Topband: Topband Digest, Vol 263, Issue 19

Fri Nov 29 14:37:20 EST 2024

Roger VE3ZI you were the strongest NA signal on the band when I briefly listened around 0600z. I say briefly because when I tried to call you my amp instantly shut down with high SWR. When it got light I discovered that the feeder had broken in the gales. 

73

Richard G3OQT

> On 29 Nov 2024, at 17:00, topband-request at contesting.com wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
> 
>   1. How to tune a Parasitic array (ve6wz at shaw.ca)
>   2. CQWW CW160m (Roger Parsons)
>   3. Re: CQWW CW 160m (Charlie)
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2024 20:54:41 +0000
> From: "ve6wz at shaw.ca" <ve6wz at shaw.ca>
> To: "Topband at Contesting. Com" <topband at contesting.com>
> Subject: Topband: How to tune a Parasitic array
> Message-ID:
>    <DM6PR02MB6987D5A81BA7B750BB6940EEFC292 at DM6PR02MB6987.namprd02.prod.outlook.com>
>    
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> 
> Hello fellow TB DXers,
> 
> Today I uploaded the companion video to the 3 element 12 direction video from a week ago.
> 
> This video is a practical guide to tuning a 2 or 3 element vertical parasitic (or a Yagi) by just observing the mutual coupling with your analyzer.
> I demonstrate mutual coupling in the field and show how that guides us to adjusting the parasitic elements to achieve the gain, F/B and SWR performance we want.
> Specifically I show how to tune the parasitic elements in a 2 or 3 element (K3LR style) vertical array to set the gain and FB peaks exactly where you want them.
> I also show how the SWR bandwidth is drastically affected by where we tune the driver.
> To my knowledge, this method has not been described anywhere else and is much easier than the "traditional" tuning methods.
> https://youtu.be/J8S3iZ9-848
> 
> 
> 73, de Steve, ve6wz
> 
> PS. Please be aware I get nothing from my YouTube channel. I have chosen not to monetize my channel even though I could.
> You should never see commercial ads on my videos.
> Because I have chosen not to monetize with YouTube, most of my videos do not show up in typical searches since there is no money in it for them.
> I make videos only to share some of the stuff I do, mostly for 160m, and hopefully to help others.
> If you know of anyone that might be interested in any of my content, please share. (or don't).
> 
> I have been asked "why don't you write a paper".  Well, I spent 35 years writing scientific papers and pdfs. I don't want to do that anymore.
> A video is easier to squeeze in more information.
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 2
> Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2024 21:24:59 +0000 (UTC)
> From: Roger Parsons <ve3zi at yahoo.com>
> To: "topband at contesting.com" <topband at contesting.com>
> Subject: Topband: CQWW CW160m
> Message-ID: <161467035.3316772.1732829099795 at mail.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
> 
> Just a note along with the many others. I was operating single band 160m, and found the contest quite difficult from here. My excuse is that I am too far north and too far west...
> 
> Most of the time Europe was either very weak or not there at all, but individual countries would pop up for a short period. On a (very) few occasions, M6T and MW5B were S9+. (It is quite unusual for the UK to be the loudest - normally it is southern Europe.) There were a few quite nice openings - A60A was workable at 120 degrees whereas the great circle path is 40 degrees. Was surprised to work JA on both mornings as this has been very rare for a few years.
> 
> I am lucky enough to have a very quiet location and multiple good receiving antennas, but this year the 'second layer' stations mostly didn't make it.
> 
> Finally, I must respectfully disagree with the statements that the best time for DX is after sunrise. In my 60+ years of chasing 160m DX from a number of countries, I have found that peaks can occur from several hours before sunrise to a while after sunrise - but rarely more than 15 minutes.
> 
> 73 Roger
> VE3ZI
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Message: 3
> Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2024 21:15:39 +0000 (UTC)
> From: Charlie <cahall10 at frontier.com>
> To: "topband at contesting.com" <topband at contesting.com>
> Subject: Re: Topband: CQWW CW 160m
> Message-ID: <622824716.2199156.1732828539929 at mail.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
> 
> 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 stati
> ons (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 KC9LA
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> End of Topband Digest, Vol 263, Issue 19
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