Topband: CQWW CW 160m

[Charlie]

> I have been challenged to work 160m from my location in NE Ohio EN91 for some 
> time now.? Until recently, my best receiving antenna has been my 65' tall tee 
> transmit antenna fed from a MFJ998RT remote tuner and about 40 65' long 
> radials on ground.? I'm in an HOA, but have over 1.5 acres and tall trees for 
> wires).? I have tried a pair of 200' reversible beverages on ground (RBOG) 
> running NE/SW and NW/SE and a single 36" commercial aluminum loop.? Neither 
> of these antennas have ever seemed to outperform the transmit antenna, 
> although the RBOGs definitely provided directivity, but no noise improvement 
> over the transmit antenna. Prior to CQWW CW, I obtained Aziloop 
> hardware/software and constructed a 27' tall K9AY array to use with it.? This 
> combination has allowed me to see improved performance over my transmit 
> antenna for the first time at this location.??I was able to see traces of 
> many spotted DX stations on my panadapter (FLEX6600) but not strong enough to 
> copy.? The stronger DX stations (and sampling of more local stations) that I > was able to work include:
> I am encouraged with the performance of this array so far and am going to try 
> experimenting with longer ground radials on the K9AY array (now 4 x 21' on 
> ground, no ground rod) and combining this with my transmit antenna and my DX 
> Engineering NCC-2 combiner to attempt additional directivity and noise 
> reduction.Happy Holidays to all es 73,- Charlie KC9LAUpate:  Here's the list of stations I was able to work (does not include many in zones 4 and 5):ZONE CALL2 CF2I3 VC7G4 VE3EJ5 VP9I8 ZF1A8 8P5A8 KP4AA8 VP5M8 ZF5T8 ZF2SS8 WP3C9 P49Y9 PJ2T9 P44W9 PJ4K9 PJ4A14 DF0HQ14 LN8W14 MW5B14 M6T14 TM2Y14 G6XX14 OZ5W33 CR3W- Charlie Hall, KC9LA