Topband: What do you use as a "Run" antenna?

[Jim Brown]

On Mon, 26 Feb 2007 13:00:02 -0500, Michael, Dana A wrote:

>What I would like to know is
>what others use as their first choice for listening when 
"running"
>before switching to a better RX antenna?

I have two transmit antennas for 160 -- a vertical, and a dipole 
at 90 ft. The vertical is by far the most effective within a few 
hours of sunrise or sunset. My default RX is whichever of those I 
am transmitting through. If I hear signals in the mud, I switch 
between Beverages or the other transmit antenna to dig them out. 
This method of operation has allowed me to catch the beginning of 
a JA run, for example, that I otherwise might have missed. Once 
the run begins, I'll switch to the JA Beverage. I can get away 
with that because I am blessed (so far) with relatively little 
local noise most of the time. I realize that others are not so 
fortunate. 

One of the common failures of east coast stations during contests 
is that they miss a lot of Q's because they never seem to be 
listening west, especially early in the evening. It is VERY common 
for VE3, W8, W9, and some W3/W4's to have solid signals here in 
Santa Cruz an hour or more before my sunset, and to remain Q5 for 
much of an evening. And it is common for W6/W7 stations, me 
included, to be calling them without success. 

73,

Jim Brown K9YC
Santa Cruz, CA