Re: Topband: Remotes
While the idea of using a remote to work challenging DX on 160 or other bands had never occurred to me prior to reading about it on these reflectors a few years ago, there is of course the simplest solution of all and GUARANTEED TO WORK! Just DON'T DO IT! I realize that not everyone feels that way, but thankfully, it solves (for me at least) the problem of remote users although, as others have pointed out, it often makes it more challenging to work some DX stations over a difficult path at the possible times to work them, because now other stations will be calling that normally would not be in that pileup. Certainly other people feel differently and will, IMO, de facto cheat to accomplish whatever it is they had wanted to accomplish. And it does mean that my and others overall accomplishment has been diminished in the eyes of some people because of the "taint" that might be involved by stealth remoters that cause people to wonder - did he really work and confirm all of those stations from his own station without remote? But I can't control what others they think or don't think - that's on them. I know that that I worked and confirmed all 340 current countries only from my own station without the help of anyone else or any other stations, whether other ops know that or not, or even care. It took me 50 years to do it and I will always have the personal satisfaction that comes with it, well earned. I would NOT feel that way if I ever used a remote station to do it while others might feel just as proud. That's for them to decide. Certainly I do not look upon their "accomplishment" gotten by using remote the same way that I view my or others accomplishment WITHOUT using remote. I suspect that deep down, they really don't either. I still believe that anyone operating remote should be in a separate category be it awards chasing or in contests. Using remote to make your qso is NOT radio based it is by definition Internet based. Doubt that? Simply unplug off your modem, router and/or switch. Can you still make the same contact without changing your connections? No? Then your contact was NOT made via amateur radio alone. I think the technology used to make it possible to operate that way is very cool and I have used it myself. I would encourage others to use it as well to solve a host of problems that people might have in making contacts otherwise. But let's not pretend that making qso's via remote is the same as making them without remote. It's NOT and never will be. It should be in it's own SEPARATE category. PERIOD. I know that some people like to say that "That ship has sailed", "The horse is out of the barn", etc. etc. The truth is that that is PURE BUNK! If contest sponsors/adjudicating committees/awards committees wanted to put remote in a separate category they could and would do so NOW - the fact is, they DON'T want to, even though some committees see fit to make radical changes to many rules and categories and creating/merging/deleting them on an ongoing basis. 73 Bob, KQ2M On 2024-02-05 12:11, David Raymond wrote: We've seen the same thing the past few days with people using RHR to work the current 7O2WX operation. Of course, I'm sure they will be claiming it for their DXCC, which at one time was the world's most prestigious and sought after amateur radio award. Between remote operation and digital contacts not having their own category, the once coveted DXCC award has become essentially irrelevant and meaningless. Although solutions are comparatively simple, unfortunately, no one at HQ seems interested in fixing it. 73. . . Dave, W0FLS On 2/5/2024 11:38 AM, Mark, PA5MW via Topband wrote: Agree with you here Steve. Cannot understand why people would be enjoying, let alone peer bragging, about something which is NOT resembling their personal effort. It sure has its roots in decent parenthood, education etc. Do not (only) blame remote and current media encouraging this behavior. In the end it is a choice. Do blame organisations for not educating people, not maintaining control to some extend and worse: endorse bad incentives by mixing fake hamradio “ efforts” in oldskool categories. 73 Mark PA5MW Sent from Mail for Windows From: Steve Harrison Sent: Monday, 5 February 2024 17:58 To:topband@contesting.com Subject: Topband: Remotes This growing practice of hiring a remote in another call area far from your own QTH, then working wild and exotic DX wile preventing deserving locals operating from their home stations from working same DX, is abominable and just plain unethical. I lost what respect I had for a couple people I heard work 9M2AX this morning when I heard them do that. I heard another guy do that last week that I've only just barely heard on 160 in the past across the country; he was at least two hours beyond his own sunrise, so obviously hiring
Re: Topband: E51D Approximate Low Band Schedule Sep08-9
On 2023-09-04 14:40, GEORGE WALLNER wrote: Mike Thanks for the recording. The ground under the TX antenna is salt-water. No radials. 73, George Hi George, Thank you for the 80 cw qso at 0921z this morning - you were a solid 589 in CT! Unfortunately I missed you on Tuesday on 160 CW when cndx were apparently excellent. Will you be on 160 cw tomorrow ~ 10z? (just before first light in W1) Will you also be on 40 CW? I still need North Cook on CW on both bands and would appreciate the opportunity to work you. Tnx & 73 Bob, KQ2M _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Good Conditions
Thanks for posting that article Patrick. Another HUGE factor is the Bz - as Bz drops below zero, the Earth's interplantary magnetic field orients South and becomes more susceptible to energetic particles which can lead to aurora. As Bz rises above zero the Earth's interplanetary magnetic field reverses to North, the opposite occurs, and cndx improve noticeably - especially on the high bands, but also impacting 40 -160. Changes in the Bz orientation and magnitude can occur very rapidly, in seconds to minutes with very dramatic changes in propagation. In CQWWSSB 2021 I was noticing many 2 - 5 s-units swings in signal strength in seconds to a few minutes on 10 and 15 all weekend. Like someone was rotating the AF Gain knob back and forth on their radio! There were similar but less dramatic swings in signal strengths on EU signals on 40 - 160 over extremely short time periods as the Bz moved from negative to positive and back again. These signal strength changes were not the usual QSB. I'm sure that if Carl were updating his article in 2022 (his original article written in 2008) he would include Bz and discuss its importance. Bz direction and magnitude is one of the more important factors in 160 propagation as well as on 80 - 10. 73 Bob, KQ2M On 2023-01-11 08:36, W7TMT - Patrick wrote: Lower solar wind speed perhaps? Carl, K9LA has an interesting article linking solar dynamic pressure/solar wind speed to 160M propagation predictions. It is found here: https://k9la.us/Predicting_160m_Propagation.pdf Based on the historical data for the last 7 days found on the NOAA Space Weather Center site it appears that the wind speed numbers have been trending down, with the exception of a cluster of short spikes, over the last few days of reported improved propagation. The historical data can be viewed here: https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/real-time-solar-wind Patrick. W7TMT -Original Message- From: Topband On Behalf Of Roger Kennedy Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2023 03:32 To: topband@contesting.com Subject: Topband: Good Conditions As someone commented, maybe we should complain about poor conditions more often, as the band was in good shape for DX last night! I came on for a while from around 0300Z, and worked 22 NA stations in 18 different States . . . best DX was Texas. Good to hear so many stations on 160m, both sides of the pond. I'm still suffering with a high noise level, so apologies if you were one of the stations calling me that I couldn't quite copy. OFCOM have shut down one of my local noise sources . . . they are coming back up here tomorrow to hopefully shut down the other one. (they have located the source, but the offending business was closed) 73 Roger G3YRO _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Conditions Improving?
Good cndx no surprise - the K index dropped to 0 for a few hours and then stayed at k=1. TN8K was audible here for several hours in and out, with long and deep fades but peaking briefly ~ 569, and definitely favoring stations in the Mid-western, Western and Southern US. I'm using an Inv L with 3 elevated radials so signal strengths were certainly better at the serious 160 stations. I also heard a lot of EU stations work TN8K most of which were < 559. Maybe 160 ops should complain about cndx more often? LOL! 73 Bob, KQ2M On 2023-01-09 08:03, Roger Kennedy wrote: Ironic that after complaining how poor DX Propagation has been for the past few weeks, they were quite reasonable from around 0300Z last night . . . _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Bad 160m Conditions
Fabulous explanation - Thank you Frank! 73 Bob, KQ2M On 2023-01-09 01:27, Frank W3LPL wrote: There's some confusion about the effects of increasing solar activity on 160 meter DX propagation. 160 meter DX propagation is often badly affected by nighttime propagation degradations, especially as Solar Cycle 25 becomes much more active from now through solar maximum in about 2024-2025 and as it slowly declines to current ionization levels through about 2027-2028. Solar flares have no know impact on 160 meter DX propagation. Solar flares produce electromagnetic radiation that travels from sun to Earth at the speed of light - in about 8 minutes. Solar flare electromagnetic radiation (mostly X-rays) affects only the sunlit side of the earth and ionosphere. There are no known physical processes that extend solar flare effects into the night time ionosphere. While solar flares have no relevance to 160 meter DX propagation, solar flares often occur coincident with (but are not caused by) coronal mass ejections that can cause severe post-midnight absorption in the D region on propagation paths that cross the auroral oval (e.g., North America to northern Europe and Asia). CMEs cause the auroral oval to dip to much lower latitudes causing post-midnight increased D region absorption on propagation paths crossing lower latitudes. Unrelated to CMEs, coronal hole high speed stream effects also cause increased D region absorption in the post-midnight auroral oval and occur very frequently compared to geo-effective CMEs (thankfully most CMEs never strike the Earth or its magnetosphere, they usually miss our tiny planet). But what about 160 meter absorption usually present much earlier in the night, from sunset through midnight and later? The E region usually retains enough ionization to degrade 160 meter night time propagation especially during the more active years of the solar cycle. The ionized night time E region causes increased absorption at the bottom of the E region (just above the D region) and blankets propagation that would otherwise pass through the E region to the F region. Blanketing causes many shorter hops that suffer increased loss from multiple lossy passes through the ionized E region. 73 Frank W3LPL _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Topband: Fwd: Re: Bad 160m Conditions
Hi Roger, 160 is notoriously unpredictable, possibly even more so than any other HF band except maybe 10 M. Sometimes just before a flare 160 cndx may be enhanced, and I have even seen some instances of flaring and elevated K indices K=3 or 4, where 160 propagation maybe be temporarily better than expected (if you are on 160 at night during the onset of the flare), but those times are infrequent at best. The only propagation "constants" that I have seen over the past 4 cycles on 160 are: 1) Higher A and K levels generally mean poorer 160M propagation 2) PCA's, CME's, and auroras are all BAD for 160M prop. and find something else to do when you hear Stratwarm alerts. 3) 160 propagation worsens as we go up into the new solar cycle and improves noticeably as we go head down towards the bottom of the cycle 4) Almost anything can happen on 160 at any time, a lot of which we still don't really understand, such as the difference between "Vertical nights" and "Horizontal nights". On those nights in particular, there are band openings that may go unnoticed due to the combination of stations thinking that cndx are "poor" and don't bother to CQ, plus other station using the wrong type of antenna on that night. 5) If I have learned anything about 160, it is that every time I think that I understand it, something different and unexpected happens. LOL! 73 Bob, KQ2M On 2023-01-08 12:16, Roger Kennedy wrote: Thanks for that Bob (I must confess that I've never really been into understanding all the technical factors that affect propagation) But the thing is that I've been DX-ing on 160m for over 50 years . . . and never known it be so poor for so long, at any point in the Solar Cycle. (in fact I don't even recall the Cycle affecting Top Band very much, unlike the higher bands) Roger G3YRO _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Bad 160m Conditions
On 2023-01-08 14:37, David Olean wrote: All the flare action normally happens on the downslope of the cycle. Why do you say that? We had far more flares in 2022 than in 2021 and I expect more flaring in 2023 than 2022. And it is not just the frequency of the flaring that has increased, it is also the intensity of the flaring; 2022 had far more M class flares in 2022 than 2021 and 2022 also had the first X class flare, after many years of not having even one. And now we just had another X class flare only 8 days into 2023. There is almost always more flaring during the upside of the new cycle than during the bottom of the previous cycle and the flaring is almost always more intense. Frequency and intensity of flaring typically follows this order: 1) Downside of the cycle 2) Upside of the new cycle 3) Bottoming phase of the previous cycle Bob, KQ2M Who knows what will happen then!! Roger, I am still trying to fix my 160 rx antennas 73 Dave K1WHS On 1/8/2023 2:41 PM, STEVE MCDONALD wrote: >(in fact I don't even recall the Cycle affecting Top Band very much, unlike the higher bands. Roger, I somewhat agree that things do seem a little different this time as even HF is not reflecting what these high flux numbers should be doing. I may be wrong but this present run-up of the cycle seems to have much more flaring (sometimes 20-30 per day) than previous cycles have had and these can really disrupt even HF propagation on the polar path. If we can see several days of a quiet undisturbed field things might improve for a bit. Steve 73 WEB - "The VE7SL Radio Notebook": http://qsl.net/ve7sl/ VE7SL BLOG - "Homebrewing and Operating Adventures From 2200m to Nanowaves": http://ve7sl.blogspot.ca/ _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Bad 160m Conditions
Hi Roger, We currently have a combination of elevated A and K indices, an X class flare within the past 24 hours and we are 2 years into Cycle 25 with higher levels of SFI, SSN and absorption. Disappointing propagation for on 160 sure but none of this should be a surprise since it happens every solar cycle. Here in W1, there was a decent opening to JA on 160 three mornings ago when the K was 0 and A was 4 and there have been good openings on JA on 80 on several mornings as well when the K=0 or K=1. Any morning with K = 2 or greater and 160 is mediocre to poor; very similar with 80. 73 Bob, KQ2M On 2023-01-08 11:01, Roger Kennedy wrote: I wonder why DX propagation continues to be so bad? Certainly across the pond from Europe, signals are still at least 20dB below normal . . I've never known it be so poor for so long Roger G3YRO _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Wednesday 160m CW Activity Night
Dave, I feel your pain. I have had similar situations in Western, CT in 2011, 2012 and then again in 2014. During CQWWSSB in 2011 we got a freak snowstorm starting with temps at 34F and then falling to 19F overnight - heavy wet snow at 4" - 5" per our took out thousands of trees in full leaf and trashed hundreds of power lines and utility poles. It took many dozens of line crews from Ohio to ME to South Carolina, 2 weeks to restore all power. I had no power for 9 days. No antennas got repaired that Winter. In 2012 we had two hurricanes, one in August, (antennas were repaired) and then came Hurricane Irene the Sunday evening of CQWWSSB, with its screaming 120 mph wind gusts that destroyed most of our town communications infrastructure. Hundreds of utility poles, power lines and trees were destroyed just in my area of the the town. 171 roads in Newtown, CT were completely or partially blocked. 98% of Newtown, CT lost power. I had to chainsaw 15 trees that had fallen across my driveway literally trapping us here until they were all cut and moved. The cable/phone and internet lines were literally ripped off all the power poles the entire length of my 550' driveway. We had no power for 9 days until the final transformer was replaced on a pole above my driveway on November 7th during another snowstorm that dropped another 9" of snow. All the wire antennas were down and not repaired that Winter for critical health reasons, the passing of my mother as well as the Sandy Hook massacre on December 14th. And then in 2014, we got 61" of snow in 3 weeks with subzero temps in-between ensuring that almost nothing melted. One night in 5 hours we got 24" of snow and with 42" of snow on the ground it was impossible to get to the woods. I spent all of Martin Luther King day shoveling snow off the roofs of my house so that it would not collapse. Again, no antennas got fixed that winter. I had given up on Beverages years before due to the combination of a Deer Tick explosion and the dense forest raining branches and trees all over the beverages with every wind storm. Western CT in New England is a rough place to live. Thank goodness we don't get the insane cold of Northern ME. Some years you just have to "let it go" and wait until Spring to put your station back together. I learned not to bother to fix my wire antennas until a few days before a major DX contest. Too many times I had fixed them a week or two before only to see them get obliterated again by another storm a day or two before the next DX contest! Bob, KQ2M On 2022-12-27 16:25, David Olean wrote: I am starting to feel "shell- shocked". I had two storms come through here in rapid succession. Storm #1 produced incredibly heavy wet snow. It caused many trees to suffer with large broken limbs. The snow depth was 13.5 inches. It really stuck to the trees. All of my eight beverage antennas were damaged as they run though the woods and had all sorts of large branches fall on them, dropping the wires. Then the XYL and I both got Covid and were sick in bed for a week or so. This past Friday, a large rain/ windstorm wiped everything out. We lost power for a few days and the temps dropped to single digits for a few days. Everything froze up solid. Many of the beverage wires managed to get frozen to the ground. (Not fun) My internet connection was out for almost five days. The damage is quite bad to many of the trees and the typical scene is a 24" tree trunk (White Pine) snapped in half about 25 ft up off the ground. The top part then falls and takes out many trees around it as it comes down. I counted six big trees down across the beverages and many of the wires have snapped. I spent a day chain sawing and then followed up with another day repairing the beverage wire with home made splices. I use aluminum wire and the splices are aluminum barrels with four sets of 8-32 s.s. set screws. The high winds combined with huge amounts of water and the melting snow plus rain managed to wash out the road that goes up to my VHF hamshack. I had just paid to have the road repaired about a month ago and all the stone they put down is now gone or in the wrong place! After two days of working in the woods, I have some of the wires fixed. I figure another two days and I will have the 160 receive antennas working again. I m not sure what to do about the road. 73 Dave K1WHS On 12/27/2022 4:46 PM, Roger Kennedy wrote: Sorry to see that so many of you in North America are suffering with horrendous winter weather at the moment. For those of you who can sill get on 160m, hope to see some of you on the band this week. 73 Roger G3YRO _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Antennas and saltwater
In 1990 I was visiting Antigua (V2) for 2 weeks. I had a Butternut HF6V with 160 coil and I mounted it on a 3' piece of copper pipe in a secluded part of the beach near the rocks about 2' above the waterline, with about 30 short radials attached to it. At some point in the middle of the night, I noticed that I began to hear what sounded like "swishing" sounds, not loud but persistent, for a few hours and then it stopped. The swr and resonant freq. on 80 and 160 changed slightly but not enough to matter. Curious, I went out just at dawn and noticed that the radials were all in a clump and riding on the water like the tentacles of a Man 'O war. During the night the tide came up about 3'vertically and the bottom of the vertical was immersed in the water along with the radials which were then washed into a mess. That apparently was the "swishing" sound I had heard. LOL! The performance was excellent the sounds were cool, the only time that I have ever heard them. The salt water effect was so remarkable that I could hear a 3W station round the clock on 15M for several days - but he couldn't hear me except in the daytime. The EU stations were absurdly loud on 80 cw and I heard several levels of Russian stations that I never heard before or since from W1. I had a similar experience with a 14AVT vertical stuck in the oil sands of Aruba in January 1986 when I was the first to activate P4. The vertical was not as good and it was planted 100' back from the water, but the water table was high and water was in the beach sand only 1' down and the copper pipe was stuck into that (there was also oil just underneath the surface in the water - I'm not sure if that helped or not.) Even though it was the bottom of the sunspot cycle, the LP JA signals on 40 at Sunset were INCREDIBLE!, often S9 - S9 + 20 and the pileup of JA's literally drowned out the pileup of Europeans for about an hour. LOL! 73 Bob, KQ2M On 2022-12-19 17:18, W7TMT - Patrick wrote: I run an 80' high vertical on 160M from my sailboat in the saltwater of Puget Sound/Salish Sea near Seattle. After experimenting with a number of different saltwater connections I've simplified it to a single piece of 1/2" dia. copper pipe 10' long and tapped in the middle. I hang it horizontally over the side just below the water surface. Works great. I recently ran across a post by SE0X running an 160/80M vertical on a floating dock who uses two lengths of suspended pipe. His RBN testing suggested that adding a second one made a difference. Details here: http://blog.se0x.info/?p=3442#more-3442 73 Patrick, W7TMT -Original Message- From: Topband On Behalf Of GEORGE WALLNER Sent: Monday, December 19, 2022 14:19 To: Radio KH6O ; topband@contesting.com Subject: Re: Topband: Antennas and saltwater If the antenna stands in the salt-water or if you have a short, low impedance connection to the water, you don't need radials. During the VK9WWI DXpedition to Willis Islets, we installed a vertical on a sand spit that was covered by water most of the time. We had 12 radials of various lengths a couple of feet above the water. The antenna was fed via an antenna coupler (tuner) mounted on its base. Every night during high tide the waves knocked down and washed the radials into a tangled mess. For the first three days we restored the radials every morning. But we never noticed any difference between when the radials were up or when they were in a heap at the base of the antenna. After three days we got rid of the radials. The antenna had a heavy metal base which was always in contact with the water. Ever since then, on various DXpeditions (TX3A, VK9GMW, PT0S, etc.), we always put the antennas into the water (or the very edge of it where we drive into the sand a grounding stake) and never bothered with radials. Years ago I had a vertical at C6AGU standing in the water. During one night a storm knocked it down. I reinstalled it up the beach about 75 feet from the high tide line. I added 16 radials about 3 feet above the sand, I was told that my 160 m signal was down 10 dB. I put the antenna back in the water and had a good signal again. Whether the difference was really 10 dB, I don't know. But it was substantial. (That was before RBN.) 73, George, AA7JV/C6AGU On Mon, 19 Dec 2022 09:23:54 -0800 Radio KH6O wrote: Ideal is if you can run some RG58 out to the beach and plunk it next to thewater. Also use 4 radials there.Enjoy.Ed N1UR _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: ARRL 160
Hi Ron, The wrong call sign spotting and "run of dupes" happens a few times a year to me. The tipoff is that a bunch of guys that you worked within the past hour try to work you again on the same band. And no matter how many times you call CQ while correctly sending your call, they STILL call you; which confirms that the persistent callers are NOT Listening. An opr. should ALWAYS copy the information. NO exceptions! But you can't force people to actually do that any more than you can force them to wash their hands after they use the bathroom. Bob, KQ2M On 2022-12-05 09:55, Ron Spencer via Topband wrote: Re Packet and the contest May not be of interest to everyone. Sat evening around 0010 or so, had been running with a nice rate. Then a dupe. And another. And yet another. This continued for around 15 minutes until I finally QSY'd to escape. My guess of what happened: someone spotted me but with an incorrect call. On all those using packet, a new call popped up. They clicked on it, dumped in their call. Typically I work all dupes and, for the first few did but, as the volume grew, I replied with their call, mine and "B4". Most went away but a few insisted on a Q. In addition to showing how far our hobby has sunk, isn't it the responsibility of the calling station to actually copy the call sign? Many of the stations that duped me were very recognizable stations. Again, guessing, they were running SO2R, clicked on the spot, called and expected a quick Q. NEVER bothering to check accuracy of packet spot. Is it a valid contact if you don't copy the actual call sign? Even if the call was correct on packet. Or are we moving towards letting the computer do most of the work? Sure would be interesting if more contests were like the Stew Perry where no spotting assistance is allowed. You have to actually copy the information.. Yes, I know. A radical idea. Ron N4XD _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: J28MD, conditions
That's a GREAT update Steve, thank you for posting it. P29RO has done an excellent job all around. 73 Bob, KQ2M On 2022-11-06 12:00, Steve Lawrence via Topband wrote: Here's a perspective from the DX side regarding modes on the low bands. News #5. DXpedition Papua New Guinea P29RO - 2022 - News <https://p29ro.mydx.de/?News> 73 - Steve WB6RSE _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: J28MD, conditions
On Tuesday I heard but could not work VK6IR, but I did work VK6GX on Thursday for my first zone 29 qso on 160 since VK6HD about 3 decades ago. My antenna is a modest 160 Inv L with elevated radials. When the band has very good cndx I can work almost anything that I can hear. But on the marginal days there is quite a bit of long-haul DX that eludes me. ;-) (I'm still missing zones 22, 23, 24, 26, and 27) What is maddening to me is that it used to be that FT4 / FT8 was used by some DXpeditions AFTER they had already worked 160 CW. Now, to my great disappointment, more and more DXpeditions are routinely using FT4 and/or FT8 IN PLACE of 160 cw, even though they are perfectly capable of operating 160 CW. Sadly, this trend seems to be getting more and more pervasive. Recently, 5V7RU has ONLY been on FT4 / FT8 on 80 and 160, with NO cw at all on those bands. This follows the previous country they were in where they operated 80 cw but no 160 cw. J28MD has operated 160 cw very briefly and typically avoids it, instead preferring FT8. I get it It is far easier to work stations on FT4 or FT8 than on cw. And using those unattended modes allow qsos to be made while the Dxpedition operators sleep. But that does not make me feel better about it. I am not interested in the digital modes, preferring the traditional modes of CW and SSB. I understand that others feel differently, which is fine. But it bothers me that DXpeditions are now avoiding CW on 80/160 because they just don't want to bother. 73 Bob, KQ2M On 2022-11-05 12:45, Tom wrote: On thursday night conditions here in w1 land were outstanding! J28MD (cw) and 5V7RU (ft8) got in the log and I heard HS0ZOY (ft8) at his SR at -5 for about 5 minutes. first HS I have ever heard. hope i get a chance with T88. On Nov 5, 2022, at 12:00 PM, David Raymond wrote: Greetings Topbanders. . . I've spent a considerable amount of time on watch this past week for J28MD on Topband (CW). While they've spent a fair amount of time on TB I haven't yet had success yet in spite of my ongoing efforts. I believe it was this past Tuesday night when Joel, W5ZN, said they appeared briefly out of the noise (about 10 minutes or so and did have success with his BSEF-8 and Hi-Z 8 arrays in diversity) then disappeared the rest of the evening. Wednesday night's opening to NA was much longer starting on the East coast and slowly sweeping westward with quite a few NA making it in the log (EC + 5's, 8's, & 9s', VE). Unfortunately the prop just never quite made it this far west. They barely peaked out of the noise here in Iowa Wednesday evening (NA time) just enough to get me excited and dump my call a few times hoping for even a marginal QSO. . . but no cigar. It's a little frustrating to see that they always QRT about 30 minutes or so prior to their SR but they get credit for being on faithfully on CW and FT8 as well. I know they're getting close to wrapping up but hopefully they'll be on (CW) again this evening. It's been good to have some DX operations QRV and bring some much needed life to TB (which sure hasn't had much). . .TY0, 5V, and now J28, A3, and T88. The prop has been very poor. CQing here in the evening brings no DX responses and only a handful of EU EBN hits so far this season. Thankfully mornings have activity from our very stalwart VK friends (VK3HJ, VK2WF, VK6GX, VK6IR, VK6LW, others) but only a handful of JA QSOs so far this season (8 to be exact). JA1LZR gets kudos for being QRV almost every morning (NA time), but without much prop, I think only limited success.I have yet to hit the VK4CT RBN CQing here in the mornings. I don't think this is totally attributable to the increased SFI. . . prop from here was only marginally better two seasons ago when the SFI was very low. All that said, I encourage everyone to get on and make some noise. 73. . . Dave, W0FLS (in Iowa) _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Poor 160m DX Propagation
Hi Roger, I monitor solar weather regularly and over the past 6 weeks there have been lots of C and M class Solar flares with an X class flare thrown in. Between all the flares, CME's and Radio storms there have been very few days when the K index has been below 2 even briefly, which, in Western CT is the propagation equivalent of throwing a wet blanket on a fire. Then add in the QRN from Thunder static and rain static plus at least FIVE Nor-easters in the past 6 weeks and you have all but eliminated most of the good band openings. I realize that the weather related storms don't affect propagation but all the qrn that they generate keeps some ops from wanting to turn on the radio to operate 160. Perhaps the biggest cause of the reduced signal strength comes from the much higher Solar Flux and SSN numbers that we have been experiencing as cycle 25 ramps up. The higher levels of ionization, daytime absorption and increased MUF are all negatively impacting 160 M openings around the world. This will not improve significantly until the solar numbers are in decline again to low levels, hopefully not for another 5 - 6 years. 73 Bob, KQ2M On 2022-04-20 11:11, Henk Remijn PA5KT via Topband wrote: https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/solar-activity/solar-cycle.html Op 20-4-2022 om 11:51 schreef Roger Kennedy: Propagation on 160m between this part of Europe and North America seems to have been really poor for several weeks now . . . RBN reports from across the pond are typically 20dB down on normal most of the time . . . and hear very few NA stations on the band. Not sure why that is . . . Roger G3YRO _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: QRT....
Jeff said it so well. I wish you all the best too and look forward to working you again when it is possible to do so. 73 Bob, KQ2M On 2022-02-23 18:27, Jeff Kincaid wrote: I'm sorry to hear it, Nick. I wish you all the best in these difficult times. Very 73,Jeff W6JK On Wednesday, February 23, 2022, 04:21:01 PM PST, uy0zg wrote: Hey Very sad news. From today, amateur radio stations in Ukraine are prohibited from working. So far 30 days. Decree of the President of Ukraine. https://novosti-n.org/news/Opublykovan-Ukaz-Zelenskogo-o-rezhyme-CHP-v-Ukrayne-kakye-hotyat-vvesty-ogranychenyya-235379 _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: 3Y0I
Correct Jamie. That is apparently the current info. Any prior posts about a December 15th sailing deadline were moot months ago and apparently have since been altered/removed. Both DX News and DX Maps have removed any references to a December 15th sailing date. There is no date for if/when they are sailing to 3Y0I. Bob, KQ2M On 2021-12-15 06:58, Jamie WW3S wrote: this is the latest I saw...as posted December 1st on the Rebel DX facebook page, and subsequently published in many DX newsletters: December 1 finally borders are open in Fiji . We are free to go out / in after so many months. Due the current ban travel to/from South Africa (omicron covid variant) we are monitoring situation regarding our Cape Town to Bouvet trip. As soon as situation will be more clear we will update our schedule for 3y0 -- Original Message -- From: k...@kq2m.com To: "Jim Monahan" Cc: "topband" Sent: 12/15/2021 7:35:54 AM Subject: Re: Topband: 3Y0I Hi Jim, I google searched again for 3Y0I - and none of the announcements (Dec 1, Aug 19 and Aug 18) on DX News and DX maps and other sites said anything about a Dec 15, 2021 date. The only place that I can find the information about a Dec. 15, 2021 date that you cite is from an an archived April 9th post on 425. Can you provide the link to the information that you cited? Bob, KQ2M On 2021-12-13 19:45, Jim Monahan wrote: The last indication of their departure date, updated through Aug., 19, 2021, and except for their update of Dec., 1, 2021, in part, says: Jim, K1PX "From a Rebel perspective, the 3Y0J announcement does not change our plans. December 15, 2021 is when we plan to leave Cape Town and again head south into the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties before attempting a Bouvet landing. We absolutely know from experience how volatile the seas around this most remote island are." _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: 3Y0I
Hi Jim, I google searched again for 3Y0I - and none of the announcements (Dec 1, Aug 19 and Aug 18) on DX News and DX maps and other sites said anything about a Dec 15, 2021 date. The only place that I can find the information about a Dec. 15, 2021 date that you cite is from an an archived April 9th post on 425. Can you provide the link to the information that you cited? Bob, KQ2M On 2021-12-13 19:45, Jim Monahan wrote: The last indication of their departure date, updated through Aug., 19, 2021, and except for their update of Dec., 1, 2021, in part, says: Jim, K1PX "From a Rebel perspective, the 3Y0J announcement does not change our plans. December 15, 2021 is when we plan to leave Cape Town and again head south into the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties before attempting a Bouvet landing. We absolutely know from experience how volatile the seas around this most remote island are." _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: 3Y0I DXpedition
Hi Jim, Can you please post a link to the announcement that they are leaving for 3Y0I in two days? (Dec. 15) Their December 1 posting on DX World indicates that Fiji is open but does not say anything about a date when they are leaving for 3Y0. Tnx & 73 Bob, KQ2M On 2021-12-13 10:06, Jim Monahan wrote: Topbanders: They are scheduled to depart for Bouvet in two days and the latest update from them that I can find is dated 12/1. I'm aware of the travel bans due to the omicron variant. Does anyone have any updated info since then?? Thanks! Jim, K1PX K1PX at msn.com _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Topband: Low Band receiving antennas for challenging hilltop qth with ridgelines, ravines, wetlands, e tc.
performance if the RG6 Quad Shield coax feedline to the shack runs horizontal and parallel to the beverage instead of running along the forest floor? I am thinking of keeping the RG6 elevated to greatly reduce the opportunity of critters to chew on it but I don't want to impact the performance of the beverage. They are challenging questions that are not covered in anything that I have read. I would appreciate all of your thoughts and insights! Tnx & 73 Bob, KQ2M _ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
