Ralph Matheny wrote:
> It seems to me that beacons on VHF, or even HF, may help spot openings
> but on 160 the best DX is worked during very short periods of enhancement
> to highly specific areas. Dozens of reports of such prop have shown
> up on this reflector this winter. There are also lots of signals on
> freqs adjacent to 160m which would seem to me to be adequate "beacons".
I'd go for that. There's no substitute for being up and awake at the
right time, many times.
However, the "receive" Skype site has another purpose: for those of us
without the area for "proper" antennas, it allows us to monitor our
signals over a greater distance and to see how things are working out as
we "cut and stick".
I'd have given a lot for such a facility about 45 years ago when several
of us were experimenting with 264 foot balloon-supported verticals (not
very vertical because of the effects of wind), inverted Ls and inverted
Vs. Back then, the wisdom that is now generally received wasn't known
to us, and we experimented a lot. It was pure accident that created
the antenna that worked for me.
Then, of course, after one season of immense fun, the firm posted me
overseas and I've never since been able to reproduce that fine inverted
L and its radials and counterpoises. Anno domini is taking its
inexorable toll, but I still harbour hopes of a location where space and
antenna height will not be constrained.
Keith
G3OIT
ex-DJ0MR, GW3OIT, G3OIT/W8
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