I have some questions and an observation - first of all, I hope all the U.S. stations who worked XX9C in the cqww dx ssb contest get a nice letter from Riley. The frequency of 21.198 isn't exactly in the phone portion of U.S. priviledges on 15 meters. Apparently the XX9C gang did not know that either as they were working the U.S. stations on that frequency as well. Unfortunately that was the best I heard XX9C the entire weekend - I still have yet to work any XX9 on any band. Someone asked them to go up 5 and they acknowledged the comment but I never heard them operate split, then they faded in a quick 15 minutes. The other times I saw spots for them it was at times with no propagation to my area. XX9 is a tough path to my part of W5 anyway. I realize I could have worked them on 21.198 and just put 15 meters on the qsl card, but I just could not pull myself to do that. I think I would rather work them honestly. --- So, I'm still studying propagation to that part of the world. I've always had a tough time copying stations from that part of the world - XX9, 9M2, XY, XV, BY. Here is one thing I'm wondering about - the way my station and antenna, etc. are setup - could be a factor in trying for those dxcc entities - here is the setup -- I have a 34 foot small two section tower, supporting a 5-band gemquad antenna - the antenna is fed with a w2au balun so I do not have separate feedlines. I am running 100 watts (no amp) and using a Yaesu 747 radio. My microphone antenna may be one of the problems as it has a broken push-to-talk button that was cracked during an accident. However, I can't see how it would affect anything. Although I had some hams on 10 meters tell me the other day that my audio is low. Can a messed up microphone drop the audio any? I'm not an expert in that area so maybe someone can help. If my audio is too low, then maybe a lot of the most distance dx isn't hearing a weak audio signal. Just a thought. Finally, the way my city lot is laid out, the front and back of my house is due east and west. So it's easy to point the antenna due north by using the house and the street, etc. To the back of the house is a set of overhead power lines. To point my quad short path to countries to the west puts it into those power lines. I personally can't see how the power lines would affect an outgoing signal. Of course, the proximity of the power lines could affect the incoming signals. Also power tools, hair dryers, microwave ovens etc etc although I don't notice much interference. I'm just wondering how much if any effect the power lines could have. -- My other thoughts on reaching that part of the world - not enough power (I heard at least five locals work XX9C in the contest), not enough height on the antenna (34 feet too low) and the other thing was that it rained in Houston the entire length of the contest - actually for 6 straight days! I guess rain could change the swr of the antenna but again I wouldn't think too much. So that's it - maybe someone could help me figure out a strategy for working stations like XX9, XV/3W and similar. I worked others during the contest to check my antenna - including Easter Island, Zaire, Niger and a T32, so I know I'm making it in those directions. Thanks - looking forward to suggestions. Marty Blaise, AG5T
_____________________________________________ Free email with personality! Over 200 domains! http://www.MyOwnEmail.com Subscribe/unsubscribe, feedback, FAQ, problems http://njdxa.org/dx-chat To post a message, DX related items only, [EMAIL PROTECTED] This is the DX-CHAT reflector sponsored by the NJDXA http://njdxa.org
