Wow, stainless 3/8-32 panel nut from Grainger, part number 1JLU9, $15 for 2. Maybe I can find something cheaper :-) Tim N3QE _________________ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_
Thank you Frank! I use other nickel-plated brass hardware outdoors and have been quite satisfied with its durability in my weather. McMaster Carr has the F connector nuts in nickel plated brass, 10 f
Reversebeacon can shed some light on this today but data does not go back to 2005. I always chortle at the claims of power output that go to such high precision like "4.7 watts". Reminds me a lot of
0: I already missed the RSGB 1.8MHz contest for 2015. I was hoping to get at least one valid QSO to improve on my score from last year, but I totally spaced out and missed the contest. In 2013 or 201
Thank you Don, for correcting my date on the NAQCC 160M QRP Sprint! Night of Tuesday Jan 12 works a lot better! Tim N3QE _________________ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topb
I notice that the G10 insulators I have made (wire insulators, turned or cut on my crude home tools... I don't have a tower!) start out "G10 green" but then turn brown after a few years in the weathe
Jim - I recently had the failure of a 170pF doorknob in an Ameritron AL-1500 160M padding section. Replacements readily available: http://www.ameritron.com/Product.php?productid=290-0170-7 I believe
I thought frequency congestion was less of a problem in ARRL 160 this year than in some previous years. While the spectrum below 1810 was busy and not too crowded, many top-scoring stations were runn
Do not sign /QRP. If your country's rules require you to, do sign /P. Do send your log in and make sure CATEGORY-POWER says you are QRP. Many of us look at the stew perry score summaries as they are
Last year I made a serious full-time effort from W3LPL, maybe the only full-time effort I'll ever make in TBDC. I looked at local sunrise/sunset times and found out that there is 14.5 hours of darkne
Ahem... some notable contests require more than one additional piece of information. And the acknowledgement of which K9YC speaks can vary greatly depending on context and ham. Many contests involve
Jorge - Some contests have explicit instructions about how to deal with stations that didn't send a valid exchange. For example, the CQ WW FAQ says we are supposed to log the zone they should've sent
I felt results to EU were average to above average. I was very surprised and pleased when two EU's were among the first replies to my CQ's. I was very surprised in other direction, in initial hours h
At home I use a foot switches to cycle between three receive antennas after each 160M CQ: NE and SW on a K9AY loop, and WNW on a west-facing pennant. Each antenna is fairly broad in the forward direc
There was a huge NA-EU 160M opening last night and I was surprised to work 50 Europeans on one night, outside a contest. I'm sure that 160M veterans can tell me of working 1000 on a good night, but t
I could hear that conditions were improving on 160M at 0400Z when CWT ended - my EU rate was great from 0400Z through 0700Z, and the super strong DL signals were in the 0500Z-0600Z window. I was very
I mostly agree with Mike VE9AA here. Like CQ WW CW which is often the weekend after Thanksgiving, my family's holiday schedule, my work schedule, and especially my kids' activities allows more "sleep
Gary, while I am primarily a contester, I have been surprised by the amount of EU DX I can work on some non-contest nights. I agree with you; I have to say my best nights on 160M are in fact non-cont
Number of different DX stations worked by W1BB on topband each winter: 1954/1955: 19 1955/1956: 26 1956/1957: 20 1958/1959: 4 1959/1960: 5 1960/1961: 11 1960/1962: 27 Tim N3QE _________________ Topb
How do the big remote stations handle receive antenna selection? I will be doing my first ever remote operation this weekend for NAQP SSB, and I have a hack at home, where I use the "Stereo" output o