Dave,
When I worked them, if I would have had an
S Meter instead of the bars on the K3S, it
would not have moved in the least by the
signals I heard from them.
I was sitting at the radio for at least a
half hour yesterday, having waited 3 hours
the day before & hearing squat fragments
of calls from them.
When I heard **0EK come through as a faint
hiss in the noise level, not a tone. Not a
tone in the least, I called 1.5 below and
got them on the 2nd call, hearing a hiss,
not a tone reply, I heard KA1J 599...
Yes, the K3s Helped hugely as did the HI-Z
triangular but had I not been listening to
absolutely NOTHING... and imagining Ghost
signals in my brain working overtime to
make sense out of the popping sounds in
the QRN, I would have never worked them.
This kind of 160M contact is what we live
for, not the 100% solid Q. This is (to me
at least), the joy in the game.
73 OM and I hope you work them tonight!
73,
Gary
KA1J
> Topbanders. . .
>
> Here in Iowa I have been a bit challenged with hearing them on various bands
> from their current location. They've never been strong on any band at any
> time but sometimes workable. Aside from 160m, they've been weak here on 80,
> 40, modest signals on 30m and 20m, fleeting and weak signals above that.
> They are 11,451 miles from my QTH. With 43 minutes of common darkness
> there's not a big opportunity for a 160m QSO, but an opportunity
> nevertheless.
>
> Observing now for a few days at my SS (0035z today) some patterns have begun
> to emerge for 160m propagation. First of all, the prop is very spotty and
> selective. . .much more so than, say, with an EU, Asian, or African station.
> I was truly surprised (and confess a little frustrated) when Dennis, NT0V,
> worked them Sunday evening (bravo Dennis!) from his ND QTH with even less
> common darkness than I have here in Iowa. I heard nothing from them Sunday
> night but was encouraged to see that a Q at least seemed possible. Last
> evening (Monday) Alan, WD8PKF (106 miles north of me) worked them (bravo
> Alan!) at our SS while, again, I heard absolutely nothing. Finally, around
> 0050z they gradually started coming up out of the noise. I worked them at
> 0059. Within five or seven minutes they had faded and were gone well before
> their SR. They were never stronger than S1 or S2. Incidentally, they were
> peaking east rather than southeast. Several others have reported the same
> thing.
>
> The 160m prop at NA SS so far clearly seems to favor the northern part of NA
> over the southern. The past few nights the guys in 1 land, some 2 land, VE3,
> Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota have been hearing them and
> working them with reasonably good signals. Dropping further south the guys
> in OH, IN, IL, and me in IA have had much more difficult time hearing them
> and a much shorter time hearing them. In the meantime the guys further south
> in 4 land and 5 land in particular seem to have had a near total drought.
> Not sure if this pattern will continue but it has been prominent and
> consistent so far. I'm sure the guys out west with a NA SR window have a
> whole different situation.
>
> Anyway, the same 160m game rules apply that always apply. . .you've just
> gotta be at the radio during the window and listening carefully. The
> antennas here are full size ground mounted four square for TX and a Hi-Z 8
> circle array for RX. While the TX array hears well, I wouldn't have worked
> them last night without the help from the Hi-Z 8 circle. Good luck!
>
> 73. . .Dave, W0FLS
> in Iowa
>
>
> _________________
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>
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