Topband: Mobile Operations are great for long trips.

[g3nkc]

In the day, a number of folks, me included had 160m mobiles,  around central U K in particular. Generally, we used 8ft tank whips on the roof of the car, and a base loading coil, worked very well.I think a friend of mine did work K1PBW one morning, on ssb. There is a bridge under a motorway in Birmingham which we called the DX bridge , when you went UNDER it, signals would be enhanced,  guess re radiating off the oveerhead structure !73 Dave, G3NKC Sent from my Galaxy
-------- Original message --------From: W3HKK at roadrunner.com Date: 07/01/2024  22:02  (GMT+00:00) To: "'topband at contesting.com'" <topband at contesting.com> Subject: Re: Topband: Mobile Operations are great for long trips. And miraculous on 160m! Yet I worked two mobiles in the latest StewPerry Contest. Amazing ops!Also, over the years Ive enjoyed qsos with mobile cw ops who weredriving to and from work. Never ceases to amaze me how they crank outthe cw at 30 wpm while driving through traffic. Really fun guys towork and chat with.Franks note also reminded me of back in the '90s when we had a familycondo in Myrtle Beach for 10 yrs or so. The condo Home OwnersAssociation held its annual meeting the first weekend in March!!!DXers will know thats the weekend of the ARRLWW SSB DX Contest. Aftera few 14 hr trips each way, the XYL opted out, so I had the conversionvan all to myself. We lived in central Ohio ( Ohio State Buckeye land)so the van colors were scarlet and grey. It was a mighty impressivelooking van with captains chairs, a bed and TV. The trek to MB was long and tiring. However, with a mobile rig and anda variety of mobile antennas for 40-20-15-10m (Both Hustlers and thePerth Outbacker). No amp. Just 100w. The Hustler stick had a triangleon top allowing three antennas to be attached. 40-20-15 in the lateafternoons/evenings, and 20/15/10 during daytime. The "mobile rig" was a great xcvr - the FT901dM ( all 70# of it) whichI encased in a wooden box that sat on the floor in front of the frontpassenger seat. And for the entire 14 hr drive ( Fri night from 0001ztil I stopped at a motel, then again Sat morning from sunrise til Ireached my destination, I was in the contest, changing bands, catchingthe MUF, tuning the rig, and working JAs-VKs-ZLs-SA-CA-Europe andAfrica. I mean, 14 hrs never went by so quickly. It was a ball, and Id putbetween 250 and 350 Q's in the log each year. Well, not quite. I neverkept a log - but I would have loved to look back at one if I had, andremember the Q's. I just worked them and trusted my memory not to makedupe contacts. Im sure I did. On night in the rain I pulled into a gas station to top off thethirsty van tanks. My "impressive" conversion van with antennas offthe back end and on the roof looked like a porcupine. A car filledwith teenagers pulled up at a nearby pump and began laughing at it -and me. But I was having a ball, and actually looked forward to theannual DX Contest from the Ford conversion van. I only caught the 14 hours on the drive South. Saturday afternoon wasthe meeting, and Sunday I had other condo matters to attend to. Aswell as test out the amenities. Then on Mon I would drive back to OH.Talk about great memories. Those annual DX Contest drives to MB, aswell as many other 5-8 hr drives to DC and other destinations where Icould tune the bands while driving the van, or numerous rental cars.(Had installing the rig and antenna down to a science on rentals! ) The first time I ever worked Franz Josef Land was while mobiling toDC. He was pounding in on 10m ssb. and I worked him from each newstate (PA-MD-VA) to make sure I got in his log. But I never got thatQSL! ( But I got another FJL contact confirmed a few years later.) Even took some cross country drives to rare WV counties so I couldoperate the County Hunters Net on 20m. Never did any mobile cw though. Bob	-----------------------------------------From:topband-request at contesting.comTo: topband at contesting.comCc: Sent: Sunday January 7 2024 12:00:21PMSubject: Topband Digest, Vol 253, Issue 11 Send Topband mailing list submissions to topband at contesting.com To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visithttp://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/topband /> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to topband-request at contesting.com You can reach the person managing the list at topband-owner at contesting.com When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Topband digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: Lack of DX CW Activity (Richard (Rick) Karlquist) 2. Re: Lack of DX CW Activity (Frank W3LPL) 3. Re: Lack of DX CW Activity (Mike Smith VE9AA) 4. Re: Lack of DX CW Activity (Mike Smith VE9AA) 5. 160 meter report (Mark Lunday) 6. HI-Z 4-8pro 8-circle array (Andree DL8LAS) 7. AZILOOP (Tracey Gardner) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2024 09:46:23 -0800 From: "Richard (Rick) Karlquist"  To: Mike Smith VE9AA , topband at contesting.com Subject: Re: Topband: Lack of DX CW Activity Message-ID:  Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed On 1/6/2024 6:49 AM, Mike Smith VE9AA wrote: > > Bill KU8H > > > > OK, I'll be very honest and say that I don't really understandposts like > this. > > For nearly 30 yrs I've run 160m mobile on again/off again (more offthan on) > and have I think 67 countries on Top Band. > KH6DX/W6 famously worked 100 countries for his DXCC ... from hispickup truck in SoCal. He had a big fat screwdriver antenna, and an 800 watt amplifier. He was at liberty to get away from noise sources, and getup on hills, drive on beaches, drive on dry salt lakes, etc and not haveto run QRP to keep the neighbors happy. One winter he drove to the N. Dakota/S. Dakota border and worked the ARRL 160 and had a blast. Hewas plenty readable on this coast from 2,000 miles away. He even had special QSLs printed. You mentioned the helically loaded PVC pipe that was published inQST. That may have worked after a fashion, but an old fashioned loading coil always works better than helically wound. Your suggestion about top loading wires is right on, though. 73 Rick N6RK ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2024 13:01:48 -0500 (EST) From: Frank W3LPL  To: topband  Subject: Re: Topband: Lack of DX CW Activity Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 AA1K has worked 51 countries on 160 meters and 275 countries on allbands from his car using 100 watts and KJ7U screwdriver for 160-6 meters 73 Frank W3LPL ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard"  To: "Mike" , "topband"  Sent: Saturday, January 6, 2024 9:46:23 AM Subject: Re: Topband: Lack of DX CW Activity On 1/6/2024 6:49 AM, Mike Smith VE9AA wrote: > > Bill KU8H > > > > OK, I'll be very honest and say that I don't really understandposts like > this. > > For nearly 30 yrs I've run 160m mobile on again/off again (more offthan on) > and have I think 67 countries on Top Band. > KH6DX/W6 famously worked 100 countries for his DXCC ... from hispickup truck in SoCal. He had a big fat screwdriver antenna, and an 800 watt amplifier. He was at liberty to get away from noise sources, and getup on hills, drive on beaches, drive on dry salt lakes, etc and not haveto run QRP to keep the neighbors happy. One winter he drove to the N. Dakota/S. Dakota border and worked the ARRL 160 and had a blast. Hewas plenty readable on this coast from 2,000 miles away. He even had special QSLs printed. You mentioned the helically loaded PVC pipe that was published inQST. That may have worked after a fashion, but an old fashioned loading coil always works better than helically wound. Your suggestion about top loading wires is right on, though. 73 Rick N6RK _________________ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband [1] - TopbandReflector ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2024 14:13:55 -0400 From: "Mike Smith VE9AA"  To:  Subject: Re: Topband: Lack of DX CW Activity Message-ID:  Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hey Rick, Thanks for reminding me of his KH6 call. Yes, I have used a number of mobile antennas on top band. Each with their own quirks. The last time I was QRV on Top Band from the car (I think) was theSPTDC (or was it ARRL160?) a few years back and I ran my big SA-680S mobileantenna on my mini with 4 really long top loading wires coming down off theregular top hat on this wonderful antenna to all corners of the car.(normal picon qrz.com) I think I might have worked 1 EU (A G-stn iirc) but heardeven more EU. I think I had to retune the screwdriver about every 10kc or something like that. I also had an MFJ 100w tuner in line for onecontest where I was just not getting a good enough match to make my FT857Dhappy. NA7TB and K7RAT were the big catches. REAL DX for a mobile stationhere in grid FN66. My whole point of talking about topband mobile was, if it can be done mobile, then certainly, with some effort & ingenuity , you can get a somewhat decent signal out from a home station on a postage stampsized lot. Thanks ! Mike VE9AA.and occasionally VE9AA/m & other calls. KH6DX/W6 famously worked 100 countries for his DXCC ... from hispickup truck in SoCal. He had a big fat screwdriver antenna, and an 800 watt amplifier. He was at liberty to get away from noise sources, and getup on hills, drive on beaches, drive on dry salt lakes, etc and not have torun QRP to keep the neighbors happy. One winter he drove to the N.Dakota/S. Dakota border and worked the ARRL 160 and had a blast. He was plenty readable on this coast from 2,000 miles away. He even had specialQSLs printed. You mentioned the helically loaded PVC pipe that was published inQST. That may have worked after a fashion, but an old fashioned loading coil always works better than helically wound. Your suggestion about top loading wires is right on, though. 73 Rick N6RK Mike - Keswick Ridge, NB, Canada ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2024 14:16:16 -0400 From: "Mike Smith VE9AA"  To: "'Frank W3LPL'" , "'topband'" Subject: Re: Topband: Lack of DX CW Activity Message-ID:  Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Years ago now, but I worked Jon a few times when he was mobile on hisway to work and I seem to recall him being a pretty darn good signalat 1000kms away from here. I think he may have even worked Japan fromhis Jetta and KJ7U antenna. Maybe he'll see these messages and comment. Mike - Keswick Ridge, NB, Canada -----Original Message----- From: Frank W3LPL [mailto:donovanf at starpower.net] Sent: January 6, 2024 2:02 PM To: topband Subject: Re: Topband: Lack of DX CW Activity AA1K has worked 51 countries on 160 meters and 275 countries on allbands from his car using 100 watts and KJ7U screwdriver for 160-6 meters 73 Frank W3LPL ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard"  To: "Mike" , "topband"  Sent: Saturday, January 6, 2024 9:46:23 AM Subject: Re: Topband: Lack of DX CW Activity On 1/6/2024 6:49 AM, Mike Smith VE9AA wrote: > > Bill KU8H > > > > OK, I'll be very honest and say that I don't really understandposts like > this. > > For nearly 30 yrs I've run 160m mobile on again/off again (more offthan on) > and have I think 67 countries on Top Band. > KH6DX/W6 famously worked 100 countries for his DXCC ... from hispickup truck in SoCal. He had a big fat screwdriver antenna, and an 800 watt amplifier. He was at liberty to get away from noise sources, and getup on hills, drive on beaches, drive on dry salt lakes, etc and not haveto run QRP to keep the neighbors happy. One winter he drove to the N. Dakota/S. Dakota border and worked the ARRL 160 and had a blast. Hewas plenty readable on this coast from 2,000 miles away. He even had special QSLs printed. You mentioned the helically loaded PVC pipe that was published inQST. That may have worked after a fashion, but an old fashioned loading coil always works better than helically wound. Your suggestion about top loading wires is right on, though. 73 Rick N6RK _________________ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband [2] - TopbandReflector ------------------------------ Message: 5 Date: Sun, 7 Jan 2024 04:30:24 +0000 From: Mark Lunday  To: "Topband at contesting.com"  Subject: Topband: 160 meter report Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Heard but could not get through to OK1CF @ 0010 UTC. Long QSB from559 down to the noise level. Worked OH0Z at 0005 UTC. Checked back in at 0430 UTC and signals were barely audible amid QSB. Mark Lunday, WD4ELG Greensboro, NC FM06be wd4elg at arrl.nethttp://wd4elg.blogspot.com [3] SKCC #16439 FISTS #17972 QRP ARCI #16497 ------------------------------ Message: 6 Date: Sun, 7 Jan 2024 09:41:22 +0000 (UTC) From: Andree DL8LAS  To: topband reflector  Subject: Topband: HI-Z 4-8pro 8-circle array Message-ID:  Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Hey topbanders,? after checking the complete HI-Z 4-8pro 8-circle array I found a bigmistake. The original delay lines had wrong length, prepared for 85ftdiameter array.Yesterday with help from Lee K7TJR and Dado E74AW Imade new lines for 113 ft. Nice results in F/B and direction correction. Here two videos from the new one. Testing with European beacon?and this morning with signalsfrom KP4AAand W0FLS.https://youtu.be/rIH7sgznWqw?si=YGXYd8L2zO7r9TOQ /> https://youtu.be/Hko87kfIk9A?si=lO0hO4UQwU2vz4RP /> Any more videos at my homepage? www.dl8las.com? 73 Andy DL8LAS? www.dl8las.com ------------------------------ Message: 7 Date: Sun, 7 Jan 2024 15:45:39 +0000 From: "Tracey Gardner"  To: topband at contesting.com Subject: Topband: AZILOOP Message-ID:  Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Interesting new product https://www.quietradio.co.uk/ /> here are some videos of the system. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYlWsvS63jS2XaBzzRQ-uoDPAJzaX7jBM /> 73s Tracey G5VU ------------------------------ Subject: Digest Footer _______________________________________________ Topband mailing list Topband at contesting.com http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/topband /> ------------------------------ End of Topband Digest, Vol 253, Issue 11 ****************************************Links:------[1] http://www.contesting.com/_topband[2] http://www.contesting.com/_topband[3] http://wd4elg.blogspot.com_________________Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector