[UK-CONTEST] Digital on 160

[Andy swiffin]

Hi

There's an ongoing discussion on the rtty contest list
http://lists.contesting.com/pipermail/rtty/ that may be of interest
to people here on the use of digital modes on top band and particularly
some ideas for an informal  digital contest on 160.  I didn't realise
that the rather crazy ARRL band plan puts digital in 1800 to 1810 and in
fact very few US amateurs seem to know that we don't have that
allocation or that our band plans are different.

And, The gentle bickering that occasionally takes place here is nothing
compared to the all out claws drawn war that our dear yank cousins
engage in in a related thread (actually the one that started the 160
rtty contest discussion) about the move of some ARRL news service to
1807 - we really are incredibly civilised in comparison....


If anyone was interested in those fibre glass telescopic poles Stuart
(AFF) was asking about I've now got one of the DX-Wire ones as well as
my original Walter Spieth dk9sq one (from Sycom).   If anyones
interested I can give a more detailed comparison but the main thing is
that the DX-Wire one is quite a lot longer when collapsed and also, I
think, heavier.  The dk9sq is of course shorter when extended, I liked
the metal reinforcing rings at the end of the lower sections which the
DX-Wire one doesn't have, but the dx-wire pole seems to be chunkier so
it probably doesn't matter.  I haven't really had a good look at the new
one extended and by the look of the snow currently falling here I
suspect my pland to mess round with it later today aren't going to
happen!

Cheers
Andy 
gm8oeg