Topband: listening for rats on 160 in DM72bx south central NM

[Bob Eldridge]

> tried listening on other antennas and had the most significant change on 
> the KT36 at 85 feet. >With the element ends pointing toward the northwest 
> the 1800 signal all but disappeared but the >1999 signal stayed quite 
> loud. On other antennas and bearings the 1999 signal stayed <consistently 
> stronger but the relative strength between the two signals varied 
> significantly. My 30 >meter inverted vee oriented NE/SW showed the least 
> difference betwen the two beacons.

Assuming the 1.8 and the 2.0 MHz signals arrive from the same horizontal 
azimuth, the fact that the comparison of strengths is different for 
different antennas seems to show that at least one of the variables is the 
vertical arrival angle of the respective signals at a given time (caused by 
Fricker's "unstable E" being at a different lat/long in the layer).

For three or four hours after sunrise here (about 560 km due north of K7RAT) 
the 1800.5 is much stronger, a remarkable signal for 60 watts!

Bob VE7BS