[UK-CONTEST] 144MHz UKAC Contest

[Rob Harrison]

Hi,

I'd agree with John re headphones, the difference between using them and not 
is dramatic. Plus you've got to be aware of who's likely to be on the band, 
and which way to beam, that comes with experience. I can pick out callsigns 
when there's no visible indication on the meter, again experience and who is 
likely to be on in the direction I'm beaming.

There could be another effect happening, where you're calling CQ and getting 
no response. Another station, on or near your frequency, you can't hear due 
to beam headings. They are swamping your weaker signal at the distant end, 
causing listeners to pass you by.  The reverse is also true.

As for signal levels, I generally give lower reports than I get for more 
distant stations, even when I know they are running more power than I am. 
Whether that's down to higher noise floor here than there, I don't know. 
It's always been the same here regardless of contesting or not.

I've recently upgraded both 2&70 to Ecoflex15, and the shack is directly 
under the mast, so a smallish run. The antennas are 25 plus years old which 
may be a factor, but the SWR is very good, until it rains, then 70 goes up 
dramatically. Not got pre-amps to provide extra switching losses. The 
QRM/QRN has increased over the years, by how much, 64 million dollar 
question.

Some of my contacts in UKAC are up and down in QSB(or AS?) from 57 to 31 
very rapidly, to the point of establishing a QSO then having to abandon, 
never hearing the station again.

The G0KSC series of antennas have a very clean pattern, which tends to 
minimise noise pick up, but you then lose the bonus signals off of those 
lobes you previously had. Just a thought.

73 Bob G8HGN JO01FO

FT-847, 50w, 2x15 CueDee 13m AGL, 60m ASL

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Lemay" <john at carltonhouse.eclipse.co.uk>
To: <g6nhu at me.com>; "'UK Contest List'" <uk-contest at contesting.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2011 4:21 PM
Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] 144MHz UKAC Contest


>
> I might as well don my hard hat, and then suggest that some of this issue 
> is
> related to what is between the headphones ..........
>
> However, turning the argument around, I'd be the first to admit that I do
> not have a "communications voice", and "zulu tango radio" is often 
> misheard
> as "zulu echo radio" (although the permutations of misunderstanding seem 
> to
> be endless). Sometimes I resort to the key to clear things up. As you can
> guess, this is not successful with everyone.
>
> Regards
>
> John G4ZTR
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: uk-contest-bounces at contesting.com
> [mailto:uk-contest-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of g6nhu at me.com
> Sent: 03 February 2011 15:51
> To: UK Contest List
> Subject: Re: [UK-CONTEST] 144MHz UKAC Contest
>
> It's not just the fixed stations who display these symptoms. I worked a
> station on Tuesday who first had my callsign of G0PKT correct and then for
> some reason changed it to G4 and despite me calling him back repeatedly 
> for
> five minutes after to get the correction across, he clearly couldn't hear
> me. I tried again half an hour later but had no response.
>
> He was a solid 59 and was /P *sigh*
>
> 73
> Keith, G6NHU.
>
> --
>
>
> On 3 Feb 2011, at 14:51, "David Ferrington, M0XDF" <M0XDF at Alphadene.co.uk>
> wrote:
>
>> I think it goes a long what too - I have a noise floor of S7 at the
> contest location, S9 at home.
>> -- 
>> The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a
> man's
>> foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher.
>> -Thomas Henry Huxley, biologist and writer (1825-1995)
>>
>> On 3 Feb 2011, at 14:46, Alex GM3ZBE wrote:
>>> Like you I live in a rural location with very low noise, but I don't
>>> think that urban noise at the other end entirely explains the 
>>> difference.
>>
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