Topband: Abysmal condx

[Bill Tippett]

From: "Dick Green WC1M" <wc1m73 at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 1 Jun 2009 15:42:29 -0400
Subject: RE: Topband: Abysmal condx

Yes, conditions weren't great on 160, and thunderstorms always make low band
DXing more of a challenge in the summer. Also, conditions on 40 and 20 were
spectacular this year, drawing a lot of the crowd to those bands. But
activity is usually low to non-existent on 160 for WPX because it's a losing
strategy to go there at all. Even 80m can be a "sucker punch", even though
DX QSOs are worth 6-points each. The key to success is to stay on 40 and 20
for as long as the rate holds up. The general rule is: the smaller the
antenna, the more people can operate on the band and the higher the rate
(assuming the band is open.) This, of course, is a function of WPX counting
each prefix once, instead of once per band. If mults counted for each band,
160 would have had a lot more takers.

73, Dick WC1M