I too must make remarks. Topband WAS during this contest would have been
very hard from here--I felt the band was rather flat and the general noise
level was high.
As to "how" easy 160 WAS can be, it's like anything else. With a big
system and good location, yep, it's easy. With a small setup, especially
in an in-town environment, it is a chore. I was able to do it with 100W,
70 foot top loaded vert, small ground system, and simple Rx antennas--but
I had to work BOTH the ARRL and CQ contests to get all 50 in the bag.
That's probably the "easy" way. Conditions in the two weekends will
probably give one a shot at all 50, but in one or the other, I don't call
it "easy".
The difference in conditions observed between US areas is a fascinating
aspect. For example, I can't imagine how a station as good as W2GD could
not work several that were easy here in SE Ohio. How a fellow in the
southwest could work JT1 this past weekend seems impossible. But that's
160 meters!!
Ralph Matheny
K8RYU
207 Gibbons Place
Marietta Ohio 45750
"Professionals built the Titanic, amateurs built the Ark"
_______________________________________________
Topband mailing list
Topband@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/topband
|