I remember when going to Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill that
living on the eastern side of the Mississippi was restricted to 25 watts
at night due to Loran sharing of Top Band so I rented a nice apartment
with a big yard up on the bluffs in Davenport, Iowa across the river and
commuted. From this location and with 100 watts I could start working
DX on TB. I never could figure out why the USCG/FCC restriction decided
a totally arbitrary line of demarcation for the W9 land restriction.
Yet when I finished college at the University of Minnesota I lived on
the East side of the same river with no penalty.
Another strange circumstance was the ARRL DXCC requirement that as long
as I was W0VXO in "Zero land." my new countries worked would count. Not
so in Illinois! This was a factor that when I went to work for Gates
Radio in Quincy, Illinois I chose my residence down and across the river
in Hannibal, Missouri and the long commute each day to work along the
banks of the mighty Mississippi.
My whole point here was the love of 160 meters determined where I
lived. When the chance in 1968 to move to the Virgin Islands to take up
a job at a radio station with a home and a 300 foot tower out on a
narrow peninsula almost totally surrounded by sea water, and for half
the money, there was no hesitation on pulling up stakes and heading for
the Caribbean.
Regards,
Herb Schoenbohm, KV4FZ
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