[SCCC] background noise levels for contest operating locations

[Peter Putnam]

Drew,

An excellent question with an easy answer...  the noise levels you 
mention make contest operation essentially impossible.

As an example, I helped set up a Field Day station at a local community 
center chosen for the convenience of the visitors with no regard for RF 
noise. As it turned out, 40m had S9 noise. Two or three stations were 
louder than that and we "worked-out" the band almost instantly. Field 
Day was over in five minutes.

It seemed a bit strange that so little activity was heard from the 
30,000+ stations that were supposed to be participating, so I took a 
receiver to a hill-top, free of noise sources, about a mile away. The 
difference was astonishing. With just a wire looped over some tree 
branches, the band was alive with so many signals so tightly packed 
together there was no place to call CQ. Field Day wasn't over after all.

If you can't hear 'em, you can't work 'em...

73,
Peter
NI6E




On 11/20/2016 8:25 AM, Drew Arnett wrote:
> I ended up sitting out SS CW having caught the cold that was going
> around.  During preparation, though, I did a quick survey of the noise
> floor on the HF contest bands at the W6QAR station location I usually
> use.  It's on top of a commercial building and is a bit noisy, though
> it does have a good radio horizon in most directions (except for a few
> degrees due north.)  So, I am starting to to wonder if operating from
> someplace else would be better, even if it's QRP or has a worse
> horizon.
>
> The noise floors I observed, an hour or two before sunset:  20 and 15m
> s5 to s7, 80 s9 to s9+10, 160 s7 to s9, 40 and 10m fairly quiet.
> Given what I'd expect conditions to be like and the areas needed for
> SS CW, I figured quite 40m and tolerable 20 and 15 wouldn't be too
> bad, but that 80m noise floor would be a concern given overnight
> propagation.
>
> I know, it's SNR not noise floor that counts, but this was with modest
> antennas, hence the concern.  Wondering if I should seek out a better
> location, at least as far as contesting is concerned.  What do more
> experienced folks say?
>
> Best regards,
>
> Drew
> kb9fko
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