Bob Thanks for sharing your experience. I had high hopes for a great season as I spent a great deal of time erecting a long anticipated antenna system. (New QTH, retirement mode)
Countless winter days spent adjusting, laying radials and taking measurements, only to find so little activity to get nightly reports as a way to check my progress, that makes one question the overall Return-on-investment. I know there are plenty of distractions and perhaps I ask for too much, but it sure would nice to have more activity and certainly better conditions (which stimulates activity naturally). I hear the same complaint about 80 m too. I do enjoy saying hello to the same 5 DX stations most nights, just hope they will stay patient with me! So here’s to looking for that redemption with a wild band opening! Regards, Mark, K1RX > On Feb 14, 2019, at 4:00 PM, W7RH <midnigh...@cox.net> wrote: > > Roger and group, > > It's not your imagination, activity on CW has been very low. Add to that > propagation has been absolutely horrid all season from a left coast > perspective. While some northern folks have been able to get a hop under the > aurora curtain it just is not possible from my Arizona location. I can > appreciate the joy of the eastern stations working EU. Out west it's our > equivalent of working the east coast. 4000 km vs. 8000 km. > > The last two openings that were very good were in mid and late December. > Since that time I have had only 4 EU QSOs. Meanwhile only a _few JA,UA0 and > HL5IVL_ have been active. XX9D has been on in the morning with great SR > signal but due to location and antenna restrictions his noise level is not > penetrable. The trans-equatorial path has been quite good here. VK3IO solid > S9 and V84SAA S9 both near sunrise this morning. They all have been worked > leaving nothing else to do. There are only limited number of stations active > the western pacific and all of those are 15,000 km away! > > I have joined the group of K7ZV, W0FLS, AA0RS, N7XM and K0RF calling CQ with > no response inside JA window morning after morning. Even propagation to JA > has been spotty, with little activity. Add to that I've worked one new entity > this winter. Guess what? QSL direct only. The unmarked envelope with card and > green stamps was pilfered in the mail. > > As always I'll be a Top Band die hard as well. I retired in February 2017 and > listen almost everyday at Sun rise and Sunset. Changing the active aurora is > beyond my powers no matter how much effort in antenna system or even power > for the matter. > > CU all on top band. The ARRL DX CW contest is really the last opportunity > from out west. By and large the worst top band season I've seen in a long > time.... > > 73 > > Bob, W7RH > > Bob, W7RH > > > > -- > W7RH DM35os > > "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our > humanity." - Albert Einstein > > _________________ > Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _________________ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector