Tim, You sure called it spot on, amazing signals from Europe prior to my sunset near Indianapolis. Thanks for the heads up. 73, Don wd8dsb _________________ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting
Hi Lloyd and gang, Because of the ground dependency issue, I really like pennants and flags which have no electrical connection to ground requirement. Modeling shows that pennants and flags are influ
Hi George, I thought conditions last night (Saturday night) were very good all night long on 160 meters, with signals from Europe pretty easy copy near Indianapolis at least 45 minutes before sunset.
Hi Tim, T31EU was pretty strong all morning long at my QTH near Indianapolis between 0630 and 1030 UTC during the times they were running CW (averaging a solid 6 dB over my noise floor). Lots of ligh
Hi Herb, I totally agree with Jim (KR9U), wind your own since you said you have 73 material binocular cores. For my pennants and other low band RX antennas I use BN73-202 binocular cores. I would pro
Hi Jim, Let me take a crack at this based on some online reading I just did, and the examples I found were based on treating the antenna as a transmission line (W8JI as well as others treat it this w
Had a similar problem at Field Day a few years ago with WJR (50,000 watt station). Noticed the problem was not present when antenna tuner was inline. Many modern rigs have broadband front ends which
Hi Bruce and gang, I don't think we should think of DXCC as a competition, but rather personal goals since everyone's station is totally different including location. Nevertheless I too believe FT8 s
I use a 68 foot base loaded vertical wire and what I notice is a significant downward shift in the resonant frequency during the summer (like 40 kHz) when leaves are touching my vertical, and when th
Hi Doug, At the very beginning of the recording you can hear part of a character then "DX K" then when you hear the first UT7NY you can hear a "CQ" underneath UT7NY and then "DX K". Then after the se
160 meters was fantastic overnight (Sunday night/Monday morning) from the Midwest USA into Europe. Signals peaking 20 to 35 db over my noise floor from big stations that normally run 6 to 12 db over
Receiving strong carrier on 1828.5 KHz that sounds like sky wave. Its currently peaking 30 db over my noise floor at 6:40pm EST (2340 UTC), and it has an approximate heading of 55 degrees from the In
Thanks guys. It just stopped at 6:57 pm EST. Don (wd8dsb) _________________ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Hi Rick, I use a 68 foot base loaded vertical on 160 meters, but I also use 3 different pennant RX antennas. Unless it's ground wave, my 160 meter TX vertical is often deaf for stations in adjacent s
Hi Rick, One more comment. I believe AM broadcast stations try to avoid phase cancellation between skywave and ground wave, and therefore they try and avoid antennas that have a high angle lobe. I'm
Hi Rick, My first example is why NVIS can be useful. I often can't hear stations 150 miles away on 160 meters using my TX vertical, but they are booming in on my pennant that has a much better respon
Wow, just about fell out of my chair with Joy when I heard Luis (IV3PRK) calling North American stations on 160 meters CW this morning. Luis had a very nice signal, and hope we continue to hear him o
For grins and giggles I ordered 10 2N5109 parts on E-bay (from Asia). Also ordered new ones from Mouser which I just received today, and also had one that I purchased a long time ago from Mouser (all
Hi Dave, Im hearing bursts of distorted audio right now on 1830.0 KHZ (it comes and goes). Bursts peak about 10db over my noise floor. Im hearing it on my pennant pointing 40 degrees from near Indian