Gentlemen,
Does anyone have Peter Meyer's email (N0FW), or perhaps he may be on the
list and could get in touch with me. Peter had me on the cluster this
morning:
N0FW 1832.9 SU9AM cq 0220 18 Apr
I'd just like to confirm his reception and ask about the quality,
conditions, his equipment etc. This is exceedingly great news to me - he who
despaired of ever getting out of Egypt on Top Band. My problem now is, as I
told Jan this morning in an email after our sked, that it's analogous to
overdriving your headlights. I must overcome my local noise somehow if I'm
ever going to be able to work the stations out past 5000 kms that will
almost always lie below my present noise level. Jan was 589 this morning on
the RF-590 and UA6LV was worked, also with a very nice signal. - but the
noise level as measured by the IC-706 meter, used as a transmitter) was
between 30 and 40 over. I heard nothing apart from DL9KR, UA6LV and LY3UM.
These are NOT weak signals. G4UZN also reported that he heard me. Thanks.
The latest antenna is a version of the Minooka Special. There is about 25
feet of wire before the central loading coil and about 20 feet from there to
the top. Loading coil and top section were resonated at about 1.840, very
roughly. It's a vertical wire simply supported by a mast made of local
materials: lead pipe, aluminum curtain rod and a fiberglass fishing pole.
The antenna sits on my roof in the clear at about 65 feet above ground.
There is a run of about 120 feet of RG-8 through a matching coil at the
base. Radial/ground system consists of four 75 foot elevator cables, another
5 wire radials of random length all tied to a water pipe that extends about
65 feet to the ground. It's the same antenna I used in the SSB contest, but
I found that I did not have sufficient roof area to obtain an optimal angle
for the two capacity hat loading wires. They also added a lot of sag to my
fishing pole. Central loading may be somewhat less efficient, but the
antenna is a lot more stable and we are into the season of the "great
sandstorms" (Khamsin).
I don't think I will be able to give many out there SU on Top Band this
season, but I will be ready in the Fall to go at it again, hammer and tongs!
Getting this far has been a considerable challange for me and I've learned a
lot - mostly by trial an error - but the many useful suggestions from list
memebers have also greatly helped my learning curve and have been much
appreciated. The one thing that I simply did not believe before I started
was that it would be possible to be heard around the world on 160 using 100
watts from an apartment QTH in the city. That should be great encouragement
to others who share similar circumstances. Being heard in Ohio on 160 from
Cairo is almost as great a thrill as my frist DX contact as a novice. Hi.
Now the noise problem........
Jim
SU9AM/W3BH
Cairo
_______________________________________________
Topband mailing list
Topband@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/topband
|