I joined the group yesterday so by way of introduction here is my
background
I was first licensed in 1961. I remember my first contact on 160M
vividly, homebrew 6AQ5/807 running about 50 watts and a BC348...I still
have the receiver but not the home brew transmitter. I had attached
about 20 feet of wire to the metal flashing that runs around the edge of
the house and I made a contact with another station in Miami (from
Tampa) that evening on CW..I still get goose bumps thinking about the
elation I felt . My other memorable 160M contact was also from Florida,
with a 9V1 on a text book gray line path my sunset his sunrise. 750
watts and 60' inverted L. I was always a CW addict, seldom SSB. And
hours of sorting beeps out of the noise on 160M has likely one of the
main causes of more than few db of hearing loss after just plain being
and "old fart" at 72
I have been continuously licensed since the 1961 ( WN4CDN, WA4CDN,
WD0AQD, N0DH , N7EX, K9NX and finally NR1DX..)Except for brief
interludes during moves I had been on the air continuously up until
2005. The rigors of caring for a terminally ill XYL, early retirement
brought on by the crash in 2008 and a couple of moves (back) to Florida
found me unable to get back on the air except for a brief period in 2009
until this year .
I have recently built my retirement dream station; a TS990, KPA1500 Amp
, 40' Tower with a Stepp-IR 3E (for20-6) , Tree mounted Inverted V for
30/40 at 60' , Inverted L on 80 and a 60' high "T" on 160, The later
two with their own (non resonant ..alah k5IU) 90' elevated radials. I
live on a secluded, wooded 1.5 acres and the shack is a stand alone
building apart from the main house which allows me to scream at the DX
at 1AM if need be without waking up the new XYL and the dog.
My corporate life had me moving all over the USA from Fl to WA and AZ to
NH plus several stints in between in TX, MO , IA, Wi , PA and MN. I have
over 270 countries on 160 but never felt really right about claiming
that as it is much easier to work JA from Spokane and Europe from New
Hampshire and SA from Florida. I am not much of a paper award collector
I know I worked those countries but I still enjoy counting band
countries worked, The dream station has worked 208 DXCC countries, 972
"band" countries but only 14 so far on 160. (7 on CW and 7 on FT8). All
since Feb15th of this year so yeah I am avid DX'r
My love is wire antennas, I model using EZENEC and MMANAN-GAL. I will be
putting up receiving antennas hopefully between now and the end of
September , Have room for a couple of 300-350' beverages but mostly E-W
favored, so will considering steerable loops .
If you live in the greater Tampa, FL area, would love to get together
and tell stories about antennas and lies about the DX we worked over lunch
Dave
NR1DX
manuals@artekmanuals.com
On 8/3/2019 11:34 AM, W0MU Mike Fatchett wrote:
Of the last 1000 spots downloaded from DX Summit just over 200 of
them at on FT8. Which means that nearly 800 spots were NOT FT8
meaning those were CW or SSB spots. Not all of the spots are actually
spots as many spots are just people venting and using the system as
their message system.
Are we really not utilizing our bands?
You decide.
W0MU
_________________
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband
Reflector
--
Dave
Manuals@ArtekManuals.com
www.ArtekManuals.com
---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus
_________________
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
|