Topband: Stew Op Times

[dick.bingham]

Merry Christmas to everyone

Jim and Rick along with so many of you have done their antenna homework and others should emulate that sort of work.

It seems like something is always getting in the way come Stew-time. I will not be on this year. Rick's several point comments are spot-on for all 160-meter op's.

I had planned on using a half-wave balloon supported this year like I did a year or two before. I live in a CC&R antenna restriction area and used 280-feet of #30 wire as the radiator. It lived up to the EZNEC predictions and worked lots of folks toward the East earlier than what I normally experienced. Rain finally brought the balloon down and ended my participation. . .

This year, no antenna ===> no Stew . . .  I am not allowed to use my arms for the next several months due to a chest-cracking and some bypass surgery on the heart.
Have a great Stew . . .

73 Dick/w7wkr CN97uj

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Message: 8
Date: Fri, 25 Dec 2015 09:37:17 -0800
From: Jim Brown <jim at audiosystemsgroup.com>
To: topband at contesting.com
Subject: Re: Topband: Stew operating times?
Message-ID: <567D7ECD.5040901 at audiosystemsgroup.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed

> On Fri,12/25/2015 9:22 AM, K4OWR wrote:
> Since it's 1500-1500, and I need to pick 14 hours, I'm guessing about 
> 6PM Sat to 8AM Sun ??? In order to maximize propogation?

It depends on your QTH. Here in W6/W7, the Stew begins just before our 
sunrise, so most of us start out at 1500 hoping to work JA. By 1600, 
there's nothing but locals, so we QRT until an hour or so before our 
sunset.

From your QTH in central TN, you'll probably want to start an hour or 
so before sunset Saturday, and operate through the night until an hour 
or so after sunrise, taking breaks for dinner and social time with the 
XYL. Remember that the hour or so either side of sunrise and sunset are 
peak times for DX, so you'll want to be on the air. Around sunset and in 
the evening, you'll have peak opportunities to work east; around 
sunrise, to the west. And both times, good propagation N and S.

73, Jim K9YC