On 4/1/03 2:03 PM, Jay Pryor at jpryor@arches.uga.edu wrote:
>I'd say that you should start
>in the obvious directions. That is, toward EU in the morning of a DX
>contest, toward JA around 4 p.m.
That's where I started. However, with a tribander at 50 feet, you can't
always hear EU or JAs -- or perhaps they can't hear you.
>And for a domestic contest I usually go
>with approximately 330 degrees.
If the skip is short, like late afternoon on 20m, due north works well
here. It goes along with Bill Fisher's comment about working 3's, 8's and
9's in SS. The 60 or so degree beamwidth of your typical tribander covers
a lot of ground.
>If you don't hear what you expect to hear,
>rotate. If you hear stations you can work, stop and work 'em, as you did
>the second night.
In the 10m contest, I just happened upon the north direction by accident.
I wasn't hearing anyone really at all. Signals were weak, but workable,
and I enjoyed quite a run. I think 10m sometimes succumbs to the
phenomenon where no one hears anything, so they think the band is dead.
>As a low power contester I do a great deal of S&P and there was a time I
>worried about pointing the beam toward every station I wanted to work. I'm
>not so concerned any more. I find that if the other station has a pretty
>decent signal they will likely hear you when you call. The exception is
>the rare mult who has attracted a pileup. In that case it is likely worth
>the extra time to swing the beam around.
I get beat out a lot when trying to work from the side or off the back of
the beam. It makes a big difference to turn it, but it often becomes a
pain to swing after every QSO.
Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL Mail: aa4lr@arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
-- Wilbur Wright, 1901
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