Topband: C21MM

[Wes Stewart]

 The realities about some of these DXpedtions is that they are organized by Europeans and favor working EU. Take the just concluded (if they kept to schedule) PX0FF expedition.  The ops were all Europeans and >60% of their Qs were with EU and only 21% were with NA.  They didn't even operate 160 CW.  They made 1046 FT8 QSOs on 160 out of >150,000 total.

8R7X was another one with EU 54% and NA 31%.  Of course propagation favored EU, but they were active long enough that I worked them on both 160 CW and FT8 as well as 22 other band/modes.
Ditto A8OK that I worked on 33 band/modes, none on topband.  EU 64%, NA 19%.
I'm not trying to disparage our EU friends, I'm just pointing out the numbers.

C21MM will be QRV for at least another week.  So far they haven't made any topband CW contacts and only 6 with NA presumably on FT8.  They claim to have installed an RX antenna, but have high noise.  So we shall see, but I'm not holding my breath.  To their credit they have worked about the same number of CW and FT8 Qs and a few on RTTY, three of them mine.

AA7JV is a dedicated 160 man, who will put in the hours needed.  These other guys are not so motivated and want to run up their Q count by working the most productive bands, or by turning on the FT8 robots.
Wes  N7WS


    On Sunday, October 20, 2024 at 12:11:54 PM MST, Jim Brown <jim at audiosystemsgroup.com> wrote:  
 
 On 10/20/2024 11:14 AM, Steve Harrison wrote:
> If possible, please spend some time attempting to work some North
> American stations on *160 and/or 80m **CW*. A few minutes here and there
> is NOT enough; HOURS on the low bands are needed in order to catch the
> propagation peaks all across the NA and SA continents.

YES! Veteran expeditioner AA7JV recognized that topband openings tended 
to happen on one or two nights of a multi-week activation, and developed 
networks to allow simultaneous operation on CW and FT8 during every hour 
there's a possibility of propagation. One of the most glaring failures 
is abandoning the band at the first hint of daylight, when propagation 
PEAKS over the next 45 minutes to an hour!

73, Jim K9YC



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