TopBand: DXCC on 160 meters in 1 season?

[T. A. Russell]

(W3UR de N4KG)

Congratulations Bernie!  DXCC on 160M with 100 W in one season
is quite an accomplishment!  With a KW and good single vertical, it
tends to be an annual event (at least during low sunspots).  I pretty 
much bagged 160 this season because of the few and poor openings.
So far, only 95 countries, whereas I had 112 and 113 in the previous
two seasons while also hitting 80 and 40 pretty hard.

This season has been quite difficult until the last few weeks here in
the interior of the country.  Alabama has felt much more like W5 than
W4 for most of the season with a noticable high absorption of signals
as they passed the Eastern Time Zone line.  I expect to fall behind 
W1/2/3, but even NC and GA stations were hearing much better from
October through January.

The BEST season I can recall was 1984/1985.  From mid-December
through mid-April that winter, I worked 140 countries, as did W0ZV.
Back then, I was using 800W to a shunt fed 100 ft tower with 50 radials
top loaded by an 80M inv vee which was my best ever 160M antenna.

Highlights from the 1984/85 season included:

NA - FO0XV, HH7PV, HK0HEU, 6Y5NR/KP1, NR5M/KP5, XF4MDX

SA - CE8ABR, CP8HD, CX8DT (rare then), HC1BI, HK3DDD, LU8DPM,        
OA4ZV, PZ1AC, ZP5JCY, VP8ALJ/Falk., 8R1RBF

EU - GD4BEG, GJ3YHU, K1MM/SV5, TF3KG, T77V, 

AF -  D44BC, EA8AFS, Z21EV, ZD7CW, ZS3E, ZS6DN, 3B9CD,                 
3V8PS,  3X4EX, 5N8BAV, 5T5CJ, 5Z4ED, 7X5AB,  9J2JN

AS - UG6GAW (CW and SSB)...no other DX hrd on band on first QSO
        JA's, 4X4NJ, 4Z4DX

OC - AH8A, H44IA, KD7P/KH4, KX6DS (first KX6 authorization for 160),     
    P29PR, T30AT, T32AF, VK0GC (Macquarie), 3D2RN, 5W1EJ


de Tom N4KG  in North Alabama

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