After reading all the comments about the end of the 160 season,
I wondered how many DX contacts I make in the "off season."
I'm not very consistent in my operating habits and although I
often "check the band" before sunrise, I'm not too good at staying
up late looking for DX to the east.
I'm a casual DXer and I have a lot of irons in the fire so I'll not
break any records. Plus, knowing that so many stations in the
northern hemisphere "roll up the radials," so to speak, I tend to
spend less operating time on 160 vs. other bands in those months.
BTW, I live in the semi-tropics 25 miles inland from the noisy
Gulf of Mexico. I have lots of excuses, don't I?
I went back through logs since 2004 and made these findings.
The numbers for March and September are almost the same as
for the other "in season" months, so I threw those out. The
numbers for April, May, June, July, and August are certainly less
than September through March, and nearly equal for each of those
five months over the years in question. Here's what I worked in
those "off season" months on 160.
VK,- 89 contacts
JA---22 contacts
XQ6---4 contacts
LU-----5 contacts
FK8---2 contacts
ZL-----6 contacts
DU9--2 contacts
DL----2 contacts
4O3--2 contacts
KL7--2 Contacts
KH6--3 contacts
HK----3 contacts
FM5--2 contacts
PY----2 contacts
CY9--2 contacts
PJ4---2 contacts
G------2 contacts
CX5---2 contacts
XE-----5 contacts
And one contact with each of the following:
VK9, F5, SV3, KP2, IK1, N8S, AH2, 5W5, EI2, FW0, NP4, 5W0,
LZ, LA, T77, HR, VI9, S51, E51, UT5, HA, C6, ET3, ZP6,
So, for 8 years, that's 183 DX contacts or an average of about 24
per year and a bit under 5 per "off season" month. That's not bad for
a not-ready-for-prime-time effort, but may not be exciting enough for
many.
I think that a more systematic approach to my operating habits
would help my numbers. Then if folks around the globe did a more
exuberant bit of spotting, it might get the attention of many who
gave up in March. Of course the development of leather eardrums
after 58 years on 160 is an asset I'm proud of.
Best DX, 73, Barry
_______________________________________________
UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
|