- Last night during the CQ160 test it was the quietest night in many
weeks as regards local QRM from the electrical noise that has been
plaguing me. The band seemed very open to EU and some SA stations
with some EU coming in far stronger than most local stations. It was
a fun night for me, I actually got to enjoy a contest without having
a buzzsaw in the background of every station I heard. I'm still
trying to pinpoint the exact source but it would be easier if it were
constant. It is there at the this moment 2:30PM, I hope it drops off
before evening comes. My point however is the band was open and there
was a fair amount of DX onboard during the contest.
- It is a contest so the stronger and more savvy will wrangle
contacts from those less able. I do find it disquieting to have
someone obviously trying to copy my call and another contester come
on top of my attempts and with their stronger signal, send their call
over mine so the other person hearing them clearly replies to them
instead. I'm running legal limit and the guy overpowering me is 20
over so I know he heard me, he just pushed me aside like a shopper at
Macy's Bargain Basement. Yes it's a contest but I don't find that
kind of bullying to carry much honor.
- I was S&P and called one fellow out west who was fairly faint. When
he replied immediately, he was much, much stronger. It could be that
his amp warmed up and he just turned it on that second he replied but
that seems unlikely, it was remarkable how quick the reply and
difference in signal. After a bit I kept thinking how unusual that
was as in 30 years I've not experienced that kind of change without
an amp being turned on. Then I got to thinking perhaps he had a 4
square or better and has his station set so when he logged my call,
it accessed a hamcall database and then automatically switched to my
direction without him manually doing a thing. I don't remember which
call he has or I'd ask him. Is this something that people are doing?
Seems ideal.
- Interesting how different the signals are. There was one guy who
had what sounded like RF on his signal and made him stand out. I
wonder if that was by accident or intentional.
- Same idea with the different range of key clicks. I have a K3 and
inrad 250 Hz filters on both receivers and had the digital filter set
as narrow as possible to 50 Hz and even with this rigs fine Rx, there
were quite a few stations I could tell far away that they were there.
Their clicks were so loud they obliterated DX well more than a KHz
away. I had to wait till they listened and tried to pull out the DX
call or reply to me. Most sitting on their frequency had delightfully
clean loud signals and no clicks. It's too bad some people drive
their amps so hard and make it hard for others to be around them.
Maybe it's part of their plan.
Looking forward to tonights extravaganza!
Gary
KA1J
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Topband Reflector
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