In reply to Tree's question on 1296 experiences -
I have a DEMI 3w unit mounted in a box at the top of my 30' tower. There is
a 14' run of 9913 coax to the driven element of a 55 ele looper (Directive
Systems) and it sits about 6 in above the tower top. You can see the setup
at aa1yn.com. While I will admit I do have somewhat of a good view to the
SW, it is by no means ideal. At 400' ASL I'm only 200' up the side of a
hill in the major valley of central NH and there are hills/mtns to the SW
and W and NW a few miles away and am blocked even for 144mhz to the N/E/S
directions.
I can generally work K1TEO any time on CW. Jeff is 155mi away in FN31jg.
Can't wait to get my 2304/1w rig and give it a try.
Utilizing JT44, I recently made a QSO with K2TXB - now my best DX. From
FN43gc to FM29pt is a distance of 284mi (457km). I probably could have
copied Russ on SSB as he was running 100w but I doubt he could have copied
me on anything but JT44. I have also worked AA6TT in FN34vd at 84mi (130km)
using CW in a direction blocked by a 1000' ridge 2 mi away. I also worked
K1WHS in FN43mj at 34mi but we could not work direct due to the hill I am
on as it rises another 250'. We did find an indirect path about 20 degrees
off of direct so I suspect we are bouncing our signals around the hill.
The only problem with JT44 is not too many hams have a rig compatible with
a computer they can put on 1296 or they haven't even thought about giving
it a try. I'm going to give JT44 a try on 10g in a week or two.
Lee Scott - AA1YN
Home of the VHF & Up Register http://www.aa1yn.com/vhf
Hooksett, NH
FN43gc52
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