Topband: C21MM

[Don Kirk]

Sorry, sent my message to wrong post.

Don wd8dsb

On Mon, Oct 21, 2024 at 8:09 AM Don Kirk <wd8dsb at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Mike,
>
> Interesting read and thanks for sending it my way.  This is a great
> example on why you need to keep an open mind as there are almost infinite
> sources of RFI.
>
> We are starting our drive back to Indy today and will get home tomorrow
> evening.
>
> Don wd8dsb
>
> On Mon, Oct 21, 2024 at 5:01 AM Michael Tope <W4EF at dellroy.com> wrote:
>
>> C21MM has been in solid for well over 1.5 hours on FT8 tonight and it's
>> still early. They were loud enough at times (at least on my end) for a
>> CW QSO, but they didn't decode my signal on FT8 until their signal
>> peaked up to R=0, whereas on this end I was decoding solidly down to
>> R=-20. Clearly they have some receive challenges. The DHDL antenna that
>> C21MM plans to use for receive has been employed by AA7JV on some of his
>> expeditions, so it's got a proven track record. Perhaps there is a storm
>> that is very close to them causing unusually high QRN.
>>
>> I need to go to bed, today is a work day 🙁
>>
>> 73, Mike W4EF.................
>>
>> On 10/20/2024 6:13 PM, Wes Stewart via Topband wrote:
>> >   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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