I was on around 0300 UT. I found condx to be pretty good. There was
significant lightning QRN which made copy difficult on weak stations. I
lost a DL2 or DK2 station for that reason. I never did get the full
call before he went away. I worked DL8LAS with my TX turned down to 5
watts QRP. He was peaking over S9! I could not stay awake and quit
before EU sunrise. I tried calling D2EB in Angola at his sunrise, but
could not get his attention. Many EU stations were also calling with not
much luck. D2EB was only good copy at his sunrise.
I have been fighting a problem with my South beverage. For some reason
it is picking up lots of signals even when the coax is disconnected at
the far end at the transformer. I have ferrite coax chokes and ground
rods at each end, and it used to be fine, but now is all messed up. I
checked the feedline for VSWR, and it looks terrible. I think a rodent
has eaten it and common mode noise is entering it there. I will have to
wait for the snow and ice to melt. That makes feedline #2 that has been
destroyed this winter. I can still hear the VP8 dxpedition on it, but
I think the pattern is messed up.
Dave K1WHS
On 3/5/2020 4:05 PM, daraymond@iowatelecom.net wrote:
I was QRV for a short time last night and started CQing around 0340z
and worked seven EU stations in about 30 minutes. Conditions were
average it seemed. With warmer atmospheric temps we're starting to
see the usual springtime QRN here in the Midwest. It's not severe yet
but getting underway. With lightning season approaching I will be
decommissioning some of the 160m antenna systems after the VU4
op. 73. . . Dave, W0FLS
-----Original Message----- From: Roger Kennedy
Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2020 6:56 AM
To: topband@contesting.com
Subject: Topband: No NA Activity
Well I came on for a few hours last night . . .
Conditions were good, as my RBN reports with NA sites were between 20
and 35
dB over the noise.
But I only worked a handful of NA stations ! (there were several other
European and Russian stations on too)
It's a real shame there's so little CW activity . . . this Season will be
over soon !
Roger G3YRO
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