W4ATL wtote:
This is always a very frustrating contest for me since most of the
people on the band I can't work for credit. I had hoped an amplifier
would make the contest more fun. I think I was able to get through
about 3 pileups, but the rest was useless. I had hoped to run some on
20 and 15 but only got a few callers. It gave me a lot of time to S&P
on the second radio. I was most successful running to SA on 15. Thanks
to the 10 PYs and LUs for coming back to my lonely CQ. ......
I agree, Sherman, CQWW can be frustrating. In the years when band
conditions were good, I was able to run with a low dipole and low
power. Today, after you do one sweep of the band, and work the big
stations, what is left one the band are the really weak ones (guys with
100W or less to low multiband dipoles), and the multiplier hunters from
the big stations. You aren't much of a multiplier, so don't expect them
to call. And the big signal stations are busy with their piles, so they
won't be calling either. So you are left to try and run the
pip-squeeks. It takes a big antenna and very good ears, and you need a
big signal to keep the frequency clear. Thats why you hear these big US
stations running stations you can't hear with a dipole. You will
occasionally have a good signal calling you, but for every one of these,
there are 10 other weak ones calling.
Jerry, K4SAV
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