Topband: Contest conditions

[W0MU Mike Fatchett]

On good propagation years there generally is not enough band to go 
split.  This was a luxury in this contest.

I have noticed that sometimes faster is better, you beat the qsb ups and 
down and sometimes slower is better.

W0MU


On 11/28/2016 7:26 AM, Mark K3MSB wrote:
> I put in my BOG the Saturday before the contest.     It’s the basic 200
> feet installation with a pair of 8 foot ground rods at each end.    One of
> those rods was almost impossible to hammer in, but that’s why the Lord
> provides strong sons!    The second rod went in after about 10 minutes.
>
>
>
> I don’t like big contests so I just use them to pick up new band countries.
> I found 160M to be in great shape the week before the contest, and enjoyed
> playing with the BOG.     I picked up four new ones on 160, and a few new
> ones on 80 during that week, so I had my list of stations to watch out for
> on hand for the two contest evenings.    I heard none of the on the air,
> nor saw any of them spotted during the contest.
>
>
>
> TB Conditions for RX on Friday night / Saturday morning was pretty mediocre
> here,  but I was hearing EU nicely on Saturday night.    I was looking for
> the DL guys in HB0 land on 160, but never heard them, but I do recall
> seeing a single spot for them.
>
>
>
> I recall reading last year that the Chinese government was supposed to
> start issuing personal station licenses as they currently only issue club
> licenses – thus the reason most stations are in the city with the noise
> problems W8ZR mentions.   I’ve no idea what’s happening on that front.      I
> heard pips out of BG2AUE on 80M here on Saturday morning, but he wasn’t
> even near strong enough to work.  I was switching between my vertical and
> BOG for 80M RX.   The BOG seems to do a pretty good job on 80M for me.
>
>
>
> I concur with W8ZRs comments about going 45 WPM.   This is my third season
> on Top Band,  and I’ve learned the value of slowing way down when a station
> has trouble copying me.    I said I didn’t like big contests, but I did put
> in a 6 hour stint at our club station W3ZGD on Saturday morning / afternoon.
> I hit 15 and 10 pretty hard.  After not a lot of sleep on Friday night,  I
> had a pretty good headache around 11 AM Saturday.     During a contest
> everyone is simplex (God Bless FO/K7AR who went split……), and that noise,
> weak signals,  and the DX going 45 WPM was just nasty for me to handle.   But
> then, I’m not a seasoned contester so maybe the regulars have learned to
> deal with it.
>
>
>
> 73 Mark K3MSB
> _________________
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