Folks,
I had a lot of fun in the SP contest
though I couldn't really devote nearly as
much time to it as I wanted. I pretty much
only called CQ at the very end, giving
those running the points for QRP. Still,
not bad; 152 Q's for 1326 points.
Thanks to the HI-Z Circle 8 and HI-Z
Triangular working diversity, I heard a
whole lot that didn't hear my QRP signal.
I didn't keep track but I heard easily 20
different countries that didn't hear me.
KH6LC had the best ears this year LZ9W
came in 2nd.
Using Diversity in the K3s, I was using
the HI-Z Circle 8 and triangular. I used
the new HI-Z Encoders for control of the
two arrays. It made utilizing the K3s's
Diversity go to a new level, they made
pulling in the best SNR for a given
station so much easier than using the
analog versions. Just much more efficient
to find the best conditions for reception,
I love them.
I found the DX was really present during
this contest, thought that would not be
the case with the intense storms that had
just passed through but amazingly, there
was little atmospheric to interfere and
the DX was everywhere. I have the AMTRAK
RFI and the neighbors RFI to have to deal
with but aiming to the NE cut out so much
noise. With that, I could hear much more
than usual.
Worked W1BB, now the SP memorial station,
and as I had never worked Stew (never had
a real 160 antenna till 08), it's nice to
have that in the log.
I have to get something better regarding
my TX antenna. Impossible to have a tower
on my property and though I want to
relocate, getting a property where I can
put up a tower up with elevated radials is
getting slimmer by the year, we're all
getting older and I just can't do it all
anymore.
I used to have an INV-L, using an above
tall Oak as my fixture for the vertical
but it came down a few years back and
since I can't move the radial bed, I have
to shoot the wire over trees farther away
and now what was the L, is now a sloper. I
know that has some bearing on my Tx and
takeoff angle.
I keep thinking I should try an experiment
and disconnect the radials from the 160
wire, add elevated radials to it and then
pull the end of the wire up so the
feed-point is 10' off the ground. That
might give me lower angles than I have now
with roughly 50 130' Radials. Doing that,
I could make it an L again, still wouldn't
be as high as the original though, that
initial tree was the tallest one around.
I always look forward to Topband contests.
73 & HNY to us all,
Gary
KA1J
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