While antennas are a very important factor in pileup performance,
there are other very significant parameters as well, including
localized propagation enhancements, terrain, and TIMING.
One of my favorite QRP victories was in an SSB DX contest on
TEN meters. HZ1AB was holding forth with an enormous pileup.
I decided "what the heck" and dumped my call in with all of 5 Watts
output. HE CAME RIGHT BACK through the roaring heard!
Anything is possible with QRP under peak conditions. And
when the peak goes away, QRPers are the FIRST to know!
To test antennas and locations, it is best to go back and forth
rapidly, several times. Even better if continuous carriers are
used and QSB variations are noted (max and min signal for both).
Accurate antenna measurements can only be made over line of
sight test range with identical contitions for each antenna. This
is NOT easy to do.
de Tom N4KG
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