Topband: An observation about Topband contesting technique

[Shoppa, Tim]

> These stations aren't crocodiles - many are in the
> super station category and definitely have the "ears" to hear me. This
> seems to be a matter of operating technique, not technology.
> [...]
> Last night I worked 19 of the 26 stations I called on the east coast. The
> others should have been hearing me just as well. I seriously doubt it was
> their ears were the problem as they were all big stations.

Just a heads up on what was going on, on this side of the pond:

Conditions from East Coast US (Maryland) to West Coast US were very unoptimal.

Those west coast multipliers are very valuable and there's a bunch of them that were a struggle to get from the east coast.

I am sure many of the big guns who were calling but didn't hear you, had their receive antenna pointed towards the West Coast of the US.

I know for example that I tried to work N8OO on multiple occasions but he couldn't hear me at all. I'm quite certain (from the stations he was working) he had a very effective receive antenna pointed squarely towards California.

Tim N3QE Maryland