George,
Yes. I fully agree that many ops don’t understand that RBN is NOT to be relied
on.
I operate 3 RBN skimmers, each on a different RX antenna, and auto switched for
the RX antennas to follow the darkness DX path.
2 of these are Broadside phased Beverage pairs. My QTH is a quiet rural
location.
However, the skimmer will only detect a very SMALL FRACTION of what I can hear
with my ears.
If I look at my CW skimmer, often I can “see” the EU DX CQing, but the skimmer
will not always decode it.
Many times I can work lots of EU, but never get a RBN skimmer decode from EU.
BUT, the opposite is also true. If I am getting EU RBN decodes, then the band
is probably in very good shape.
Either way, as George said, do NOT rely on RBN to determine if the band is open
or not.
Just keep calling CQ.
BTW…FT-8 will decode “deep into the noise” however, with the common very fast
QSB on 160m, a big reason FT-8 seems to work better is the PC sends EVERY 15
seconds, for as long as the op lets the PC go.
Sometimes on CW, the QSB can be so fast, the QSO needs to be completed within
30 seconds, or the DX has faded into oblivion under the noise.
(That’s why we usually don’t have time on 160m CW for exchanging more than a
signal report…..quickly!!)
That’s also why on CW we need to keep CQing into what seems like a dead band.
The difference on FT-8, is the PC does the CQing for you. Yeah…that IS easier!
Steve, ve6wz
> Noise is up.
> 80 is becoming the new 160!
>
> Also, it is noise that is driving a lot of ops onto FT8.
>
> Another contributor is RBN! While RBN is great tool, most RBN RX antennas are
> poor on 160. Those that rely on a quick scan of RBN for 160 meter activity
> will incorrectly assume that the band is dead.
>
> In the past 10 years noise has gone up by something like 10 dB in many areas.
> What worked 10 years ago, no longer works today. We need to learn to live
> with it. Invest in better RX antennas and other noise reduction techniques.
> (Petition the FCC to increase the power limit by 10 dB :-)
>
> And keep calling CQ!
>
> 73,
>
> George,
>
> AA7JV
>
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