Topband: ARRL 160 contest observation
Jim Brown
jim at audiosystemsgroup.com
Wed Dec 11 15:28:01 EST 2013
On 12/11/2013 11:54 AM, Ray Benny wrote:
> I find that It makes a difference being further South and East. I worked
> only one EU in 30 years in So, Calif on 160m. I didn't have a great station
> but we just don't have the EU opening in CA.
>
> Now, being 400 miles East of So. CA. in Central Arizona, just North of
> Prescott, I've made well over 250 EU contacts since 2009. Many are with the
> same strong EU stations, but my DXCC count has gone from 50 or so entities
> to about 170! The major factor, I believe, is that my path to EU 160m just
> skirts the Aurora zone, while the Calif it doesn't.
I agree with your analysis, Ray, and so do other very smart NorCal
DXers. There's also a significant difference between NorCal and OR/WA.
I don't have a guess I trust as to why.
> But yet, stations further East or South of me, even by 200 miles, do
> better. The further East the better, and being in New England or further NE
> is the best, at least, most of the time. The W6's do have a better Asia
> that us, but we still do well.
Yes. And there's also a bit of what I call "spotlight effect" -- sort of
like the sun peeking through a small opening in fairly dense clouds. I
find that, in general, when I can work EU or AF on 160M, those in Zone 5
cannot, for whatever reason. When I moved here in 2006, my neighbor
K6XX, who has a superb contesting station 3 miles N of me at the top of
the ridge over which I must work northern EU, told me that we hear EU on
160 here only a few nights a year. Since moving here in 2006, I've
worked (and confirmed) 16 countries in EU on Topband, and nearly all
were worked near the bottom of the solar cycle.
73, Jim K9YC
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