Topband: Fwd: Re: Belize-VK/ZL possibilities

W0MU Mike Fatchett w0mu at w0mu.com
Mon Feb 12 23:37:57 EST 2018


If you are on one of the Islands such as Ambergris or cawker you would 
have plenty of Salt going west, if you can get a beach location on the 
East.  Same for some area of Placentia.  In February I did not think the 
noise was that bad from V3M/V31MU. We were also set up to work the USA 
and VE and not DX.  I did not have a decent antenna for serious 160 work 
or an amp.

W0MU


On 2/12/2018 8:39 PM, Greg - ZL3IX wrote:
> My point was as follows.
>
> Apart from the launch point in V3, the entire path is over salt water. 
> This means that any ground reflections will happen with the minimum 
> loss. Even with several hops, this element of path attenuation will 
> therefore be minimal.
>
> My main observation is that QSO success, or otherwise, is likely to 
> depend on Rx capabilities at the V3 end. Since it is a tropical 
> location, QRN is likely to be significant. Directional Rx antennas 
> will be a distinct advantage.
>
> 73, Greg, ZL3IX
>
> On 2018-02-08 06:08 a.m., Grant Saviers wrote:
>> One issue is probably the orientation of the Belize beach vs path to 
>> VK/ZL.  A vertical on the beach within .7 wavelengths of the tide 
>> line has pronounced gain seaward.  That gain is at the expense of the 
>> land side pattern. For an antenna on a pier the pattern doesn't get 
>> symmetrical until a wavelength or so from the beach. The seaward 
>> pattern has extremely low peak gain angle, great for DX, and the land 
>> side about the same peak elevation as over "average ground."  So 
>> "entirely over the Pacific Ocean" is the wrong way from what I saw 
>> when visiting there.  Finding some salt water a dozen wavelengths 
>> long towards the west might make a huge difference to VK/ZL.
>>
>> See my article in QST June, 2016.
>>
>> Grant KZ1W
>>
>> On 2/6/2018 20:45 PM, Greg - ZL3IX wrote:
>>> Having noted that my answer to Iain's post has not appeared on the 
>>> Reflector, I am trying again.
>>>
>>> -------- Forwarded Message --------
>>> Subject:     Re: Topband: Belize-VK/ZL possibilities
>>> Date:     Sun, 4 Feb 2018 10:58:31 +1300
>>> From:     Greg - ZL3IX <zl3ix at inet.net.nz>
>>> To:     topband at contesting.com
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hi Iain,
>>>
>>> I worked V31YN in Jan 2007. Is that QSO one of the two in Clublog?
>>>
>>> No, I don't think it is a tricky path at all, being almost entirely 
>>> over
>>> the Pacific Ocean. Your problem will not be Tx, with an antenna over 
>>> sea
>>> water, but, unless you make a special effort with Rx, you may have a
>>> problem hearing in a noisy tropical country like V3.
>>>
>>> 73, Greg, ZL3IX
>>>
>>> On 2018-02-03 09:43 a.m., iain haywood wrote:
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> I'm off to Belize again for the commonwealth contest in March but 
>>>> after the event I plan to make use of the pier over seawater for 
>>>> top band and some 60M.
>>>>
>>>> An inverted-L over seawater is planned.
>>>>
>>>> On checking clublog it says there have been only TWO QSO's ever 
>>>> between VK/ZL and V31 on 160M.
>>>>
>>>> Is this a tricky path ? I assume its because of high thunderstorm 
>>>> noise in the tropics.
>>>>
>>>> What do think of my chances with 100W and CW & some FT8 
>>>> (shock--horror!)
>>>>
>>>> Iain G4SGX
>>>>
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