I dabbled a bit doing S&P in the contest last weekend.
I worked a fair number of Europeans, but by 0130 UTC
each night I had heard no NA stations at all. Both
nights my noise had increased so much by that time
that I gave up on it and hit the hay. I had pretty
good luck making the Europeans hear me through all the
QRM. I think only one failed to respond to my call.
I have enjoyed reading all the walks down memory lane.
I was not really into 160 M seriously at all until my
S92SS days. My best DX on the band before that was a
CW contact from North Carolina to Minnesota around
1968. What made that contact memorable was the
antenna. I had a Master Mobile 80 M heliwhip with a
broken mount. I stood it in the corner of the shack
indoors. To bring it to resonance on 160 M, I added a
piece of B&W miniductor in series with a variable
capacitor I had salvaged from a junked AM table radio.
My rig was a Johnson Viking I, a Heathkit VF-1 VFO,
and a Hallicrafters S-76. The ground was the house
water pipes. I loaded the Viking to 50 watts and
called CQ just a bit after my local sunset. I was
astounded when the station in Minnesota responded with
a 579 signal report. I don't doubt that coupling into
the electrical wiring of the house was contributing to
my radiation, because the incandescent bulb in the
light fixture over my head would brighten noticeably
when I closed the key.
When I was a teenager, I made some daytime contacts on
160 AM with K4LWR who lived about 30 miles from me.
My antenna - I ran a wire up to the tin roof of the
small house I grew up in. The old Viking-1 had no
problem finding a match. The ground then was pipe
driven into the ground not more than 4'.
I am still looking for NA on Friday and Saturday
nights. Any time the QRN appears to be low enough for
there to be any hope of hearing anyone, I make the
effort. I have worked many Europeans, but I have had
no luck at all hearing NA since December.
If anyone has any interest in seeing pictures of the
IBB (VOA) Sao Tome Transmitting Station facilities
where I live, I have a collection of photographs in an
album at http://groups.msn.com/s9ss .
73,
Charles - S9SS
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