(continued from Part 2, posted by g3xtt@compuserve.com):
>From Craig NX1G (ex-N1ACH): It has been quite a while since I read your
Newsletter. Thank you so much for posting it on the Reflector. You should
see the size of the smile I have! ;-) I am not as active as I used to be.
Between kids, trying to run Radio Bookstore and a few other things I do,
there just is not much time for hamming. I have honestly even lost count of
my DXCC totals. I have cards that need to be mailed but am really
ambivalent about mailing them. After I crossed the 200 threshold, who cares
how high I can "pee up the tree?"
The info. on W1BB is much appreciated. Like many of us, I corresponded with
Stew regularly and always anxiously awaited mailing of each news letter.
Other than that, not much to report. Am going to try to remote my receive
antennas this summer to get them out of the transmit antenna near field.
The current thread on the 160m Reflector indicates this may be a good idea.
Best to you both. 73 Craig NX1G
>From Bob, 4S7RPG/G3REP: I have had a stay of execution, so to speak, with
the project running late, so I am here until August 1996 at least (at the
time of writing, Bob is still active from 4S7 - ed.). So, with the
co-operation of 4S7VK (Victor) letting me use his spare room and antenna I
have been able to be active during most weekends January to March, but have
only occasionally found conditions good enough to support an opening. The
hit rate has been about one night in five, which is not very encouraging,
but when the band does open it is good. The best times for openings have
been between 2000z and 2300z, with some openings lasting for up to 90
minutes.
Whilst I do get a rise in signal strengths at my sunrise 0015-0045z I also
get a significant rise in noise level as well at this time, whereas the
openings around 2000 to 2300z are usually with a quiet band with the
absolute minimum of noise. Hence the problem of propagation is also one of
weather conditions within the area of the first hop. Obviously in this
instance the directivity of a Beverage antenna would be useful, but these
need space!
The best openings (when I was around) were 25 Nov. 95, 23 Feb. 96 (21 EU
stations worked), 15 Mar 96 (20 EUs worked). I understand on 15 March I was
heard by VE1ZZ around 2100z and later that night just on sunrise (16th) I
copied him for a solid 45 minutes calling me on sked but he could not hear
me - such is life!
I would take VK6HD's comments on the CQ160m test further and say it is a
total waste of time for Asian stations. EU stations cannot hear the weaker
DX through the wall of QRM and JA's have the same trouble. I have found
this on two tests from here, and also one from A45XF. In other words, if
you are going to burn the midnight oil, then any other weekend (non
contest) is likely to be more productive (mind you, that theory applies to
the other bands as well!). Once upon a time the CQ 160 weekend was the one
weekend people made an effort to be on, but it is now the one to avoid!
Life out here is not all it may seem. Daytime temperatures are 33C with
humidity 80-85%. On top of this we have been getting daytime power cuts for
3 hours a day for the last 7 weeks as the water level in the reservoirs is
low and the hydro systems have not got enough water to keep them going
until the monsoons are expected in late May! The hydro system provides 83%
of the total power, so when the monsoons miss a beat, as they did last
November, the power system hiccups a bit!
Best regards, RE Parkes, 4S7RPG/G3REP
e-mail reparkes@iee.org.uk
>From Steve VK6VZ/G3ZZD: Happy New Year for 1997! I thought it was time to
drop you a line for the next issue of Topband News. I didn't receive the
usual mid-year issue, so I guess yourself and Roger were too heavily taken
up by other matters. No worries, though - you guys do a great job and your
readers 'down under' certainly appreciate your efforts!
Topband News is unique in my experience and whenever it comes out is OK!
Coming down to brass tacks, I found the 160m conditions during 1996
considerably poorer than the previous year, with relatively few good length
openings with high signal levels to Europe and, particularly, North
America. 26 new countries were worked in 1996, compared with 56 in 1995
(the first year of serious 160m operation at VK6VZ).
One increasingly common habit among the large numbers of 160m DXers who
wish to work Japan during the northern hemisphere winter is to listen in
the JA window without also checking their own frequency. For example, I
had to endure listening to an A45 calling CQ JA and coming through at 579
for almost 30 minutes on 7/12/96 - apparently without a single reply and
checking his own frequency once!
Leastways, I assume the A45 wasn't listening on his frequency - he
certainly didn't hear me calling him! Perhaps the station concerned
doesn't need VK6, but there were several rare African stations active on
the band that day - and several other European/Asian 160m DXers also
calling CQ JA apparently without checking their own frequency!!
All those stations will never know what they missed!
On the DX operation front, I would also like to make a plea to the 'big
gun' 160m DXers. If conditions are good, you have already worked a
particular DX station once during the year and there is a large pile-up
chasing him/her, why not give the 'little pistols' a go? Having QSOed with
an SM who was running 40W to a 40m delta loop, I reckon most European
stations with a 'lump of wire' can be worked from here - if given a chance
by the larger/more experienced stations!
Finally, I would like say a big thank you to Wil, DJ7AA, for his efforts on
several occasions in asking European stations to stand-by and give me a
shot at some choice European/African DX. VK6 is an awful long way from
most places, particularly on 160m, and we need all the help we can get down
here!
After two years of operation on the band, I find a lot of my original ideas
about how the band works (and how the text books say it does), particularly
at sunrise/sunset, to be somewhat wrong. Mike, VK6HD, with his huge
experience on 160m, has been particularly helpful in helping me to 'see the
light'.
First and foremost, the key to good long distance 'grey-line propagation
seems to be a sudden increase in solar activity, around 12 - 24 hours
previously. Secondly, the propagation appears to take the form of a kind
of ducting, possibly of the 'chordal hop' type, with signals being trapped
between ionospheric layers and travelling around the globe.
Both Mike and myself use antennas that are principally high angle radiators
(VK6HD inverted -vee half wave dipole at 70', VK6VZ inverted-U half wave
doublet at 45'). These mainly horizontally polarised antennas seem best
suited to take advantage of the ducting phenomenon - my experiments with a
variety of top loaded vertical antennas have generally given markedly
inferior results to the dipole.
However, high angle radiators are not necessarily the answer at all times
and in all environments. The gravelly dry clay low-conductive soils of the
Perth Hills make it hard to get the good earth system and ground
reflections necessary for vertical antennas to work well. Also, I live in
a wooded valley - hardly the best environment for a vertical!
If I lived close to the sea, or in a salt water marsh, I would put up a
vertical like a shot!
One interesting effect that makes me think that signal ionospheric ducting
is taking place on sunset/sunrise is the different propagation sometimes
experienced by VK6HD and myself. Although we are less than 30 miles apart,
we frequently hear different signals on the band/signals at different
signal levels, compared to each other.
On one occasion, prior to sunrise, an LZ was totally inaudible here, whilst
Mike was copying him at 569. About 5 minutes later I could copy the
station at a similar strength. On another day, I worked D68DV, when he had
become inaudible to Mike - who generally does better in this direction than
me.
If we lived a couple of hundred miles apart, these events would be
explicable because of different sunrise times. However, with the
proximity, our sunrise times are virtually identical.
As far as the solar activity side of things is concerned, I monitor WWVH on
15MHz and as soon as the solar flux jumps, head straight for 160 on the
following sunrise/sunset - which seems to work like a charm, with good DX
conditions virtually guaranteed. Mike, who has operated through several
solar cycles on topband, believes conditions are generally better in the
years of relatively high solar activity, rather than in the low ones.
I throw in these observations in the hope they might help other operators
who have struggled to work 160m DX, or to make vertical antennas work. For
those without much space, my inverted-U doublet, fed with open wire,
occupies a space only slightly larger than an 80m dipole!
What follows is a summary of the 160m DX heard/worked at VK6VZ during the
last 12 months. Note that 'heard-but-not-worked stations' are in italics
1/1/96 DF0KW, OZ1AXG, G3ZEM, G3NKC, SM6MCW, DK6AS, SM5BFJ
2/1/96 I3VHO, DK6FD
5/1/96 DJ7AA, YT1BB
6/1/96 SM6CPY, OH8LAE, F6BKP
8/1/96 ZA1AJ plus 8 Europeans
9/1/96 G3KEV, SP2FAX
10/1/96 G3KEV, G4DBN, G3RBP
11/1/96 VE1ZZ (LP), SV8ZS, OK2ZZ, OE5NNN, OM5ZW
12/1/96 6 Europeans
14/1/96 V85HG, 5X4F plus 5 Europeans
17/1/96 9A2TW plus 10 other Europeans
18/1/96 Fantastic conditions - VE1ZZ (LP) plus 13 Europeans
19/1/96 OM3TQM, SM5BFJ, OH2BO, SM6CVX
23/1/96 G3s FPQ, SED, PQA
26/1/96 T93M
27/1/96 CQ WW 160 Contest - VP9AD, KH6CC, KL7Y, XE2/WA7UQV, OK1DX/MM,
UA0ZDA/MM, AB4RU (GA), N5IA (NM), YL3IZ/MM, OY9JD, XV7SW, plus various W6s
28/1/95 7 Europeans
3/2/96 UA2FF
4/2/96 SM6CPY, VE1ZZ (LP), F5IN, GW4VEZ
8/2/96 6 Europeans
11/2/96 VK9XY
12/2/96 5 Europeans
14/2/96 7 Europeans
15/2/96 OH3LYG (SSB and CW), OH1XX, G3KEV
16/2/96 4S7RPG, DL2DXA, VE1ZZ (LP)
17/2/96 VK9CR
22/2/96 9M8FC, OH8SR, DL0WH
27/2/96 DL0WH, HA8BE, OE6MKG
1/3/96 EA3VY (not sure if got my call correct!)
7/3/96 C56CW
9/3/96 VE1ZZ (LP), ZS4TX
19/3/96 SM6CCO, DJ9LJ
20/3/96 N0DH, KE7X (MT), W7LR (MT), plus 4 Europeans
24/3/96 9V1XQ
07/4/96 HA8BE
20/4/96 UX3HX
4/5/96 ZL2JR (SSB), AJ6T
21/6/96 RSGB 160m Test - SM5BFJ, GM3POI
23/6/96 LA9VDA, SM6BFG
19/7/96 ZK1AAU
22/7/96 NH8/N8CC
28/7/96 OK1DX/MM (SSB), G3PQA, G3LNS
1/8/96 SM6CPY, UA0ZAZ, N0DH (NV), ZK2PN, VE3IY/7
5/8/96 YL2IP
6/8/96 OH3YI
8/8/96 OH3YI
10/8/96 ZS5LB, G4DBN
13/8/96 OH3YE, NW6N, K6NA
14/8/96 ON4AEK, GI3OQR, G3SED, DJ7AA
24/8/96 KL7Y, 3D2PN, N6TR/7 (OR), plus various W6/7
25/8/96 GI3OQR
27/8/96 G3PQA
29/8/96 ZS6UT, D68DV
30/8/96 OH3YI
31/8/96 KL7H/W6, W6PBI
1/9/96 AL7MX, K4SXT, K9JF/7, W7AM, VE7BS, SM5EDX, SM6BFJ, DF0KW
6/9/96 VE1ZZ (LP)
8/9/96 EU6AF
22/9/96 Good opening into USA, including K5GKC, AA5ZQ, N5FY (TX), N0BG
(MN), KB5UL (NM), EA3JE (SSB), DJ7AA, DJ9LJ
23/9/96 VE1ZZ (LP)
30/9/96 SM3BDZ, VE1ZZ (LP)
1/10/96 EA3JE (could not get my call)
3/10/96 UA9FMZ, SM3BDZ
5/10/96 VE1ZZ (LP)
8/10/96 JY9QJ
9/10/96 ZB2RK
10/10/96 LZ2CJ
18/10/96 VE1ZZ (LP), RA3AUU, G3LNS, DL5YY
21/10/96 T88T
23/10/96 C91CO
24/10/96 C91CO (!)
1/11/96 SM6BGG, F5LGE, HA8BE, HA0DU
02/11/96 UT0MY, LA0CX
3/11/96 8 Europeans
4/11/96 SV9/DJ4TR
6/11/96 LZ2CJ
8/11/96 - Good conditions - 15 Europeans
9/11/96 4K5CW, HB9BLQ, SP9KRT, SV8ZS, DK5PR
19/11/96 XZ1N
20/11/96 - Good conditions - 7 Europeans
21/11/96 JY8YB
22/11/96 7Z5OO
29/11/96 7 Europeans
30/11/96 4K8F, 4K5CW
6/12/96 G3PQA
7/12/96 Fantastic conditions - A45ZN, 9U5CW and TK5NN heard
8/12/96 VQ9QM
9/12/96 LZ1WR, 9M2AX, RX9JX, UA9CLB, RW3PK, RK3PR
10/12/96 EK6GC, plus 5 Europeans
11/12/96 EU1TT
14/12/96 9 Europeans
15/12/96 9 Europeans
17/1296 I2BBJ, W8JI (OH)
20/12/96 SM4HCM
27/12/96 YB1AQS
2812/96 BV4ME
29/12/96 V63KZ, KH2D
30/12/96 W1ZC (NH), K6SS, W1MK, TO0R
Wishing you and Roger all the best for 1997 and lots of good DX.
Kind regards, Steve Ireland, VK6VZ
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