[CQ-Contest] 1966 vs 2006 [was: Why did the Canadians (PT5M) beat the Americans...]

[Radiosporting Fan]

--- Steve London <n2icarrl at gmail.com> wrote:

> The original source for the "2 dB improvement" quote
> probably comes from QST, September 1966, "Station 
> Design for DX" by W3AFM:
> 
> "Incidentally, in progressive antenna changes at
> W3AFM, increments of only 2 dB in antenna gain have
> opened up, in each case, a new layer of 
> workable central-Asian DX."

Hi Steve,
Thanks for digging up this information.  I was
wondering about the source for this information
myself.

Given the state-of-the-art in 1966 this sounds
reasonable.  Given the state-of-the-art in 2006 (and
the ability of modern transceivers to dig out weaker
signals), I would wonder if the number is closer to
5-dB or more before "another layer" is revealed due
simply to technical issues and not operator skill.

Anyway...I'm just pondering and not making any
statement of fact.

Regards,
Ev, W2EV


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