If I recall the story on GKK, which ran in either QST or CQ,
a few years back, not only was his philosophy "be there when
they're there"...it extended to "they'll always be on 20".
As a result his antenna system consisted of a single 4 element 20m
monobander, and it was at a "reasonable" height for a suburban
location...i.e. more like 60' than 100'.
The other side of this coin...from k4xs regarding stacks
is interesting. In a large contest station, with stacks
available, it's interesting to hear EU come through via
equatorial backscatter 1-2 hours before the dawn direct
path opens to the east coast. (10 or 15m)
It's harder to WORK them, though, particularly in CQ,
because they're working each other, or aren't looking
to the SW, where the backscatter volume is.
The amusing thing for me is the volume of weak signals
coming out of EU. In the last ARRL phone, there seemed
like an endless supply of 5 watters to test your ears.
And there were a lot of 100 watters weaker than the 5 watters.
At one point, I actually DID hear a 5 watt station that was louder
than one indicating KW for power. I assume that speaks to poor antennas.
n2ea
jimjarvis@ieee.org
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Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
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