Re: Topband: K1N On Line Log
Back in the day...we didnt have online logs...how did we possibly exist? That was really a long time ago..Like almost 5 years or more. I am dismayed that dxpeditions are now graded by the quality of their online logs and we demand perfection in every regard. But our own state of perfection is less than ideal. Funny that.. 73 DX Dale - N3BNA (this is a general comment, not meant to focus on any one person) _ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
Re: Topband: topband report from 4V1JR
Jim: Perhaps you somehow misread things. We were prepared with multiple RX antennas, preamplifiers, multiple transmit antennas tribanders. flooded RG6 , remote switching and lots of coax...but because of Haiti difficulties (of which there are many) our tower was not in place and our container did not arrive. This caused a last minute change and HH2JR was very kind and offered us the use of his nice station. We are all indebted to him (again since he was the hero in the Haitian earthquake) I would note that in the past year I have on several occasions invited folks on this reflector to join me for a dedicated topband dxpedition to Haiti. Noone was available. Traveling alone I carried radio, amplifier and supplies for both ham radio and our work project. Without doubt I could have used help. But the RX problem was not due to lack of planning. It was due to the change to a city lot QTH. Without the kindness of HH2JR there would have been zero topband QSOs and very few contacts on high bands. I know the need is great and people were disappointed but we worked many of our contest friends on 6 bands. Its OK to note that we failed to meet the need. We know that and we know we had serious QRN issues. The alternative was not to operate at all I was aware before the contest that we would be unable to work EU. I expected 10-12 stations in the Caribbean. In the end we worked more than that, we worked 180 stations through the noise. During the CQ contest we prioritized 160 over other bands. We again invite interested topbanders to help plan a future 160m dxpedition to Haiti that is not part of a contest. The purpose for my earlier Email (which I now wish I had not sent) was to ask if our friends in EU if they heard us and how was our signal. That is all I wanted to know. And I apologize for busting our callsign, and other mistakes that I may have made. I am still recovering from an extremely difficult and very stressful trip. My apologies to all. Vy 73 Dale - N3BNA P.S. I appreciate your offer of assistance and will let you know if we need anything. At this time we need operators to go in a non-contest dxpedition sometime in the future. With lots of planning. From: Jim Brown j...@audiosystemsgroup.com To: topband@contesting.com Sent: Saturday, December 6, 2014 4:11 AM Subject: Re: Topband: topband report from 4V1JB On Sat,12/6/2014 12:56 AM, Jan Erik Holm wrote: Wow 20 over 9 noise floor, if I had known I never would have called you, waist of power and time. Any team that goes to a location, whatever it, is, unprepared to address local noise issues is incompetent and ill prepared. I'm willing to help, but that's part of planning for any such effort. It's at least as important as what radios you bring and what antennas you plan to use. 73, Jim K9YC _ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband _ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
Re: Topband: Haiti on 160M this weekend?, HC2RMT/8, 9K2HN
Was nice to work you Tim. I specifically remember our QSO, but I didnt know you had just begun to call. Vy 73, Dale - N3BNA From: Tim Shoppa tsho...@gmail.com To: topBand List topband@contesting.com Sent: Monday, December 1, 2014 10:37 AM Subject: Re: Topband: Haiti on 160M this weekend?, HC2RMT/8, 9K2HN Thanks to everyone for their advice on Haiti! Within a minute of my first CQ on 160M, I was called by 4V1JR from Haiti!!! 160M was noise free for me both nights in CQ WW, complete absence of any atmospheric noise, and was just superb for me to hear EU Saturday night in CQ WW. The biggest surprise was working loud and easy A71BX. Tim N3QE On Wed, Nov 26, 2014 at 9:52 AM, Tim Shoppa tsho...@gmail.com wrote: I note a lot of Haiti activations for CQ WW. Are any known to be active on 160M? Also looking forward to V26K on 160M as it would be a new one for me on 160M. Last night HC2RMT/8 had a wonderfully loud signal on 80M and 160M but may not have been hearing too well. (Or maybe that was just them practicing in simplex.) I was hearing 9K2HN jway above ESP on 160M last night and amazingly loud (I mean, pretty much as loud as any local!) on 80M. Tim N3QE _ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband _ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
Topband: topband report from 4V1JB
Our plans for a 160m operation and CQWWCW entry were delayed due to supply issues and construction woes. THINGS ARE NOT EASY IN HAITI !!! We are very fortunate that we had any place to operate. We had only very low dipoles on the higher bands at the hotel/guesthouse. Thanks to the great kindness of Jean-Robert HH2JR (who is also famous for his efforts in the Haitian earthquake) we were offered the opportunity to use his nice station for the contest, and operate with the club callsign of 4V1FR. The last two days we worked on erecting the 160m antenna. We need to be thankful for three things, the kindness of HH2JR, the efforts to put up the antenna (including tower climbing and roof-climbing by an un-named old guy) and the excellent filtering ability of the Elecraft K3. We did not have time or space for a listening antenna, although with more time I would have tried. In the end we worked 180 stations on topband and had 3100 QSOs in the contest, which is not bad for a contest operation with only two ops. We aso had three lengthy power outages during which we got good exercise trying to start the generator. You probably already know that we were there on the top of every hour. We made a big effort on 160m because of the need. The antenna was an inverted Vee with one side folded back to the tower about 15 feet from the ground. The wire almost reached back to the tower. The other side went over a couple roofs and tied off in a neighboring property. It was an accomplishment to get this antenna erected and our host HH2JR was delighted to have a 160m antenna. The bad news is that we worked no EU stations, not a single one. We had 20 over 9 noise constantly...We did not have static crashes, just constant noise. One leg of the antenna was very close to a WIFI antenna. Not sure if that was the only culprit. I would like to know how we were being heard in EU...I have no reports. Our antenna described above and we used an Acom 1011 amplifier with about 750w output. Our best contact was with CN2AA. All other contacts were in the Caribbean area and North America. My goal in the future is to organize a dxpedition for topband operation only. We are looking for interested operators who love 160m. We know that contest weekends are not the best for DXing. We need a dedicated team of topband guys, not one guy without an RX antenna. But again, we need to thank HH2JR. Without his kind offer there would have been zero contacts on 160m last weekend. Thanks for all who called and wish that more of you could have been in the log. Please let me know if you would be interested in doing a 160m dxpedtion from Haiti. And please let me know how was our signal in EU compared to other stations. Thanks 73 Dale - N3BNA _ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
Re: Topband: Help put Haiti on topband
Hi Merv: We will try to look for everyone. Most previous operations had limited antennas. We should have pretty effective antennas. QRM will be a problem. RX antenna will not be to EU or USA, they will be AWAY FROM THE WORST NOISE SOURCES 73 Dale- N3BNA From: Merv Schweigert k...@flex.com To: topband@contesting.com Sent: Tuesday, October 7, 2014 2:09 PM Subject: Re: Topband: Help put Haiti on topband Same here, seems most trips to that area only put receive antennas up for EU or central USA, that puts me on the side of the antenna or rear.. Many times I can copy them 579 to 599 and they are impossible to work, listening to EU or ?? I realize there are not many stations out this way, but its frustrating year after year.. There usually are Vk, ZL, other pacific calling also with no luck. K9FD/KH6 On Tue,10/7/2014 8:36 AM, Carl Clawson wrote: there will be concentration on working Europe on the low bands How about working W6? In 8 years, I'm missing Haiti on Topband. 73, Jim K9YC _ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband _ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband _ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
Re: Topband: AM broadcast tower and 160m dxpedition
Hi Dado: I agree with you. Thanks to advice from AA1K, I built a sloping dipole at 200 feet for 80m in HH7-land. I was really loud into EU and USA with only a borrowed TS-50. We are still looking for operators for the HH2 160m dxpedition Dec1-Dec8. 73 Dale - N3BNA P.S. I am forever sad about the time that I tried a sloping dipole on 160m from HH7. It was the last day of my trip. We finished the antenna after dusk and put it up. It was my chance to be loud on 160 and make many people happy (I even had an argument that i should not do this because it was in a remote area and we had to fly at 6:30 AM). So it was Friday night and I tuned around 1812 and there I heard SSB signals..then all the band was full of SSB signals. W1 stations working W2 stations and W3 stations working W4 stations. I could not break the pileups. I could not get any answers to my CQ calls. My one night to be on 160 with good antenna was lost because of the SSB contest! From: Dragoslav Balaban d...@prijedor.com To: 'Carl' k...@jeremy.mv.com; g...@ka1j.com; Topband@contesting.com Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2014 7:02 AM Subject: Re: Topband: AM broadcast tower and 160m dxpedition hi all, As I can can see in EZNEC, simple model, Tower 2 Ft over average ground, 242 Ft high, best and simplest solution is to put sloping Dipole, K8UR style, Arch shape, from top of the Tower, Gain in dipole direction can be as much as 3.84 dBi at 17 degrees Vertical angle, one Dipole toward EU 60-90 degrees, and maybe other to west 270-300 degrees, that would cover all 360 degrees , with F-S 90 degrees less then 3 dB difference, but 90 degrees from HH north is NA, south SA, and thats close-almost local, so should be no problem... 73 gl, looking forward HH , would be new one 160m hi dado E74AW -Original Message- From: Topband [mailto:topband-boun...@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Carl Sent: Wednesday, 26 February, 2014 01:44 To: g...@ka1j.com; Topband@contesting.com Subject: Re: Topband: AM broadcast tower and 160m dxpedition Make them shorter and they will often do well over tidal marshes but not over open water. For a 240' tower Id suggest gamma feeding it up at the 1/4 wave point and use 4 elevated radials. It the AM BCB radials are installed they will make an excellent ground screen but do not connect them to the 160M feedline. Carl KM1H - Original Message - From: Charlie Cunningham charlie-cunning...@nc.rr.com To: g...@ka1j.com; Topband@contesting.com Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 5:24 PM Subject: Re: Topband: AM broadcast tower and 160m dxpedition That's not so surprising Gary !! te Way the Beverages and similar slow-wave antennas work is that they depend on the lossy GND underneath for their operation, so a salt marsh would not be a very beneficial GND structure under a Beverage! 73, Charlie, K4OTV -Original Message- From: Topband [mailto:topband-boun...@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Gary Smith Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2014 5:09 PM To: Topband@contesting.com Subject: Re: Topband: AM broadcast tower and 160m dxpedition My Inv-L is on a salt marsh on Long Island Sound in Connecticut I ran two bidirectional 860' beverages over the salt marsh. I had terrible results with the beverages, very noisy and hardly any improvement over the Inv-L, much of the time the Inv-L was more effective on Rx. With that, my experience of beverages salt marshes says to avoid this route. I ended up with a HI-Z Triangular array for Rx and it works very well at the same location. Gary KA1J No, I don't believe 240' is too high - especially if the tower has a base insulator! It would be so close to 1/2 wave on 160, that it could be fed very well as a 1/2 wave radiator on 160, either via a parallel tuned tank or a 1/4 wave of perhaps 450 oh ladder line. A 1/2 wave radiator wis an excellent transmit antenna, and, because of the high feed-point impedance can be driven against a very modest ground arrangement Like you, though, I believe they would do well to put up some terminated loops, or perhaps a Beverage (or 3?) for receive antennas! A 240' vertical would, I think, be a VERY noisy receive antenna. If they put up a KAZ terminated loop that only requires one overhead support, they could steer it around with ropes and weights on the ground. The KAZ is like ON4UN's FO0AAA 160 receive loop. 73, Charlie, K4OTV -Original Message- From: Topband [mailto:topband-boun...@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Richard Karlquist Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2014 3:38 PM To: topband@contesting.com Subject: Re: Topband: AM broadcast tower and 160m dxpedition Congratulations on your adventure. In the past, I have seen some of these AM tower efforts ruined by lousy receive conditions. I suggest you get an advance team out to the site to check out the noise level etc. and maybe put up some temporary beverages, loops,
Re: Topband: AM broadcast tower and 160m dxpedition
Hi Milt: This is not a big dxpedtion like VP6DX! We do not have a dxpedition webpage. We will use LOTW but we will not have real-time logging. For many years I have been involved in mission work to build radio stations in Haiti with an organization called Radio Lumiere. This is a Haitian nationally-run organization (a good thing not often enough found in developing countries where too often funding decisions are made by large NGOs). We have engineers and technical folks from USA and Germany who provide technical assistance and radio equipment. About once a year we go to Haiti and build a new FM station with 100ft tower. This year our project is to build an AM station. The two amateur groups are tasked with erecting the 240 foot AM tower. Then we get to play with it. This is a great opportunity, and is not often offered to amateurs. The tower would be erected by the group who is going in November for CQWW. The 160m dxpedition should arrive to find a big tower, but lacking radials with some kind of 160m antenna. Improving it for 160m would be our project. Our 160m efforts will be not of much practical use for the radio network, but necessary for topband. It is interesting to note (for some of the AM broadcast engineers in this group) that the people in Haiti (who dont have television and online news) still find AM to be an important communication vehicle. We do have a big opportunity. Many broadcast engineers do not have a high opinion of amateur radio operators and their abilities. And they do not often offer to allow an amateur group the use of their broadcast tower. But in this case the amateur community is providing the tower and the expertise to put it up. In return, we are allowed to use it. We plan to raise the tower in late November and have a small team to operate in the CQWW. I and other amateurs plan to stay and operate the ARRL 160m contest. We have a decent place to stay near the airport, and not far to the site. We will have a generator to ensure that we have power. The location is a salt marsh right on the ocean. We own the 9-acre plot. Although I have used beverages in other dxpeditions, I think that beverages would be of little value in the marshy area. (when I last visited the site the tower base and tuning house were on dry land and historically stay dry.) But part of the radial field would be in the marsh. We would have some local workers to provide assistance with radial installation. What we will have available is simply a tall broadcast tower. It will be top-loaded to bring it close to the design frequency of 660 Khz. We are still seeking a bottom insulator for the broadcast tower. As far as 160m operation is concerned, we could tune the tower with broadcast tuning network, but I agree with Dado and others that it may not be as good as a sloping dipole. (If we have opportunity we will try both.) If you would like to join us you would be most welcome. We need some 160 guys, especially to build some kind of listening antenna for a site with high ground conductivity. 73 Dale - N3BNA P.S. in addition to topband activities, I would note that all the ham radio stations in Haiti are operating with low or compromised antennas. On the higher bands we should be able to contact areas of the world that do not often have opportunity to contact Haiti. And as it happens many of our first group are well-known VHF contesters. So you may find us on 6m when our work is finished. From: Milt -- N5IA n...@zia-connection.com To: DALE LONG dale.l...@prodigy.net Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2014 11:28 AM Subject: Re: Topband: AM broadcast tower and 160m dxpedition Dale, Do you have a web page of the DXpedition that spells out the basics? Interested. In particular, what are your plans for 160 Meters, my specialty? de Milt, N5IA -- XZ1N, XZ0A, VP6DX -Original Message- From: DALE LONG Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2014 6:25 AM To: Dragoslav Balaban ; 'Carl' ; g...@ka1j.com ; Topband@contesting.com Subject: Re: Topband: AM broadcast tower and 160m dxpedition Hi Dado: I agree with you. Thanks to advice from AA1K, I built a sloping dipole at 200 feet for 80m in HH7-land. I was really loud into EU and USA with only a borrowed TS-50. We are still looking for operators for the HH2 160m dxpedition Dec1-Dec8. 73 Dale - N3BNA - No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2014.0.4592 / Virus Database: 3955/7652 - Release Date: 06/09/14 _ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
Topband: AM broadcast tower and 160m dxpedition
Gentlemen: I have been reluctant to ask for help which did not relate directly to our reflector. But today I got up my courage, so here goes. I have been invited to lead a group of amateurs to help build an AM tower in Haiti. Two things that may relate to some of our readers: 1. I will be returning to Haiti in November to build a 240foot AM broadcast tower. I know there are many AM broadcast engineers on this list and would like to have your advice. Specifically we are searching for a large conical base insulator. Sometimes when a tower rusts, they are disgarded or thrown on a pile somewhere. We would like to buy one, and possibly a tower as well. 2. In December of this year, I am organizing a small group to go to Haiti and participate in the 160m contest. (this of course is dependent on the tower being built.) I am particularly pleased that amateurs have been invited to help. Sometimes broadcast engineers do not have the highest opinions of amateur installations. So we do want to do it right. We have a 9-acre parcel of land along the ocean and part of the area is a salt-water marsh. I think there hasnt been any serious 160m activity from Haiti for a number of years. This location would present a nice opportunity for a serious lowband operation. If you have any information about base insulators/towers, or if you would like to join a 160m dxpedition to Haiti, please respond off the reflector to n3b...@gmail.com Thanks for your time. Dale - N3BNA _ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
Topband: Info about Haiti - delete if not interested
Gentlemen: Thanks for all the responses. I will respond individually to messages sent to my gmail account. The suggestion to re-locate made me laugh. (no offense, let me explain) Haiti is another world, and cannot be easily understood. Most land is not for sale. But the big thing is that all land registration papers were lost in the earthquake. Many landowners died. Even if you can find an owner and he would agree to sale, there are no legal mechanisms to purchase property. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE. There is no title insurance and no proof of ownership. We (the church radio station) own this land. Other land is not for sale. It will be a great location for lowband activities and is ideally located to cover the major population centers for AM broadcasting. The people who planned this national radio system showed great foresight in purchasing this site many years ago. We as amateurs are fortunate to get such an invitation to use this great location. I hope that we can make some people happy on topband. An important point about Haiti and radio. Radio is king of the communication world. Most people have no color TV, do not have internet, and have no newsprint. In North America we listen to radio as the last choice (in the car) when other things are not available. In Haiti, radio is their contact with the world, news, emergency communications, public health and in our case Christian programming. (not pushing it, just being honest). In rural areas, AM broadcast is the only game in town, and there are very few in the area. We are aware of corrosion concerns. Ideally we would like a tower made of flat stock rather than tubular towers. But we want to get on the air and will use whatever tower we can find. There is a source for locally made tower at low prices but the quality is not good enough for a 240 foot tower. The licensed frequency of our station is 660 Mhz so the tower is very short, but we have a tuning house and big tuning equipment. And we have done this before. Initially we will be using a German-made 1KW transmitter and hopefully move to a 5 KW one. There is nothing there now but some damaged buildings and empty land w/marsh near the ocean. We will make this project happen! Thanks for your interest. thanks again for all suggestions and ALL are appreciated. sorry for any off-topic comments..I will limit my responses here on the reflector, Vy 73, Dale - N3BNA From: Ashton Lee ashton.r@hotmail.com To: Charlie Cunningham charlie-cunning...@nc.rr.com Cc: DALE LONG dale.l...@prodigy.net; Group Topband topband@contesting.com Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2014 7:47 PM Subject: Re: Topband: AM broadcast tower and 160m dxpedition I thought a bit more about this… while a beachfront/salt marsh location might be ideal for building an international broadcast facility, if you were building a station for domestic Haitian audiences you would probably prefer a high location reasonably far from the sea and its corrosive effects. Or perhaps you might design a tower primarily as a support structure and utilize easily replaceable vertical dipoles with coated wire as the radiators. Without extensive maintenance a tower might last a relatively short period of time and have conductivity issues. On Mar 25, 2014, at 2:36 PM, Charlie Cunningham charlie-cunning...@nc.rr.com wrote: Good point! -Original Message- From: Topband [mailto:topband-boun...@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Ashton Lee Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2014 4:03 PM To: DALE LONG Cc: topband@contesting.com Subject: Re: Topband: AM broadcast tower and 160m dxpedition I would be especially mindful of corrosion issues in tower planning in the Caribbean. There was a recent article in the Contest Journal on the ever difficult tower corrosion experienced at PJ2T. On Feb 25, 2014, at 1:17 PM, DALE LONG dale.l...@prodigy.net wrote: Gentlemen: I have been reluctant to ask for help which did not relate directly to our reflector. But today I got up my courage, so here goes. I have been invited to lead a group of amateurs to help build an AM tower in Haiti. Two things that may relate to some of our readers: 1. I will be returning to Haiti in November to build a 240foot AM broadcast tower. I know there are many AM broadcast engineers on this list and would like to have your advice. Specifically we are searching for a large conical base insulator. Sometimes when a tower rusts, they are disgarded or thrown on a pile somewhere. We would like to buy one, and possibly a tower as well. 2. In December of this year, I am organizing a small group to go to Haiti and participate in the 160m contest. (this of course is dependent on the tower being built.) I am particularly pleased that amateurs have been invited to help. Sometimes broadcast engineers do not have the highest opinions of amateur installations. So we do want to do
Topband: Question - optimum number of radials
I understand that 120 radials is the golden standard. At what point is there no significant improvement? How much worse is 60 radials? How much worse is 24 radials (4 of 1/4 lambda and 20 or 1/10 lambda)? This may have been discussed in the past, but if there is any engineering reference or field testing that has been done, I would like to know the results. Thanks Dale - N3BNA _ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
Re: Topband: location
Bill: Expect the unexpected. If you are using insulated wire, it can be broken inside the insulation...Easy to check the wire for continuity.. Be absolutely sure all connections are really clean.. If you have a 1/4 vertical that is not touching another metal object, it should tune up. Try bypassing the tuner completely (not just putting the tuner in bypass mode) and check with antenna analyzer where it is resonant. That should give you some ideas. Perhaps your antenna is too short or too long. If you have a 1/4 vertical, you should not need a tuner unless you want to ragchew above 1900 KHz...You really need to find the resonant frequency of what you have. An ineffective antenna is one thing, but sounds like your antenna is not even resonant on 160m. (from your description of not loading on 160). Antenna analyzers are a wonderful tool. Best 73 Dale - N3BNA From: Bill Cromwell wrcromw...@gmail.com To: topband@contesting.com Sent: Saturday, September 21, 2013 10:05 AM Subject: Re: Topband: location Hi, I'm dealing with life on a small lot, too. I have a wire up (quarter wave on 160) that somewhat wants to work. I can load it through a matching network (aka tuner) on 80, 40, etc but it does NOT want to load on 160 meters. I can hear quite a bit but TX is woefully inadequate. I plan to raise it higher off the ground AND redo the counterpoise. I expect I'll have to make some sort of transformer to get it to load well, too. There are enough pieces that I am not planning to do anything until after I build the impedance measurement bridge and get some idea of just where to go. Meanwhile I might whiz up some transformers and take a shot in the dark but without knowing where I am I can't really know how to get somewhere else. Maybe I'll get lucky. Those counterpoise wires - like the antenna wire - cannot run in straight lines because there is not enough room (maybe one or two can). That same antenna used down below 500 kc has pulled in NDB stations from as far away as 1225 miles! When I try to pump about 35 watts into it I'm lucky if even ONE RBN receiver hears it and the signal is dismal. I only get that much when I remove the 'tuner' and feed the antenna direct from the Ranger's Pi network. 80 and 40 are good to go with that wire at less than 5 watts. If I get it to work I'll be back with more info. I am getting my own ideas of what to try from some of the same articles online that you guys have referenced. Trying to adapt to what I have here. 73, Bill KU8H On 09/21/2013 09:31 AM, James Rodenkirch wrote: During the summer of 2011 I came across a website hosted by Simone Mannini, IW5EDI, of Firenze, Italy, that featured a “160 meter antenna for a small lot.” The information and picture, supplied by Troy Martin, K5CBL, of Madill, Oklahoma, intrigued me. For details on the IW5EDI antenna, visit his website at http://bit.ly/1890Ay0. Thinking, “Why not?,” I assembled the “small lot” antenna, found five 75’ foot wires to use as counterpoises/radials, erected the antenna temporarily outside my shack and ran the five counterpoise wires along the back patio deck and out on the front yard. I connected the antenna to my venerable ICOM 735, keyed it up and found the SWR, without a tuner, was 1.3:1! It was Miller Time! Cranking the power down as low as it could go – and inserting a quickly-assembled 2db in-line attenuator – I entered the 2010 CQ WW 160 Meter Contest in the QRP category. At the end of the contest, I had garnered 182 QSOs, 37 multipliers and 3 (count ’em, THREE) DXCC multipliers. There ya go - quick, easy way top get on 160 and have some fun! 72, Jim Rodenkirch, K9JWV _ Topband Reflector _ Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Vertical vs inverted L question/opinions
Tom, that gives me an idea.. An artificial tree (metallic) about 130 feet tall. Wonder how many of them I could sell. Where's the nearest patent office? 73, Dale - N3BNA From: Tom W8JI w...@w8ji.com To: topband@contesting.com Sent: Sunday, August 11, 2013 10:21 PM Subject: Re: Topband: Vertical vs inverted L question/opinions Why is an inverted L apparently so popular on 160 when it wastes so much RF as a cloud warmer? Wastes so much RF is sort of subjective. Comparing an L to a T, both 65 feet high and resonant over 50 radials, the T has almost exactly the same average ground wave signal. There is only a tiny fraction of a dB difference. In some directions the L is a tiny bit stronger, and in some directions the T is a tiny bit stronger, but it all amounts to a fraction of a dB. The only real major issue is the L has about 0.4 dB front-to-back. They aren't that much different in impedance, either. I'm not sure anyone would see any difference, except perhaps the L fills in the deep vertical null a little bit. This changes if the L and T are not self-resonant. Even so, unless the L is made so long the current maximum moves out of the vertical section, there isn't really what most would consider a significant difference. In my opinion, the choice is mostly a matter of what best fits the supports. Unless you try to use Tree for an antenna, then you might be 20 dB down. 73 Tom _ Topband Reflector _ Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Desktop Power Supply Brand/Noise Question
I think that both W8JI and K9YC have made good points and a discerning ham can make an intelligent choice. Next topic ! Dale N3BNA From: Bill Cromwell wrcromw...@gmail.com To: topband@contesting.com Sent: Monday, July 22, 2013 12:41 AM Subject: Re: Topband: Desktop Power Supply Brand/Noise Question On 07/21/2013 08:37 PM, Jim Brown wrote: But you're re-engineering someone else's design, without knowledge of all the issues.That's a questionable practice unless you're a circuit designer -- it's easy to open a can of worms. Few hams are qualified to do that, and I would be the last to recommend it. 73, Jim K9YC _ Hi, Unless I missed something we are talking tampering with our own gear - our own possessions. I would be reluctant to ever so much as touch somebody else's consumer equipment. However I have bought brand new radio gear and after running a day or two turned it off, opened it up, and customized it. None of that stuff failed to run as expected. Other gear I just opened up, tearing the Do not open - no user serviceable parts inside nonsense tag. I satisfied my questions about how it works and how it was built. How awful that some of us actually build electrical equipment from scratch! YMMV. 73, Bill KU8H _ Topband Reflector _ Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Z81Z
If everyone who hopes to work him sends him a message, he will get a lot of Email. Unless you are a close personal friend, I recommend NOT to send Emails to Dxpeditioners telling them that you hope to work them on 160. I'm not trashing Mike, but a word to the wise. With best intentions, Dale - N3BNA From: Mike Greenway k...@bellsouth.net To: TOPBAND TOPBAND@CONTESTING.COM Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2013 4:46 PM Subject: Topband: Z81Z I see that K4ZW is in Z81 for a week or so. He mentions doing low band but wondered if anyone had more info as to whether he might have an amp with him for 160 and freq he might be using. Would really love to work this one on 160. I know he is a good low band op. I sent him an email but not sure if he is picking up his email while he is there. 73 Mike K4PI _ Topband Reflector _ Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Soliciting suggestions on our receive antennas for 5X8C
Dave: You may have tried many of these things but here are a few suggestions: 1. Check and re-check all audio lines and connectors 2. Bypass beverage box, preamps and any other devices, attach antennas directly to radio 3. Attach a PL259 and listen on main antenna port 2 4. try another radio. When I was in Uganda we lost some radios in T-storms, but I think that will not be a problem for you. Enjoy your stay, it is a beautiful country and the Ugandan people are the most polite people in the world !!! 73 Dale - N3BNA From: Brad Rehm bradr...@gmail.com To: Dave davek...@yahoo.com Cc: topband@contesting.com topband@contesting.com Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2013 9:03 AM Subject: Re: Topband: Soliciting suggestions on our receive antennas for 5X8C We are experiencing some weird problems with our receive antennas. We have a beverage about 540 feet long, terminated properly about 5 to 6 feet over the ground. I have built plenty of these at my house, they all work. This one here does not. It hears noise but no signals. Once In a while you can hears signals. So put you're receive antenna hat on. We suspect the ground is the problem. We are located on the shore of Victoria Lake at a resort. The soil appears to be sandy but with fresh water lake nearby. 200 feet. The beverage is in the clear away from large metal objects. With a 510 ohm termination we measure about 235 ohms when looking across the termination resistor. Using resistor theory essentially we have two resistances in parallel. The wire , termination transformer, ground rods and ground are about 500 ohms. Having not measured this at home I'm not sure if this is too low or too high of resistance. We erected a Flag 29x14 feet mounted just above the ground. This is purported to be ground independent. Our tests last night indicate this antenna is not hearing very well either. Dave Anderson, 5X/K4SV Dave, Which bands are you listening on? It's possible you'll find that the antennas perform better on 40m or 30m than on 160m or 80m because of your latitude, which is near zero. I understand there is a zone near the equator in which lower-frequency signals do not propagate well. My own experience on a road trip from southern to northern West Australia a few years ago demonstrated the effect. 40 meter prop all but fell away as we entered the northern territories. Brad KV5V _ Topband Reflector _ Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: KAZ Antenna
Gentlemen: http://www.qsl.net/wa1ion/pennant_v_kaz.htm This article provides a nice description of the KAZ antenna. Other articles are referenced. There have been various tests of larger and smaller KAZ antennas. The KAZ is my favorite antenna for dxpedtions, and has been very effective on trips where no beverages were possible. I much prefer the KAZ over the pennant and the ewe variations. 73 Dale - N3BNA From: Bruce k...@myfairpoint.net To: topband@contesting.com Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 4:37 PM Subject: Topband: KAZ Antenna It is a different name for a Terminated Delta Loop- Earl K6SE developed the recieiving Delta Loop for 160 meters, June 1, 2000 He was too late to get it into his printing of Flag and Pennant Antennas in QST July 2000. Designed for best F/B on 160 meters and zero recactance at 1.830 MHZ. It requires only one support at the top of the loop. The antenna was used by FO0AAA very successfully I had an antenna trasformer customer who built one recently and reported much success. He used the dimensions from the eham article. Like Pennant, and flag antenna it is low noise and ground independant. An article appears in eham with the dimensions from that Earl's antenna. http://www.eham.net/articles/806 73 Bruce-K1FZ www.qsl.net/k1fz/ --- From: Charlie Cunningham charlie-cunning...@nc.rr.com To: topband@contesting.com Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 9:21 AM Subject: Topband: KAZ Antenna Someone, named Charles, asked me if I could point him toward information on theKAZ antenna. I have lost, misplaced or accidentally deleted your e-mail. Please ask again, and I'll try to find some links to get you started. Otherwise, I will just post them here. ___ It is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatsoever for supposing it is true. - Bertrand Russell ___ It is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatsoever for supposing it is true. - Bertrand Russell
Re: Topband: phasing line lengths for phased verticals
Joe...I was wrong in my post. My verticals are 1/2 wave apart on 80m, which is the same as 1/4 wave on 160. After writing my message, I went back and added the 66' for clarity, and should have been 132' You are correct, using RG8X with velocity factor of .78, the phasing lines are about 53.5' and there are two of them, making them a too short to reach the 132' I really DO have 80m verticals that are 1/2 wave apart. (incidentally I share the radial fields with the 160m antennas which are 1/4 wave apart) So the question remains, how to properly feed phased verticals that are physically 1/2 wave apart 73 Dale From: Joe Subich, W4TV li...@subich.com To: topband@contesting.com Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2012 7:18 PM Subject: Re: Topband: phasing line lengths for phased verticals 1. for 80m phased verticals that are 1/2 wave apart (66 feet), That is 1/4 wave separation - not half-wave. One half wave on 80 is roughly 139 feet (984/3.55/2 = 138.6 feet). Since you are using 1/4 wave spacing and a PVS-2 (which is a quadrature device if I remember correctly), two /14 wave cables (about 54' each when the velocity factor for foam is included) should *easily* reach the midpoint of the array. 73, ... Joe, W4TV On 11/17/2012 6:56 PM, DALE LONG wrote: Until recently, I had phased verticals on both 80m and 160m and lots of beverages. (this was in a woods, and not my property) Then the loggers came and destroyed all. In addition to the antennas, the phasing lines were torn up, and broken and needed replacement. For 160m I use the Christman method with .71 and .84 wavelength lines. For 80m I use a Comtek PVS-2 controller. In replacing the 80m phasing lines today I made a stupid mistake, I dont know what I was thinking, but I carefully measured and soldered two identical 1/4 wave lengths of new coax. I tested them on my AIM 4170 and they were nearly identical, exactly on the design frequency. Then I went to install them and guess what...of course they were too short. I have worked with phased verticals before and I know that you often need to use 3/4 wave phasing lines, but I was too intent on measuring and soldering and making the repairs. So now I have two questions. 1. for 80m phased verticals that are 1/2 wave apart (66 feet), what will be the pattern? It's not the same as 1/4 wave spacing, so what really is happening? 2. what is the best length of phasing line to use. Should I use 3/4 wave phasing lines? Should I avoid using 1/2 wave phasing lines? Thanks Dale - N3BNA ___ Topband reflector - topband@contesting.com ___ Topband reflector - topband@contesting.com ___ Topband reflector - topband@contesting.com
Re: Topband: ARRL CW DX test
I am sure Craig's post was not meant to be critical, and we cannot presume this was the problem. We do not even know whether they were indeed at Noah's station. There are now at least two well-equipped contest stations on PJ4. Following the advice of my father, we should say only good things, or nothing at all. And I can say without hesitation that Noah is very hard-working and extremely helpful. He puts so much effort into the station and improvements. He built an incredible relay system of his own design for 80 phasing. I recall that 160m improvements were the next thing planned. For a brand new country, despite how much one may love top band, the first effort must be to work folks who have never had a contact. I am sure there will be station improvements on 160m if they have not occurred already. If you have specific suggestions for any station operator or owner (DX or otherwise), I think the polite thing would be to contact him or other parties concerned. Again I am not being critical but just a suggestion to be careful not to imply things that we do not know. This message is only meant with the best intentions. 73 Dale N3BNA -Original Message- From: topband-boun...@contesting.com [mailto:topband-boun...@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Jim Brown Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 12:20 PM To: topband@contesting.com Subject: Re: Topband: ARRL CW DX test On 2/22/2012 8:51 AM, Craig Clark wrote: Our 160 station was on 160 and 15 and both bands had receiving problems. I'm assuming that you were at the house on the hill that Noah owns with a group. I operated from there a year or so ago, and helped string a Beverage along the road running down into Rincon. It worked pretty well, BUT -- one of the MPs that was there was very low on RX gain, and when used with that radio was pretty deaf on 160M. After the contest, I gave Noah a detailed rundown of the problem. I worked you, but it wasn't easy. I also worked K4BAI from there about six months ago. BTW -- I still need a 160M card (or LOTW Q) from PJ4. 73, Jim K9YC ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Topband: callouts on top band
Mike: I would like to first commend you for making the callout of the TA3 station. Low band operation for the DX station can be very challenging. I have traveled to some quite interesting places in Africa, South and Central America. On multiple trips I have had the experience of calling CQ over and over, right after being worked by some loud station. It is extremely dissapointing, because you know there are folks who need you.. It takes so much effort for the DX station to operate on the low bands, particularly in the less-developed countries. How hard is it to put a callout? Is it because you dont want to share the DX with your competitors? Is it because you are too lazy? Is there some gentleman's agreement that you should never make a callout on topband so thereal Dxers will only get the DX ? I have to admit that I can sympathize with rewarding those that actually listen to the band. But because of propagation and weak signals (and not enough listening), the African or South American station, often operating is difficult conditions is face with failure to meet the needs of the deserving. And the other point that you message raises, is the immediate accusal of wrongdoing. This is a mindset that is all too common. Amateur radio should be a community of people who help each other. Why are some people so focused another's supposed mistakes. We should all be more understanding, and believe that there must have been some reason for what you were doing. And we all make mistakes. Recently a DX station was accused of calling on their RX frequency, or moving up the band. Gentleman, you have no idea what the other operator is facing. So while you are in your comfortable shack, with well-equipped station, remember that some DX stations are not so fortunate. And be understanding, not demanding. Noone owes you a contact. 73 thanks Mike Dale - N3BNA From: Mike Coreen Smith ve...@nbnet.nb.ca To: topband@contesting.com Sent: Sat, January 21, 2012 7:45:49 AM Subject: Re: Topband: Ticked over intentional interference on top band By the way, a weird thing happened to me the other week. (rare for 160m that is) Well, not so weird, as maybe insulting.I was working a bunch of Europe on 160m, spotting them as I went up and down the band. I ended up calling TA3D a bunch of times @ his sunrise and never made it. Eventually he QRT'd and I got called on TA3D's ex-frequency by a UA4 somebody who I later found out was running 100w and he was happy for his first Canada on 160m.anyways, a very small pileup started with LY, YL, UA4's, OH, SM's etc. calling me after TA3D had left. Some guy kept QRMing me with the dit-machinewe've all had it happen to usanyways, this guy eventually kept asking me if I was a LID and spotting my own pileup or something like that. QSB and QRN took him out a bit at times. At first I thought he was asking me to QSY, but he definately was asking if I was a LID, and something about spotting. I was so PO'd (like red in the face upset) I stopped the mini pileup, and turned the rig off. (If you are reading this, you won !) Figured I just didn't need the aggravation. It's not too often I get upset about ham radio. In fact it's very very rare. It's a hobby I derive great enjoyment out of. I could miss a rare chance at a JA on 6m and I wouldn't get upset, ya know? I could lose an all weekend contest by 1000 pts and still not get upset. I could wait in a pileup for an hour and not be upset. But this This just rubbed me the wrong way. I don't know what problem folks have about DX spotting. By the way, I never spotted myself, nor any of the DX I was working once I had the old TA3D freqonly before, as I was gg up and down the band. There were almost no spots coming out of NA at the time, even though 160 was in fine shape. Only heard a few guys on from NA and propagation was very very good at the time. Even had a K7...think it was K7ZV thank me on the Lowband ON4KST chat site thank me for the spots and he had nabbed a couple new ones off my spots. Kinda makes me feel good, but the terrible words from the unknown guy made me feel like I should take up stamp collecting. Less aggravation ! VE9AA Mike, Coreen Corey Smith 699 Rte 616 Keswick Ridge NB Canada E6L 1T1 - Original Message - From: Larry To: topband@contesting.com Sent: Friday, January 20, 2012 11:42 PM Subject: Re: Topband: Ticked over intentional interference on top band Unfortunately 160 is not immune to that kind of behavior. I have run into it before (including from an A1 Op member). Some would argue they were agressively pursuing a DX QSO. Most of us would classify the operation as just plain QRM. 73, Larry W6NWS - Original Message - From: wa3...@comcast.net To: topband@contesting.com Sent: Friday, January 20, 2012 10:01 PM Subject: Topband: Ticked over
Re: Topband: feeding phased verticals at half wave spacing
Thanks to everyone for all the helpful information. i was certain that it could be done, and I thank you all for the detailed information. The 80m verticals are already there, I am using the two verticals independently, so all I need to do is buy a roll of coax, make the delay line, and think about making it switchable. (I am sharing the radial systems with a couple 160m inverted Ls that are fed using the Christman method.) Again thanks to all for your kindness. Dale N3BNA From: Don Kirk [mailto:wd8...@aol.com] Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2011 7:47 PM To: dale.l...@prodigy.net Subject: Re: Topband: feeding phased verticals at half wave spacing Hello Dale, The ARRL Antenna Book that I have (19th edition) has the plots you are looking for, and they are in agreement with what I obtain using EZNEC for two vertical radiators spaced 1/2 wavelength apart. (if you have the ARRL Antenna Book look in the section that covers multi-element arrays). Nevertheless I went ahead and ran some models for you, and attached is a .pdf document that has the plots I created that should answer your question. When looking at my plots just imagine that one of the vertical elements is on the left hand side of the page with the second element on the right hand side of the page, and the angle that I mention is in regards to how the right hand element is being fed relative to the left hand element. Hope this helps. 73's Don Kirk (wd8dsb) -Original Message- From: Dale Long dale.l...@prodigy.net To: Topband Topband@contesting.com Sent: Tue, Nov 22, 2011 6:00 pm Subject: Topband: feeding phased verticals at half wave spacing Gentlemen: I have been told repeatedly that phased verticals should be spaced 1/4 wavelength apart. Ok, I am willing to accept that. My question is if you have verticals that are 1/2 wave apart, would it not give some pattern, whatever that should be? If you were looking for an endfire pattern how should you feed such verticals? If you have specific questions, you may contact me directly at dale.l...@prodigy.net Thanks and 73, Dale N3BNA ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK ___ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
