Mike VE9AA says:
As I told Bob privately, and I think most would agree, that QSB, compass
direction of directional antennas or phasing/switching, Ionospheric
polarization rotation can have a large effect on momentary peaks or data
points on the RBN. (calibrated or not). The Ionosphere is not a perfect
mirror. Location also plays a role. Were P3F and P33W next door
neighbours? No. So, buildings, hills, ground conductivity, water, whatever,
will all affect their signals to a far off location in a different manner at
different times. Maybe Bob was smart enough to catch a short opening in
some direction or some band that the operator of P33W did not?
One MUST look at the larger picture. The trends over 24 hours. TRENDS !
Would you believe that in EU, I have seen instances of one or two data
points here and there where I have actually been louder in EU than the Mega
Station's on PEI (VY2) on most of the bands (OK, not on 160m), but on most
other bands, every once in a while I might see a short peak where I am
louder. It's true. Now, those guys have huge steerable arrays, so were
they beaming elsewhere? Maybe. However in DX contests, most times of the
day, they were probably focused on EU and I got lucky on a polarization
shift, QSB peak (or dip on their end) and whatever RBN radio in EU heard me
a little louder for xx period of time. Then again, were they looking for a
LongPath opening to Asia? Maybe.
It doesn't mean I was running a 40kW amplifier for 10 minutes. Trends.
If I was just as loud, say, as my neighbour down the road for the entire
contest (LP vs. HP), it may STILL not indicate any nefarious behaviour on my
part. It just may mean my QTH is higher, I have better feedlines, or better
antennas. If my score was higher, it might mean I was the better op.
N5AW is a good example. Marv runs LP but has a huge antenna farm and is
nearly almost always as loud as many of the HP guys in Texas. Although I
have not done an RBN comparison, I would bet that if I did, his RBN trends
would match many of the normal "tribander and 2 inverted vee" neighbours
running higher power in Texas.
The RDXC has everyone working everyone, so on the higher bands at least, it
can not be known with certainty where someone was beaming. On the low bands,
if either of these P3 stations has directional antennas, then little
confidence in the data can be drawn for a 10 minute segment here and there.
You need to look at the big picture. Trends.
On LF & HF there are polarization shifts, spotlights or QSB peaks and nulls
where one guy will be louder to a certain area than another for a small
period of time. (some of these much larger than a ~12dB amplifier would
afford you)
VE9CB and myself are only 20kms or less apart and run similar power and
antennas on 160m when DX-ing, yet some months ago when we were comparing
notes live in real time trying to work a certain southern Asian DX
station,(not during a contest) there were times I had him 559 and Dave did
not hear him at all. (and vice versa)
(I don't have a clue what either P3 stn runs for antennas)---but if they are
comparable I would say if P3F was stronger than P33W for the entire contest
to all points on the compass, then yes, perhaps Bob was running his amp. If
there are momentary peaks and nulls, you can't derive anything meaningful
from that, especially since RDXC has everyone working everyone. Any
directional antennas could be aimed "elsewhere". I compared a 20m 4-Square
(vertical) to a 3-el Yagi (horizontal) here last week and it was a toss up
which was better. When one was up, the other was down. Trends.
I don't understand where this reclassification of Bob from LP to HP comes
from, but it sure would be interesting to know. Is it sour grapes from the
LZ operator of P33W that w/e that Bob nearly matched his score using LP that
he did with HP? (and thus Harry's station "looked bad"). Harry as station
owner would seem to have a conflict of interest.
Maybe not proper for public consumption, but I would think it would be
prudent for Bob /5B4AGN to at least be made aware of his accuser. Would
seem fair to know where this all stemmed from.
dit dit
Mike VE9AA
Mike, Coreen & Corey
Keswick Ridge, NB
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