Topband: The Black Hole is Real

[Robert Marshall-Read]

Hello Top Banders,

It has taken several months of operation to confirm what I suspected all along, a move 35 miles closer to the equator has landed me in a real propagation black hole.  This weekend's contest, and the SP a few weeks ago, both have given me statistical proof that YB5 is much worse for 160m than the apartment location in 9V just a chipshot to the north.

Examples:

2005 CQ 160 CW: (9V1GO)

 122  QSOs.	    1069	QSO points
	        48	Multipliers
                        51312         Claimed score

2006 CQ 160 CW: (YB5AQB)

 35  QSOs.	      311	QSO points
	        17	Multipliers
	    5287	Claimed score

About 10% of last year's score was all that could be mustered this year.  This is with the same equipment, better antennas, and the same hours of operation.  Propagation was a bit down the first night, but a second night opening to the west coast netted several OR and WA with real 599 signals.  Europe was the usual wall to wall alligators as has been the case for the past few years from both YB and 9V.  In short, typical conditions for a contest weekend on TB.

In the SP 2004 44 Q's with the majority long haul compared with 22 Q's and a much bigger struggle in 2005.

The receive antennas now are beverages that hear well (but have to be put up every weekend as the locals steal the antennas and use it to wire their illegal squatter shacks or sell it).  The TX antenna is an inverted L up 20m and out 20m and a fair number of radials.  In Singapore only a low RX dipole on the roof and a TX wire out the kitchen window did far better.

Even the YB5 DXCC total is about 50% (56 DXCC/21 Zones) of the 9V at this stage of the operations (94 DXCC/29 Zones) at the 12 month mark.

This is not an observation, it is a moan.  The ears still get shredded by S8 static crashes about every night, QSB is still a big problem, it is just that the rewards have reached a point of diminishing return.

Ain't Tob Band grand!

CU on weekends, things have to get better.

73

Bob 

YB5AQB/9V1GO






(Sent from my GPRS mobile)

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