I was testing my station set ups in the SSB WPX contest and ran into a
potential problem on 40 SSB. This was due to split band operation
required for the Dx to work USA and the unusual band conditions that made
the signals come in from several directions (almost no front to back and
broad signal path). I checked during the day on stations 1000 miles away
and the pattern was still sharp and the beam showed 10 to 15 DB Front to
back. I find that this condition always seems to occur when a magnetic
storm is brewing.
The DX stations were having a hard time deciding who was working who! I
usually stuck in the call of the station first so to cut down any confusion
but two stations who I had not worked said Worked B4 one of whom was D44TD.
If I had been serious this could have been points taken off at both ends for
NIL which usually means penalties. Besides stepping on any number of
existing QSOs (domestic USA) this is a problem with split operation.
I also noted that the was some attempts at jamming by the run over domestic
stations (such as putting SSTV signals on a Dx listening frequency). This
was mostly a waste of time as Contesters usually had much stronger signals
than the domestic rag chewers but I wonder if the FCC telephones were
ringing with interference reports. The other problem I noted was the vast
number of Dx stations below 7040. Several were as low as 7025 working the
SSB contest. This is one time when Digital and CW are QRMed out between
7045 and 7100. Boy the 2003 WRC Conference can't come fast enough if we can
get a 300 khz world wide ham band.
73 Dave K4JRB
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