Topband: Random Wire Report

[David Gilbert]

I'm just getting settled in our new hillside QTH in southern Arizona and 
don't have a decent antenna up yet, but I recently ran a random length 
of wire (maybe 50 meters long) from the house across the tops of some 
nearby trees and "fed" it against the ham shack ground with a low power 
tuner so I could at least do some listening.  The wire averages between 
10 and 15 feet above ground, is oriented NE-SW, and isn't terminated.

The conditions this evening appear to have been terrific.  For the last 
90 minutes I've copied a whole bunch of Europeans easily Q5, among them 
SM5EDX, PA0CLN, YL2KO, DL7ON, OH1NOR, OH3XR, ES5TV, SM4CAN, YL2UZ, 
LY3UM, and several others.  All were well above the noise level with 
very moderate QSB, and some were literally armchair copy.  Several are 
still going strong as I write this at 0515Z.  I've been able to copy 
some individual stations for over an hour.

Somebody please tell me this is typical ...

Dave  AB7E