Topband: ARRL 160 contest

[David Raymond]

Jon's explanations below of what he has to go through to find the right 
receiving antenna is not too untypical from a larger station.  As I 
mentioned in my "Patience in ARRL 160 Contest" post, Jon's post explains 
exactly why those with weak signals need to be patient with regard to being 
asked repeatedly to give their calls.  It takes time to sort through the 
antennas and directions to find the right one.  And, of course, QSB and QRM 
only exasperate the problem.

73. . .Dave
W0FLS


> Tim,
>
> I use a very cumbersome combination of switch boxes. One of the things on 
> my list to improve.
>
> The primary selector is a B&W 3-position switch which in turn selects 
> three other six-position B&W switches. (I have about 18 Bevs in use!). The 
> 3-position switch is marked for "W, S, NE."
>
> The "NE" one selects the separate switch for Beverages (many are phased 
> pairs) at 5, 25, 37 (long stagger pair), 37 (long broadside pair), 45 
> (short stagger pair) and 75 degrees.
>
> The "west" one selects Bevs at 210, 245, 290, 320 and 342 degrees.
>
> The "south" one selects Bevs at 105, 162, 180, blank, short 320 and short 
> 342 pair.
>
> This setup makes it easy to quickly switch broadly around the compass with 
> the 3-position switch, and then narrow the choices with the six-position 
> boxes. Typically while running I'll have these set one of the 37/45 
> Beverages, the 180 and the 290. The latter two are single wires and thus 
> have a broader capture than some of the phased pairs.
>
> Right these switches are a bit too far of a reach for contesting -- they 
> are above and slightly to the right of the main K3 transceiver. Better 
> would be right at the keyboard, ideally with push buttons. Maybe even 
> computer controlled on the screen.
>
> The Beverages feed into the "Rx In" jack on the K3.
>
> I also have a pair of short 1/8 wave spaced Rx verticals feeding a DX 
> Engineering NCC-1 phasing box. The output of this goes into the auxiliary 
> RX antenna jack on the K3 and this is used with the second receiver for 
> diversity reception. I can then tune the null easily with the large phase 
> control knob. But for some reason this weekend the pair is very noisy 
> compared to the main transmit antenna and I've mostly been using the TX 
> antennas for diversity reception. Sometimes I'll vary from this and use 
> one of the Beverages as the aux. antenna for diversity.
>
> More switching is used for the transmit arrays. For my original parasitic 
> vertical array, one rotary switch selects NE, SE, SW, NW or Omni, changing 
> relays remotely out at the base of the elements. Now I have a new 
> broadside-endfire array and in it's development phase it takes THREE 
> different jury-rigged switches to switch from the original array to the 
> new one. I'll have that remedied before the next contest!
>
> I'll post a photo shortly on www.aa1k.us under the "switching" section to 
> show these switches in the shack.
>
> 73/Jon AA1K