Gary, while I am primarily a contester, I have been surprised by the amount
of EU DX I can work on some non-contest nights. I agree with you; I have to
say my best nights on 160M are in fact non-contest nights.
Often my new 160M DXCC's have been coming not from contest nights
themselves, but from pericontest activity especially in the week before
CQWW.
Last week on a weeknight, I noted at the end of the 0300Z CWT that 160M
seemed to be pretty decent to Europe.
I called CQ on 160M that night, and proceeded to work 50 different European
stations in the next 3+ hours. Most of those stations, I had never worked
on 160M before. That's was surprising to me as mostly-a-contester, because
even on a good contest weekend over two nights I might work 50 EU stations.
I was amazed not only at the good conditions, but that there were 50
European guys up in the middle of their night! There were only a couple
other NA stations who CQ'ed in those 3 hours. There were several other NA
stations responding to EU CQ's in those hours.
I think fundamentally... we need to get on 160M and CQ more outside of
contests!!!
In a different thread, folks talk about wanting E-mails when 160M
conditions are good. For me, a very valuable tool is to turn on the radio,
call CQ, and look at my reverse beacon reports in EU.
Tim N3QE
On Sun, Jan 3, 2016 at 4:40 PM, Gary Smith <Gary@ka1j.com> wrote:
> For me, unless I use the amp, I get more DX on quiet nights than
> during a contest on 160. The more powerful stations always trump me
> when it comes to DX but while I'd rather make the contest DX Q, it's
> part of the game I chose to play, I could turn on the amp and I know
> if I hear them, I can work them.
>
> With that said, I get far more enjoyment out of working so many
> people on 160 during a contest than I do prowling the band, looking
> for a weak signal from a DXCC entity I haven't worked before.
>
> And thinking about it while I type this, I don't believe I have
> worked a DXCC ATNO or even a needed 160M ATNO during a contest in the
> last 5-6 years now. To that end, I'm usually listening to 160 most
> every night and I haven't worked a non-DXPedetion new one on 160 in
> maybe, the last 3 years.
>
> In summation; I agree with Tree's assessment. To me, for the very few
> nights per year with a contest on and considering the tremendous
> activity they generate; the rest of the year is not impacted by them
> and the amount of operators found on 160 on any given non-contest
> night, is minuscule in comparison.
>
> I don't see Contesting interfering with my contacts in the least, it
> only increases my log numbers... :D
>
> 73 & HNY,
>
> Gary
> KA1J
>
>
> > Nothing beats a bit of context and perspective!!!!
> >
> > Plus, I love the increased DX activity a contest brings.
> >
> > Bob AA6VB
>
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