Same boat here. Many callers up to a half kc off freq. Whether I worked
them or my compatriot CQer nearby is sometimes a guess.
The directional rx antennas were sometimes a pain, sometimes the
solution. I often found myself listening on the tx vertical just to
eliminate the directivity issue into USA...but then the issue is missing
a weak one as others noted.
No perfect solution.
BTW listening in the 30-35 segment was frustrating. What DX was there
had competition from US CQrs who didn't read the contest rules page, and
from a host of packet spot aficionados who couldn't hear their neighbors
much less the DX.
--
73 Art K6XT~~
Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm.
From: Wayne Mills
To: 'Brian_ve7jkz' ;topband@contesting.com
Sent: Sunday, December 04, 2011 1:24 PM
Subject: Re: Topband: ARRL 160 conditions
"Bang on zero beat" IS a problem. I am noticing more and more of that as
(I
guess) more and more guys rely on SPOTTING SOFTWARE! Arrrrgh! It doesn't
make any sense to call exactly zero beat.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, using directional receive only antennas
seems to be a problem. Maybe I can't hear a station at all without my rx
antenna, but maybe I can't hear others in the wrong direction. I haven't
figured out the best way to use directional rx antennas. Maybe the someone
needs to develop antenna scanning software
Wayne, N7NG
Jackson Hole
_______________________________________________
UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
|