Topband: The glory days of 160...

[Harold Smith]

> I'm new to 160. I've purchased a couple of books on the subject and am
> actually reading them.
>
> In a previous e-mail, Bob Eldridge wrote, "I guess I was lucky to live
> in the glory days of 160. I hope they come again."  I would like to hear
> about the glory days of 160 you speak of. Was this cycle related and we
> can look forward to better conditions, or was this a once in a life time
> grace of the RF Gods?
>
> Educate me!
>
> Dino - K6RIX



Dino:
The "Glory Days" of 160 could have been many years ago when there were 
perhaps fewer than 100 countries on the band.
If you look at the ARRL DXCC 160 listings, you will see that there are well 
over 300 countries that have been worked.
This past season was a very good year with a lot of DXpeditions to some very 
rare countries. They all put out some
very great signals on 160 meters.
This past season was at the bottom of the Sun-Spot Cycle and this makes the 
best 160 conditions.
I am located in the mid-west, near St. Louis. I was working DX almost every 
night.
The RF Gods do help: Low noise RX antenna, Great Xmit antenna and an Good 
Amplifier sure helps.
Yes, I can work some DX barefoot, but in the middle of the country we have 
an average of about 10dB loss compared
to the East or West Coast. The path over ground sure attenuates the Xmit and 
RX  signal.
I can sure say that John ON4UN and Jeff K1ZM books are great reading.
I hope to see you on "TopBand" in a couple of months.
If you have a tower, I have some good info on shunt feeding. I can e-mail 
it.

73...Price WØRI....Operated 160 at BY1QH  Beijing PRC China in 1998 with 
Merv K9FD/KH6..