Topband: directional receive and contests

[Tree]

Add me to the list of diversity operators.  I typically have one beverage
in one ear and some other directional antenna in the other. For the Stew -
this was a 1200 foot beverage towards the East coast and a Hi-Z array (4
directions) in the other ear.  I would typically have the 4 SQ also East to
help with those QRP stations - and then switch it towards the West when the
JAs are coming through.  If a weak station calls - I check the 4 SQ to see
if they are coming in from the North or South.  A lot of my W6 QSOs were
with stations using marginal antennas and they are pretty weak when things
are pointing East.

At my previous QTH - I had five directions covered by beverages and I could
quickly switch directions using a control box with momentary pushbuttons:

http://www.kkn.net/n6tr/160/bev/BevBox2.jpg  (shown before I got my K3).

With the antennas both East - the signals float around inside my head as
QSB happens.  I typically find that with one antenna - I often miss part of
a callsign with QSB - but with two - I can often get all of the call the
first time.  This is very noticeable on 80 meters when working Japan.

Tree N6TR

On Mon, Dec 28, 2015 at 9:18 AM, Eric NO3M <no3m at no3m.net> wrote:

> What I have found to work well is taking advantage of a radio with dual
> receivers, not necessarily "locked", ie. diversity as in the K3, but at
> least on the same frequency.  The main RX is fixed on the "hot" direction
> at the moment, whether that be "NE" during EU peak hours or "W" after EU
> sunrise.  The sub-RX is connected to either my beverage "group" or the
> circular array (8-el BSEF).  In either case, the switching controller I use
> (homebrew) scans through directions (selectable, usually skip "N" and the
> direction already on the main RX), with about a 1/2 - 3/4 sec delay between
> switching, pausing during transmit.  I have seen comments in the past on
> here that scanning was never found to be effective, but I gather much of
> this probably had to do with the lack of flexibility in the switching /
> controlling system used (ie. scan delays not adjustable, antennas
> added/removed from scan sequence on the fly, etc).
>
> Having a diversity capable rig is helpful if the station is weak, a single
> button press on my switching controller ("Track" button) will switch the
> opposite receiver selection to an available RX antenna in the same
> direction as the one being requested to be tracked, work him, then click
> the "Track" button again on my controller and the original opposite receive
> antenna selection is restored.
>
> 73 Eric NO3M
>
>
>
> On 12/28/2015 11:47 AM, Art Snapper wrote:
>
>> Do any of you wish to share your methodology on using directional receive
>> antennas during a run?
>>
>> The inverted-L was way too noisy with the lightning static, to hear weak
>> and distant stations.
>>
>> On the other hand, I am sure I missed some stations, by being on the
>> wrong-direction receiving antenna at the time they called.
>>
>> de Art NK8X
>>
>> ᐧ
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