Interesting conditions here last night. I heard a whole lot of DX that simply could not hear me. I'm running QRP and don't expect to work everything I hear but one thing for sure, the overall conditions were really nice. It was fun to take a break and listen to EU working other EU & SA and hear both ends of the QSO on 160.
Not sure how good the conditions were for everyone though, Herb & I worked but he was one of the very few Caribbean stations I was able to get a Q with. OTOH, I worked several California stations as well as OR & WA so the band was selectively open. An interesting experience is to hear stations who have one of the loudest signals but are unable to hear me. You have to figure their Rx must be difficult, either that or they are running power beyond their ability to hear. I encountered that quite a bit and again, running QRP, often my signal not going to be heard but when someone has such high signal levels here and can't hear me at all, they might want to cut back on their power or, get better a better Rx ability. Maybe their Rx antennas were pointed in another direction? Absolutely not pointing a finger, I just saw that happen so very often. I know if I were running more power, I'd make a whole lot more Qs. Conversely, if they heard better, they would have made a lot more Qs. I'd really like to have the chance to work a 160 at an excellent location with and excellent Tx/Rx set of antennas. Wires in not tall trees are the best I can do and I have so much fun with them. However, it would be nice to experience competition with everything stacked in my favor. I'm sure we all feel that way. Its been years since I was at a super station and I'm ready for that experience again; that was back in 1986 and so long ago that they had just started running CT by K1EA which was first released the year before. Another have at it tonight so maybe I'll pick up some of those stations I couldn't break last night? 73 & good luck, Gary KA1J > Good luck to all! > > 73, > > Gary > KA1J > _________________ > Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband > _________________ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband