Topband: Contest conditions

[N2TK, Tony]

Hi Wes,
When I operate at KP2M there are times I am told we are loud on 160M, but I
just can't pull the signals out of the noise. When I am on higher bands I
will get comments why I can't hear them when we are loud on topband. I don't
know the answer to that. Sometimes I wonder if it is one way propagation,
although that probably is not true. We have two beverage antennas. But the
QRN down there is a killer many times. I hear folks calling but just can't
pull them through.
There is a difference when using the EU beverage over the US beverage. Until
EU sunrise use the EU beverage a lot. Then after the EU sunrise switch to
the US beverage. Although there are times we would be happy to work anyone
from anywhere.
For transmit using a FCP Inv-L. 

A BA on Topband. I can only wish up here in upstate NY.

And I am a DXer.

73,
N2TK, Tony


-----Original Message-----
From: Topband [mailto:topband-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Wes
Stewart
Sent: Monday, November 28, 2016 5:47 PM
To: topband at contesting.com
Subject: Re: Topband: Contest conditions

With a cloud-warmer antenna and only 500W in the bowels of southern Arizona
working anywhere is problematic, but to the east is worse, even at SS.

I heard a lot of Caribbean contest stations with big signals but never could
work them.  I think they are probably using directional RX antennas, but
just as likely is that these are contest ops, not weak-signal DXers.  Many
of them probably are DXers in real life, but during a contest, they simply
don't want to dig for weak signals when there are big ones that are easier
to work.  I'll probably get some guff for this, but that is my gut feeling.

To the west is a different story, especially at, and after, SR. Saturday
morning my sunrise was at 1403Z.  Just before that (1357Z) I managed a QSO
with some difficulty with BA4TB for a new one.  A few minutes later he was
579.  I worked four JAs between 1405 and 1418, all with good signals.  I had
worked JA3YBK earlier at 1225Z but I listened to him call CQ until 1445Z, 43
minutes after sunrise.  KH6J was still Q5 at 1452Z, 50 minutes after
sunrise.  There was a Washington station, whose call escapes me, still
audible at 1455Z, nearly an hour past sunrise.  Remarkable.

Agreed on the Chinese stations.  I listened to one buy on Sunday morning
calling CQ.  He was sending a one-by-one and seemed to fade or suffer a
noise burst every time he gave his call, so it took a long time to decipher.
But it was pointless to call, I literally could not get my call sent in the
time between his calls.

Agreed on the CW speeds. Too many going too fast and too damn many cut
numbers.  
Who started this nonsense?

Wes N7WS


.On 11/27/2016 10:04 PM, Jim Garland wrote:
> I think some contest stations had directional receive antennas and 
> omni transmitting antennas. There were times when S9 stations couldn't 
> hear me at all, and I suspect they were just listening in a different 
> direction. At other times, I could work stations just marginally out of
the noise.
>
> I noticed that on 80m some Chinese stations would be booming in, with 
> a pileup calling, but they'd never work anybody. (I never heard any of 
> them on Top Band.)That I attributed to likely high noise levels in Chinese
cities.
> Some of the big Russian contest stations were also blasting in but 
> couldn't hear any callers, including me. I suspect some them may have 
> been running "Russian Kilowatts."  By contrast, the big JA multi-multi 
> contesters could hear and work everything.
>
> One problem I frequently encountered was DX stations sending CW way 
> too fast. When a station is just out of the noise with fast QSB, as 
> many frequently are, they're really hard to copy if they're going 45 
> wpm, especially if they have a short, unusual call, like T5W.
> 73,
> Jim W8ZR
>
>

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