious they were having
great difficulty hearing. And also obvious some stations in pile were
getting frustrated.
I'm very happy the folks there are putting in the effort to get on 160 for
us! I think how frustrated THEY must be: travel all that way
I don't get it. WHY do you care? How does what the operators that use
them do affect you? How does it affect your ability to work a
station? What possible difference does it make in how you use this
hobby? If the operators beat you in a contest so what? YOU know what
you did and how you did it and
What do you give if you listen to the signal on a beverage? Does it
have a preamp and do you take that into account? A S9 on the transmit
antenna won't be S9 on a beverage. I think the idea of using a contest
to find out how you are getting out is fine but you don't, as others
have already pointed
I will also send my feedback to my ARRL section manager.
I see no issue with giving DXCC credit to stations that work DX via a
remote and/ or rented station. I see it being the same as someone that has
a QTH on both coasts. They can travel between them and work DX which counts
towards their DXCC.
I don't understand the issue. If the people operating the remote station
give their location as the location of that station then what's the
problem? Propagation doesn't care where the operator is sitting. Neither
does the ability of the operator to work a station.
That said, of course if the oper
After looking at their literature it appears to me that this is nothing
more then two beverages, one in each direction, with the "feed unit"
being, perhaps, a couple relays. I don't see the merit in using RG6 as
the beverage wire: its heavy, will need more supports, and compared to
other solut
Anyone have problems running a KLM antenna with the 4:! balun and
elements insulated from the boom (stock KLM config) on a shunt fed tower
for 160? I ask because I have a 6 element 10 on the top of my shunt fed
tower and now, after running a kw on 160, the antenna's swr has gone
over 2:1 where
I recently increased the height of the tower I shunt feed for 160 to
105'. Presently no antennas on the top only a bit of mast out the top.
The 2:1 BW is quite narrow so I decided to try to motorize one of the
caps in the omega match. First I used large air variables to get a
match. Then measur
In this past weekend's contest I ran into this several times. I'd tune
the band, find a "seemingly" empty spot, listen and then send a quick ?.
Quick so that if its in use I don't cause QRM for too long. Listen
again and if no response a quick QRL? If no response I'd start CQing.
Several tim
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