Happy New Year to all on the reflector! The Stew Perry 2003 offered little in the way of good DX conditions, an enormous amount of S9+ QRN and a startling insight into antenna performance in VK6. The
G'day Earl Looks like Murphy and high winds were a big factor in the SP. After I went QRT at VK6VZ at about 1300Z after working exactly one station - a VK6! - since sunset owing to the S9+ QRN, the w
Picture this: It is a Saturday night in January and a 16-year old radio amateur is up to his knees in snow trying to solder the broken antenna connection to his 160m inverted-L so he can have a shot
G'day all I switched on last night at about 1230Z, looking hopefully for 8N1OGA, to find the band wide open into North America. East coast sunrise was well past, but the band was still open an hour l
G'day It has been interesting to read the comments about the lack of DX operation in the ARRL 160 test. Firstly, a DX window in a 160m contest which could only be used for CQing by stations outside o
G'day, Those who are interested in contacting historic lighthouses around the world may like to look out for VK6VZ/6 in the Stew Perry Topband Distance Challenge on 28/29 December. I will be re-activ
G'day all Sometimes when we switch on the radio during the summer season in the early dawn and hear loud static on the topband, the immediate response is switch off the radio and go straight back to
I first got onto the topband at the age of 16, when I was G3ZZD. At that time, the first band that newly licenced amateurs got active on in the UK was 160, as it was the easiest to homebrew equipment
VK6VZ replied: G'day I run parallel inverted vee dipoles for 160 and 40m, which work FB. These are spaced 6 inches apart, using spacers made from plastic reticulation tubing and held in place at each
G'day As we approach the equinox, the conditions on the topband still seem pretty disappointing - high absorption and weak signals. Considering we are now two to three years after the solar peak, thi
G'day all, Last night I sat down in the shack to start the resurrection/modification of a Drake R4C. The receiver had been cleaned up from top to toe, all switch contacts meticulously cleaned., the p
G'day John et al For those of us in the Southern Hemisphere, where it is mid-summer during the CQ 160, it would be nice to even see the hours limited to 24 hours at the most for either single or mult
G'day John Operating during the hours of daylight in the CQ 160 from North America doesn't sound much fun, but operating in the CQ 160 during the hours of darkness from VK6 is even less, particularly
G'day all, I have a 1955-vintage Collins R390 here and am curious about whether anyone on the reflector has done any comparisons on 160m with the 75A4 - or what anyone who has a R390 thinks of its pe
G'day, Thanks to all those who sent me data and their views on the Collins 75A4 and the Collins R390. It has been fascinating. What it has highlighted for me, as a side issue, is the strengths of mod
G'day For those who are intrigued by 5H3RK's description of his very unusual and effective transmit antenna, a similar design is described in the CQ Antenna Roundup Volume 2, edited by Tom Kneitel K2
G'day Greetings from Western Australia. I have just recently acquired a Drake R4C, which I intend to modify for use for 160m CW DXing. It is the later version with the 6BE6 2nd mixer, which I underst
G'day, It was interesting to see the request from Al, PY3CEJ, with regard to possible activity from 4U1UN during the coming DX season. If someone wanted to make themselves very popular with DX statio
G'day Joe Thanks very much for the information on 4U1UN - very interesting. There are a few operators who are involved with the UN overseas who are keen topbanders and DXpeditioners, like Mark ON4WW
For those with a small amount of space who would like to try a similar 25'-long 160m quarter wave helical antenna to that used by 5H3RK, I have prepared a .jpg file that shows how to construct such a