Topband: The "Contest" this past weekend

[Augie Hansen]

On 3/7/05 11:48 AM, "Dick and Adele Bingham" <binghamstehekin at starband.net>
wrote:

> Was my receiver dead this past weekend? I only heard only three
> stations on - one Costa Rica, K6SE, and a local. I thought I might
> possibly have had the contest date wrong.
> 
> "ARRL Inter. DX Contest, SSB: 0000Z, Mar 5 to 2400Z, Mar 6
>  Mode: SSB
>  Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m"
> 
> I haven't seen comments here on Topband about bad conditions
> this past weekend, so I am still puzzled!

Hi Dick,

I'll venture a guess as to why 160m seemed dead. During a contest such as
the ARRL DX contest, most ops don't waste time on 160. The general feeling
is "if 160 is the band you choose, you lose!" It's mostly a matter of
keeping the contact rates as high as possible and this is more easily
achieved on the higher frequency bands. Maybe some multi-multi groups will
run on 160m, but those of us who are operating solo can't get much of a
return on our invested time on topband.

Cheers,
Gus Hansen / KB0YH