Jim,
W1GKK's QTH was in an old house in the city,
surrounded by very close-in tall mountains!
DX savvy and operating skill, not antennas, were
big factor's in George's success. Those who were active
in that era will recall big antennas were not as common
as today. A monobander and a KW placed him well
in the upper tier of DXers, despite his disadvantaged QTH.
If you heard W1GKK in a pileup during a Don Miller
or Gus Browning DXpedition; he got through right away
while most of the other big DXers (many with tribanders
or less) continued to bray away. George has one of the
big signals of the era. Not as big as W6AM or K2GL,
but one of the big signals for sure.
George's 20 meter only strategy was also common
among DXers in that era.
73!
Frank
W3LPL
donovanf@erols.com
----- Original Message -----
From: Jim Jarvis <jimjarvis@comcast.net>
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 12, 2005 4:05 AM
Subject: [TowerTalk] w1gkk & big arrays
>
> 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
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>
> _______________________________________________
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_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather
Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
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