Topband: Conditions on 160m for ARRL Contest

[k1zm at aol.com]

Hello Gang


I think these signals (which we call the "O O O" beacons because they send "DAH DAH DAH" - "DAH DAH DAH"  over and over - are some kind of navigation beacons in the Eastern  BALTIC.

I have heard them starting as high in the band as 1818 (or so - maybe not a precise starting point) - and on a really good night I can hear the weaker ones down to as low as 1806 and 1803. (or so).


On a really good evening this past week, I heard them (I think) as low as 1801 - but that is a really weak one.


Curiously, they are not on the air every night - because there are often days at a time when they are not operational - or I would surely hear them - from where I am located.


They have been on as long as I can remember - they were around in 1977 as I recall - when we all used to hang out and rag chew on 1812 SSB - the old guys from the nets of those days have mostly passed away now - EI8H, GD4BEG etc, - but a few are still with us including AA0RS (G3SZA) and Willem PA0HIP who now lives in DU as I recall.


FWIW - 


BTW - based on how loud the UPPER ones are from 1814-1818 over here - I would think they must be at least 40db  over S9 in WESTERN EU - and spaced every 3-4 kHz apart - they peak at about S9+5 or so here at VY2ZM,


73 jeff.





Jeff Briggs
DXing on the Edge: The Thrill of 160 Meters 
Available worldwide through BookBaby, Array Solutions, DX Engineering, Royal Society of Great Britain, & Amazon



































---- Original Message ----
From: F6FYA via Topband <topband at contesting.com>
To: topband <topband at contesting.com>
Sent: Mon, Feb 19, 2018 9:10 pm
Subject: Re: Topband: Conditions on 160m for ARRL Contest

‎I'm a New member of the "Topband list"I agree with Roger for the QRM at the bottom of the band. I don't know what they are, fishnet or beacons, but it's getting very hard to call CQ on this part of the band. By the way, for me in the central west part of France, conditions was much better friday night. Working with vertical ant, 21 m, and beverage. So, sorry with my  poor english, but a  pleasure to read differents messages from the list's members‎. Jean-Paul / F6FYA.Envoyé de mon smartphone BlackBerry 10 sur le réseau Orange depuis La Touraine, Dpt 37.  Message d'origine  De: Roger KennedyEnvoyé: lundi 19 février 2018 14:34À: topband at contesting.comObjet: Topband: Conditions on 160m for ARRL ContestWell on Friday night I couldn't hear one single American station . . . eventhough I heard a couple of Southern Europe stations working a few.Saturday night conditions were better, but signals were well down on whatthey have been for the past few weeks.However, in the 3 hours I spent on the band (at different times in thenight) I did manage to work 61 American stations . . . including a few inBrazil and the Caribbean.For future reference, here in Britain there are about 6 Navigation Beaconsbetween 1810 and 1818 kHz (they sound like the old Decca HiFix) . . . thesemake copying weak signals VERY difficult, so a good idea to avoid this partof the band !Roger G3YRO_________________Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband_________________Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband