Topband: poor antenna- big dx ?

[Ivo Pezer, 5B4ADA/9A3A]

My message was more about ACTIVITY and FUN, I was not saying the smaller the
better...

> With big surprise i`ve been reading about the big success some people have
on
> 160 with small size antenas.I guess that much of that success is due to
the
> geographical location ( 5B4ADA )and the advantages combined with that...

My antenna is small - it's full size Inverted V, but only 16 meters above
the ground.
I may have advantage because of my location in comparison with EU stations,
but each location is unique and I can't say that I have more advantages than
other 5B4 stations. P3A guys have bigger antenna (full sized delta loop) and
bigger signal on 160m, but not that they work everybody and I struggle to
work DX. I'm limited with the space/heightI but I still work almost
everything I hear, and also many people who hear me!

>Plus a  call that is not too common may help as well.

They first have to hear my signal (well) in order to copy my callsign, which
may be more exotic than DK or OK. But, in no circumstances my CALLSIGN gives
me 599+ signal in the USA or somewhere else. It's the signal radiated from
15-20 dollar worth of antenna wire that gets to many parts of the world. I
won't guarantee the same results to everybody, I guess it's part of the
mystery of Topband.

So i guess these experiences in a
> contest are not very meaningful either,as the number of stations active is
not
> the regular case at all.For us in central EU ,behind the auroral
curtain,the
> situationis much different.

KR1G (whom I had worked several times) has a lot of fun with a 38 feet tall
antenna with four 1/8 wave elevated radials (and a common loading coil to
make the radials electrically 1/4 wavelength). That's what my message was
about - JUST DO IT, regardless of what type of antenna are going to use. Get
on Topband in the first place, don't be shy of your tiny, low wire. I'm not
saying you will be a top gun, but you will be on the air. And, some of you
may have been lucky as me or Rys, SP5EWY are, and have some unexpected
results. The BAND IS still MYSTERY, and once we find 100 % pattern for
propagation prediction, I think it won't be Topband any more.

> Antennas can`t be big and beverages not long enough,especially as we
suffer much from man-made noise in our highly > industrialized and densely
populated areas.

I agree 100 %, but many of us are very, very limited with space and can't
afford monster arrays. What I wanted to say, and encourage more people to
try, was that even with modest antennas we can have fun. With each e-mail
saying I get "I'll try to do something similar" I know that there will be
another DX station on the band, whom me or you may work soon.

> longitudes i must oppose the "throw out a wet noodle and be ready for KH6"
> scheme.

Once a newcomer to Topband (as I was in 1993) works a station 16,000 km away
(FK8CP) with 100w, tiny antenna, without packet cluster or a sked
arrangement, he will be exposed to the MAGIC TOPBAND SURPRISES. The fact
that I WAS THERE that evening was cruical, not my hardware.

As Wolf, DF2PY said at the end:
 one must get on the band and see for himself,then he will get the
> topband-virus and be part of the fun.      73 de df2py

That's what it's all about. JUST DO IT!

73 Ivo 5B4ADA/C4A




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