Topband: 160M Rhombics

[Michael Tope]

On 7/27/2013 3:23 AM, Bill Tippett wrote:
> W0BTU:
>
> > For whatever reason, there's what seems to be a lot of hype about 
> W6AM's
> rhombics. Such as:
>
> "The W6AM station was legendary around the world. Don could beat you in a
> pileup for some obscure African station no matter what band, and even if
> you were on the east coast. And him in Southern California.
>
> "Don was #1 on ARRL's DXCC Honor Roll, and you didn't argue. No matter
> where you were, no matter what you were running, Don had beaten you in a
> pileup. More than once."
>
> > Beat anyone on the east coast to Europe from California every time? I'm
> sorry, but a rhombic is just not that good, even if you DO have one 
> pointed
> at every direction of the compass as W6AM did.
>
>         Absolutely "a lot hype", as you stated.  The real King of the 
> Hill in those days was Frank Lucas W3CRA:
>

A old friend of mine told me that he use to regularly beat W6AM in 
pileups with a long boom 20M monobander at 70ft from a small city lot in 
Los Angeles. I think he was running a tetrode with handles, but from 
what I hear about W6AM that wasn't necessarily an unfair advantage :-)

With regard to the impact of favorable terrain, N6NB tells some good 
stories about running QRP class in DX contests from his mountaintop QTH 
in Tehachapi, Ca and all the accusations of cheating that would come his 
way as result.

73, Mike W4EF/6 (whose amp is so small it doesn't have handles, let 
alone the tubes in it)...............