Hi Neil
My experience with Beverages and other receive antennas near fairly close (~1
mile) to some 400kV power lines was quite depressing. Whenever the weather was
damp, misty or raining (or all three simultaneously as this was in England), I
basically could hear nothing on 160m on any sort
Dave
The only thing I would mention is that overhead lines of all types can carry
medium frequency signals for long distances, and that drop lines and ground
wires make great antennas. As you are forced to DF the noise at medium
frequencies it is important to be as far away from the line as
I am over 500 miles north-east of WDOR, and their spurious signal on 1820 kHz
is over S9 with me in the past week or so. I do not believe this is intermod as
the station modulation is quite intelligible, and it cannot be a coincidence
that their fundamental is 910 kHz. It is also extremely
I am certainly not hearing it here this morning so it seems that they have
fixed it. Good job Jon.
Season's Greetings to all.
73 Roger
VE3ZI
___
UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
Eddy VE3CUI wrote:
Hi George,
I'm curious as to how the results might compare, if one were to simply place a
series-connected coil capacitor wave trap (resonant to the BC station's
frequency, of course) to ground at the receiver input...? Was that tried prior
to the inclusion of the
For some while I have been hearing a strong spurious signal on about 1810.8
kHz.
I thought it was a local SMPS or similar until I started trying to find it.
It is not local to me it - I can hear it on several different antenna systems,
and also
from my remote station 15 km away. It beams
The DX window (most unfortunately) does not exist for normal operation. It does
however exist for the ARRL 160m contest:
6. Miscellaneous:
6.1. The segment 1.830 to 1.835 should be used for intercontinental QSOs only.
73 Roger
VE3ZI
PS: Sorry, but those needing ONN will have to chase VE3CX. I
From the Daily DX:
G3FPQ, David Courtier-Dutton, passed away on Sunday February 3rd.
He was 79.
Roger
VE3ZI
_
Topband Reflector
Are T-tops ever used in NA for commercial BCB stations? Tim N3QE
The CBC still have a number of 40W AM stations serving small isolated
communities.
Those stations use inverted L antennas - which are admittedly not exactly a T!
73 Roger
VE3ZI
_
Topband Reflector
Mike - I suspect that none of the following will apply to you but FWIW:
I have had some problems with joints in very long runs (2000') of hardline -
using the 'proper' CATV connectors. The hardline that I have uses an aluminium
outer and a solid copper inner - most use a copper plated
I would like to place on record my gratitude to Art, N2AU, for sending QSLs to
N0XA, W1FV and myself for 160m contacts made with YB0ARA/9 some 15 years ago.
I hope that Art will not mind my mentioning that I now know that he has been
suffering from a severe, progressive and debilitating illness
I just did a small and inelegant piece of modelling with EZNEC.
I took a wire 128' vertical, and it showed a gain of about 1.7dBi over a
particular ground.
Keeping everything else the same, I introduced a 'tree' 3ft away from it, with
no branches, exactly parallel, also 128' high and
Tom, W8JI wrote:
Dielectric grease has been used to preserve electrical connections in low
pressure connections and high pressure connections at least since the 1960's
or early 1970's.
Possibly even earlier than that. I spent a small part of my misspent youth
(~1961) in a TV repair shop. The
FWIW, the silicone grease that I have used more recently has been Dow Corning
MS4. That is specifically described by them as being a lubricant suitable for
wiping contacts, as well as multiple other uses.
The grease we used in 1961 was probably a 'Radiospares' (now RS Components)
in-house
I agree with the remarks made by others regarding the DX window in the ARRL
contest.
I have been more concerned for many years about the various phone contests
which take place on 160m. During those contests phone operation takes place
right down to the bottom of the band, effectively making
Ashton Lee wrote:
The issue I believe is that many people’s 160 antennas are limited in
frequency
breadth. There is really just one SSB contest.
Many 80m antennas will not cover both the CW and phone parts of that band, and
people manage quite fine there. It is entirely possible to make a
This doesn't apply to the contest this past weekend, but each year in CQWW I am
very grateful to the Zone 2 VE who answers my call even though he will get no
points for the contact.
73 Roger
VE3ZI
_
Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
Just as a matter of interest, I have purchased teflon tubing several times in
the past from Active Surplus on Queen St in Toronto. Not been there for a while
so I don't know their current stock position, and I rather doubt that they do
mail order, but they have had a whole range of sizes - at
I know that Beverages on Ground have been discussed on a number of occasions,
but:
I live on the shores of a reasonably large lake, and at this time of year it
will be frozen to at least 2' and possibly 4' or 5' deep. I believe that ice is
a pretty good insulator, so I wonder about the
Many thanks for the comments received on this reflector and privately. A few
points:
I don't think that the proposed antenna is just another BOG - there is a large
non-conductive layer of ice before there is anything conductive. However, here
on the Canadian Shield normal ground is not very
I think I give up on this project.
Firstly, I can think of no way to reliably retrieve the wire in the spring, no
matter what gauge it is and as has been pointed out that could be hazardous to
wildlife.
Secondly, it would seem unlikely that it will work very well, and as I have
plenty of
Thanks for all the replies received both direct and on this reflector.
The pretty much unanimous opinion seems to be that WD-1A will be good to use as
the Beverage elements.
I perhaps didn't make it clear that I am not using the wire as a reversible
Beverage, but as elements of parallel
I have some binocular cores which I know are FairRite mix 73. I have others
which I thought were also mix 73. However, the first ones measure about 50k
Ohms with ohmeter prods onto their surface, whereas the others only measure
about 1k Ohm. I don't believe that that is a defined parameter, and
guess the moral of the story is not to measure a parameter that the
manufacturer doesn't specify!
73 RogerVE3ZI
From: Tom W8JI w...@w8ji.com
To: Roger Parsons ve...@yahoo.com; Topband topband@contesting.com
Sent: Monday, 1 June 2015, 11:31
Subject: Re: Topband: Binocular Cores
You really
I am using the IC7800 as a diversity receiving system on 160m and it is
excellent. Both receivers are identical and are locked to the same Master
Oscillator. I have been unable to detect any phase drift either with frequency
or time.
I was surprised to read a comment that it has poor
I enjoy contests but...
This weekend has seen the CQ 160m SSB Contest. It has also seen CW activity or
attempted activity from a number of extremely rare DX entities.
Why is it reasonable or even acceptable for the band to be full of SSB
contesters from 1800kHz to about 1960kHz? The vast
I have received replies both on the reflector and privately.
Several suggest that the problem is that "160m antennas are narrow band". With
respect, that is an excuse not a reason. It is perfectly possible to match
(almost) any antenna at (almost) any frequency. People seem to manage it on
sto <kamha...@gmail.com>
To: Roger Parsons <ve...@yahoo.com>
Cc: TopBand List <topband@contesting.com>; Contest <cq-cont...@contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, 28 February 2016, 19:19
Subject: Re: Topband: Am I the only one in step?
I think there is a few things that
A few more comments seem necessary:
I do of course agree strongly with Greg ZL3IX. The only reason I am arguing for
a smaller CW segment is that there is very strong entrenched opposition from
the contesting community to any change whatsoever, and I am trying to be more
than reasonable.
Mike
Haavisto <kamha...@gmail.com>
To: Roger Parsons <ve...@yahoo.com>
Cc: TopBand List <topband@contesting.com>; Contest <cq-cont...@contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, 29 February 2016, 13:54
Subject: Re: Topband: Am I the only one in step?
Hi Roger
Thanks for making me take a secon
that is not possible.
73 Roger
VE3ZI
From: Don Beattie <d...@g3bj.com>
To: 'Roger Parsons' <ve...@yahoo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, 1 March 2016, 11:05
Subject: RE: Topband: Am I the only one in step?
But Roger, unless I have missed something, in regards to your PS, do not most
of the rarer
I need to buy some WD-1A ex military telephone wire. At least one and
preferably two 2km (6600') drums. Or possibly more smaller reels.
I wonder if anybody has any that they would sell to me and could bring to
Dayton?
Obviously I am happy to pay the going rate.
Please contact me privately.
"The other question is the susceptibility of the quad shielded RG6 coax cable
running on the ground to the shack - do rodents etc like to feed on coax?"
My experience is that critters love chewing on coax laid on the ground. I use
hardline where possible which seems to be almost but not
Hi Steve
I am fairly confident that Sudbury counts as a cold place...
I have found Beverages to be very insensitive indeed to their locale and
operating conditions. (I have a total of 15, mostly phased.) I now use 4 x 50'
radials at each end, but have previously used 3 x 25'. I do not believe
I am sad to report that Keith, G3RPB, passed away on the morning of Sunday 9th
July. This followed a severe stroke that he suffered last year.
Keith was a very well known and accomplished DXer on Top Band. I was honoured
to call him my friend for over fifty years, and will miss him greatly.
Interesting observation Guy. I noticed what I am almost certain was very high
angle propagation on Sunday evening at sunset when I was only able to hear
Europe on my low dipole (very low, about 20' so a real cloud warmer). I could
not hear them at all on Beverages, SAL, or receive 4 square or
Perhaps I shouldn't have started this thread!
The whole point of my original posting was that I was definitely transmitting
more than 500Hz HF of the FT8 tones, so from an 'analogue' perspective there
should have been no problem. As others have mentioned, FT8 is received though
an SSB
As we all know, CQWW produces huge activity on all HF bands. This year I was
hearing stations up to well above 1850kHz. I have found that trying to run
Europe is often more productive in the 1840-1850 segment, presumably because it
is less crowded than lower in frequency.
Late in the contest
>From the Daily DX today:
"PY1RO, Rolf Rasp, passed away yesterday after suffering from a heart
attack. He had heart problems for several years. PY1RO was very active
on Topband and the Magic Band (160 and 6 Meters). Rolf put on
DXpeditions to PY0DVG, ZX0VG, PY1RO/0, PY0FN, PY1RO/5N2, PY0RO,
Joel W5ZN wrote:
... low cost radial wire options got me thinking about WD1A. Anyone have any
experience with it as radial wire?? There are two wires that should pull apart
easily ...
I use WD1A wire mostly for (single direction) Beverages, but also as radials at
the ends of those antennas.
I think that WD1-A would be perfect for on-ground radials. (Note that WD1-A is
not twisted although WD-1 is.)
It lays very flat on the ground, the critters don't like it, and it is
immensely strong. I always use crimp terminals but YMMV. I don't think it
matters either way whether you use one
May I politely ask that people do not make duplicate contacts with V84SAA even
in the contest. There are many of us for whom this is a marginal path, and even
a quick contest QSO could be enough to prevent our 'new country' counter.
Thanks
73 RogerVE3ZI
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Searchable Archives:
W8JI's experience with a horizontal dipole at 300 ft is often quoted as proof
that only vertical antennas are useful for 160m DX. This is not my experience
with a dipole with the centre at 320 ft and the ends at over 250'. In its
favoured directions it is equal to a W4RNL half wave vertical
NR1DX wrote: "Apples and oranges." regarding my antennas.
Not really.
There is very little pattern difference between a purely horizontal dipole and
an inverted V provided that the angle of the V is not too acute. A horizontal
dipole 5/8 wavelength high has predominantly low angle radiation.
K9YC wrote: "But there IS a difference in efficiency that looking ONLY at the
pattern misses."
Your point is unclear to me. Of course the pattern of a horizontal antenna
changes with changing height and with other environmental factors. If the
antenna is actually on the ground the efficiency
Yes
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Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
I just wanted to agree that using coax feeders for power as well as rf can lead
to noise. I have a lot of beverages and other receive antennas, some of which
are thousands of feet from the shack, and I also use (probably unnecessarily
complex) switch units. This has meant that I have had to use
Joe WB9SBD wrote:
and Rick N6RK wrote:
and there were other naysayers.
I have been using a very similar antenna tower to that described by Joe for the
past 18 years. (325' with 120 x 1000' radials.) It works noticeably better than
my 95' top loaded vertical over 120 x 150'+ radials. For
Tim N3QE wrote:
"I would recommend something different for coil tapping for a 10AWG coil: I
am a big fan of the Mueller BU-27C copper clip, rated for 40A DC. If you
are going onto thick copper tubing, Mueller the BU-27CGW (the "geophone
clip") works well."
I really wish I had known about these
I have had good success (mostly) following W8JI's recommendations in a similar
situtation with over 3 ft of Beverages in very rough woodland:
Use electric fence insulators nailed to trees, but allow the wire to pass
freely through them;
Fix only at the extremes of the antenna;
Use a very
I did as well (Klein Tools - Canada doesn't seem to recognize the US number) -
works very well with no sign of nicking the copper coating on the inner.
73 Roger
VE3ZI
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Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Very grateful for your efforts, George. Would appreciate it if you could manage
to get on 160m earlier than 1100 - my sunrise is at 10.40!
Incidentally, you were a huge signal on 80m at that time today.
73 Roger
VE3ZI
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