Topband: Condx from central WA

[Larry Molitor]

After nearly two years of effort, we finally moved into the new house at our central WA QTH. Since I had previously attempted to operate from a metal shop building on the property (way too cold, I'm not much of a DXpeditioneer I guess!), I already had a 90 foot top load vertical and four temporary Beverages in place. I only needed to drag the coax over to the new hamshack and I was on the air! 
 
The first night in the new house (last Sunday, Mon. GMT) I heard more EU than I had in the last 3 years of operating from my AZ QTH combined! What a surprise to discover that they couldn't hear me at all! I called Wolf, DF2PY, for about an hour along with several other west coasters and he never heard any of us!
 
The same thing happened two nights later (Tuesday, Wed.GMT). The next morning I could hear JT1CO calling CQ and he was not able to hear me either. 
 
This is a new experience for me. After 33 years of operating topband from AZ, I'm quite used to not hearing anything until the propagation is so good I can work any DX I hear with one or two calls. 
 
Is it that my RX conditions are so much better than the DX now or is my TX antenna a problem? Since I seem to be able to work the Carribean stations easily, I suspect there is nothing major wrong with the TX antenna. It would help if the Oceania and Asia folks would stop going to bed as soon as the sun rises at W8JI's QTH. I can hear the ZL digi station every morning so I know the band is not dead, but there's nobody on for me to try to work! (except for JT1CO that one time)
 
I will have to take down the Beverages when my brother-in-law moves the cattle back from winter pasture, so I'll be trying hard to work EU until that happens.
 
73,
 
Larry - W7IUV
Central WA, DN07


---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Search - Find what you’re looking for faster.