Well I think I spoke too soon . . .
Although there was DX propagation, signals seemed well down this side of the
pond.
Roger G3YRO
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Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Well DX conditions seem to have been gradually improving across the week,
and were reasonable last night (Friday) . . .
So hope to work lots of you tonight !
73 Roger G3YRO
_
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
But what is GOOD Ground for RF?
I've always presumed that the reason I do so well for DX with a horizontal
160m Dipole is because the Ground conductivity is POOR . . . so my Dipole is
effectively a lot higher.
Plus I have always wondered how deep below the surface the ground matters,
when it
Shame that conditions were so poor last weekend for the CQ SSB Contest . . .
They have been pretty poor on 160 all this week . . . but last night
(Thursday) propagation was a lot better.
So would be good if there was a lot more stations on the band this weekend.
Oh and by the way, does
Yes, as others have posted, DX propagation on 160m continues to be good this
week . . .
Maybe there will be a few more stations on CW tonight?
73 Roger G3YRO
_
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Yes great to see good conditions on 160m for the first time in ages !
I was only able to come on for about an hour each night (as unfortunately I
was at work both nights until 03.00Z) . . . but had about 50 NA contacts.
Roger G3YRO
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I came on a few times during the night, looking for NA stations to call . .
.
Conditions are still rather poor, as DX signals were well down on normal.
However, managed to work about 20 NA stations. (best DX was Florida)
Will come on again tonight to see if I can hear any more through the
Fine about the RBN Receiving Sites further West . . . I wondered if that was
the case.
I guess the East Coast US RBN stations that give us Europeans really good
reports - more than 30dB above the noise when the band is open - must also
have good receiving antennas.
However . . . conditions
I must admit I used to work stations in Florida all the time (even on SSB) .
. . but it seems pretty rare these days.
Regarding RBN . . . are there many decent 160m receiving sites in Florida .
. . or even in the Mid-West or West Coast?
It's just that nearly all the North American 160m RBN
Well I was pleasantly surprised to see a KL7 spot me on the DX Cluster and
give me 559 last night . . . sadly if he tried calling me, I didn't hear
him.
There were quire a few Europeans on 160 on CW last night . . . although I
didn't hear any having QSOs with North American stations.
I shall
Conditions were pretty good from Europe to North America last night . . .
Not many stations on CW though !
Maybe there will be more activity tonight.
Remember, if you hear a DX station calling CQ, it's good to spot them on the
DX Cluster, as this seems to encourage more stations to come on
I was only 14 when I first got my Full Licence, so obviously couldn't
operate Mobile . . .
But I made a 160m Handheld ! This was a 1 watt crystal controlled Tx, built
into to an AM radio I converted to Top Band, and used the Audio amp as the
Modulator.
All the locals were on 160m AM in those
Good to see lots of stations on Top Band last night !
Signals were pretty good across the Pond, and peaking around 0300Z . . . .
curiously the band seemed to fade out after 0400Z.
Sadly, I still have a local noise coming from the West of me (the direction
my Receive Loop is pointing, which
Yes, Topband IS a really difficult band to work long distances on . . .
For a start, putting out a decent signal if you live in a normal house on a
normal street in the city (like I always have) is really challenging, in
terms of Antennas.
And of course, it's the hardest band in terms of
Well 160m conditions were fairly good last night . . .
Good to work a few NA stations !
Maybe there will be even more activity tonight? (best propagation for me
was around 0400Z)
73 Roger G3YRO
_
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Hi Steve
Yes, I appreciate the path to you from Britain is very different (and seems
poor at present).
I'm not on as regularly at OK1CF . . . but sometimes we are both on
together, calling CQ DX endlessly, and getting no replies (despite decent
RBN reports)
I tend to pop on the band a few
Well I've said it before . . . and no doubt I will say it again . . .
But it's a real shame that there is so little CW activity on Top Band at the
moment.
Sure, conditions aren't always that good at the moment on 160m . . . but
often the band IS open (as shown by RBN reports) . . . but there
Well we had big storms again here in Britain a week ago . . . and the 10ft
tall remains of a tree that I had a big pole lashed to (to hold the far end
of my Dipole) was snapped off at the base !
So after the holiday I ordered a big angle iron . . . got it delivered . . .
painted it with
Oh thanks Jim . . . I must have written down every combination of your
callsign without getting it right! Pretty sure I heard you give me 569, but
every time you sent your call there was a big dip in QSB, which took you
down into the noise.
Sadly I still have one local noise source I need to
Such a shame conditions were so poor
I worked 2 NA stations on Friday night . . .
Didn't hear a single one on Saturday night !
Roger G3YRO
_
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Funnily enough, conditions didn't seem so good last night for me . . .
NA Signals were weaker, and I only worked another 8 stations . . . so didn't
stay on long.
Roger G3YRO
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Well I came on around 00.30Z . . . could only just copy a couple of NA
stations through the EU QRM, as they were pretty weak.
But when I came back on around 05.30Z, signals had picked up. Found 8 NA
stations calling CQ, so having worked them I thought I'd try calling CQ NA.
Apart from a few EU
I know what you're saying JC . . . we should make the best of things as they
are NOW . . .
But my talking about signals being stronger on Top Band years ago is not
"rose tinted spectacles" . . . I'm talking about actual signal strength (and
not just signal relative to the noise, which of course
Well when I complain on here that DX Propagation on 160m isn't nearly as
good as it was years ago, people say things like "it's the Sunspot Cycle . .
."
Mark, clearly you agree that it's not that simple !
Roger G3YRO
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Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband -
Well conditions continue to be very poor on 160m . . .
I couldn't hear one single North American station in the contest! (or any
other DX for that matter)
Roger G3YRO
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Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Hi Jim
Well I am obviously talking about the same S Meter on the same or similar
antennas. So I am comparing like with like when I say signals are weaker.
But as you say, the big problem these days is radiated noise from poor power
supplies - so the fact that signals are weaker AND noise is
Hi JC
Well I agree that's it's much easier these days to work lots of new
countries . . . but that's because a lot more countries are now allowed on
160m, and also because there are lots more DX-peditions.
But when I talk about Propagation being poor compared to over 20 years ago,
I'm talking
Well from all the various replies (some direct to me) I guess the Sunspot
Cycle DOES affect signals going over the Pole . . . but as I said before, I
have never really noticed much difference in DX signals on 160m generally.
But apart from that, as I've said before, conditions seem to have been
Quote: "We are approaching a solar maxima. Conditions on Topband peaked at
the solar minima several years ago."
I've never felt that the Sunspot Cycle has much affect on Topband.
And apart from the poor conditions for the last couple of weeks, as I've
said before, 160m DX propagation very
Yes conditions continue to be really poor on 160m (wonder why?) . . .
I just came on for a short while, but only managed to work 12 NA stations
(everyone I could hear)
But these were stations that would normally be over S9 . . . and were only
around S4 - 5 with me.
73 Roger G3YRO
Hi Dave
I was just about to post on here, asking whether NA stations are coming back
on the band for Winter? I hear several EU stations (including me) putting
out endless CQ DX calls, but getting no replies.
However, I notice that on RBN, EU signals in NA have been really poor lately
. . . I
Well I used a Bug Key for most of my life (sadly not a Vibroplex, but a
Japanese Semi-automatic I got for my 13th birthday)
What using a Semi allowed you to do was stress some of the Dah characters.
For example, when calling in a Pileup, I would always send the first letter
of my callsign as
I came on 160m around 0200Z last night . . .
Saw you had just been spotted by a US station George . . . but couldn't hear
you at all.
I did put out a few CQ calls, but no replies (although there was propagation
- RBN report)
Anyway, I shall be on around the same time tonight.
73 Roger G3YRO
Joe I used to have the kind of CW note I think you are talking about. It
was deliberately very "pingy" . . . a bit like a bell ringing.
I achieved it on my homebrew CW rig . . . then when I got my FT-101E (that I
used for decades to work DX on 160m) I managed to make it sound much the
same.
Well I don't know how others got on . . .
But I didn't hear one single North American station on Saturday night !
Roger G3YRO
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Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
I shall be on for the Contest . . .
But how are conditions in North America at the moment . . . are you getting
a lot of QRN? (we have hardly any over here)
Roger G3YRO
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Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
a prayer of working
at all. You also must take extreme measures to suppress common mode
currents when using a small loop.
What constraints must you take into consideration when selecting the
location for your receiving antennas?
73
Frank
W3LPL
- Original Message -
From: "Roger Ke
I just tried making a Loop on the Ground to see if it would be any lower
noise than my 6ft 160m Loop up in the loft.
I followed several people's suggested dimensions . . . so 15 feet each side,
feeding it in the middle of the side pointing West with a 450:50 ohm
transformer . . . And it's
As per my post a week ago, there are several Europeans on Top Band most
nights . . . and RBN reports seem to indicate that there IS propagation . .
.
But it seems like there is very little activity from North America. Have you
all stopped coming on the band already?
Roger G3YRO
DX Propagation has been quite reasonable lately . .
There have been quite a few of us Europeans on the band . . . maybe there
will be more North American activity this weekend.
73 Roger G3YRO
_
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Dave what I MEANT to say was I didn't copy a single North American station
on SSB . . . there were plenty of Europeans on calling CQ Contest !
But I only spent 5 minutes tuning around . . . as I couldn't hear any DX, I
went to bed.
73 Roger G3YRO
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Checked 160m using RBN on CW last night, and there was SOME propagation to
North America . . .
However, tuning about I couldn't hear one single SSB station in the Contest!
Were there many stations on?
Roger G3YRO
_
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband -
Conditions still seem very up and down . . .
But let's see if we can stir up some Top Band activity this Wednesday
night/Thursday morning.
Roger G3YRO
_
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Sorry Kenny . . . no I didn't. In fact I've had a couple of emails from
others who called me, and I couldn't copy them either!
It was very wet over here, so I did have some 400kV power line noise, which
didn't help . . . but signals weren't that strong, or else I probably would
have heard you
Well I came on last night, and my RBN reports were really good . . .
However, I didn't hear ANY North American stations at all !
Maybe propagation was one-way? (as sometimes happens on this band)
Roger G3YRO
_
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband -
Well Top Band conditions still seem pretty good . . .
So be good to see some DX activity this Wednesday night/Thursday morning.
73 Roger G3YRO
_
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Conditions seemed a little strange to NA from here . . .
I came on for a few minutes before going to bed around 0030Z and couldn't
hear ANY NA stations.
Came back on at 0430Z and there were several NA stations coming through,
many over S9.
I worked everyone I heard, a total of 16 stations . .
Well I was hoping to work some NA stations on 160m SSB during the contest
last weekend . . .
But conditions were so poor, I didn't hear one single station !
(just for a change I did pop up onto 15m and 10m and worked a few stations .
. . but no real satisfaction doing it on those bands!)
Hope
Well to me conditions are good if the DX stations that will peak over S9 are
that strong . . . if they are S5-6 then conditions are poor, and if they are
very weak or not there at all, then conditions are bad.
The same goes when looking at my own RBN reports . . . if I am 30dB above
the noise
Sorry I couldn't copy you calling me last night Guy . . . I've still got
this local noise problem (OFCOM back again next week, so keep hoping they
will shut the source down)
I popped on a couple of times last night . . . but didn't stay on long. as
reports from RBN stations were very poor !
Well conditions were pretty good over the weekend . . .
So be good to see some DX activity this Wednesday night/Thursday morning.
73 Roger G3YRO
_
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
I came on 160m a couple of times during Friday night, but only worked 15 NA
stations, as conditions seemed poor.
Saturday night I was doing a late night gig, so didn't get home until
03.30Z. However, conditions seemed much better!
After working everyone I heard, I then found a channel and
I haven't bothered posting reminders for this for a while, as 160m
conditions have been so poor.
But they seem to be fairly good at the moment, so maybe we shall see some
stations on the band tonight.
73 Roger G3YRO
_
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband -
I presume that with the problems they are having, they won't be getting on
160m?
I already worked it ages ago, so not too bothered personally.
73 Roger G3YRO
_
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
I currently have OFCOM investigating a local noise interference source. It's
just a wideband hash across all bands, but worse on 160m (my main band).
When looking on their Spectrum Analyser plugged into my Half Wave 160m
Dipole, one of their engineers thought the noise dropped off a lot at the
Sadly as I mentioned before, I was working both nights until 0300Z, so
didn't get home until 0330.
Saturday night I was even more tired, so only stayed on for half an hour,
but managed to work another 12 NA stations I hadn't worked Friday night.
(would have liked to have come back on around our
I wouldn't say conditions were GOOD last night, as the NA big guns are
normally several S units stronger over here, but they were OK.
I didn't get home from work til 0330Z last night (doing extra gigs for a
couple of weeks)
But I came on for just over an hour and managed to work 35 NA
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
Ironic that after complaining how poor DX Propagation has been for the past
few weeks, they were quite reasonable from around 0300Z last night . . .
Having seen fair reports from RBN stations, I carried on calling CQ for half
an hour, and worked a few NA stations, including Georgia and Alabama.
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
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
Glad you have at lest identified the source of this problem . . .
Back in the 70s suddenly a spurious signal appeared on 1880kHz.
You could clearly hear that it was two stations from a local BBC AM
Transmitter mixing together. This was very annoying, as it was one of the
main SSB frequencies.
Well I've been popping on at odd times over the past couple of weeks . . .
But propagation on 160m across the pond has nearly always been really poor .
. . according to the usual NA RBN receiving sites, signals from us EU
stations have been typically over 20dB down on normal.
Anyway, Happy
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 -
Good to see the CW activity, thanks to everyone that made the effort to come
on last night.
I was working late doing a gig, so didn't get home til 0230. Stayed on for
half an hour, and worked a few NA stations. Sadly I was too tired to come
back on before our Sunrise !
Despite Xmas, I will be
Just another reminder . . .
Perhaps DX propagation will be better tomorrow night than in the Stew Perry
at the weekend. We can only hope !
Anyway, hope to see some of you on the band.
73 Roger G3YRO
_
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband
Back in the 1970s when I lived on the South Coast, a local to me - G3RCE -
used to regularly
put up a Half Wave vertical on 160m suspended by a Hydrogen-filled Weather
balloon.
However, unlike a Kite which needs decent wind to stay aloft, with a Balloon
you want NO wind !
As suggested, he
I came on about 4 times during the night, but propagation this side of the
pond was really poor.
NA Stations that are normally over S9 were around S5 . . . so couldn't hear
weaker signals at all. Even Europeans weren't very strong.
I did mange to work 16 NA stations, including Colorado and
As promised, a reminder . . .
A good chance to check things out before the Stew Perry Contest at the
weekend.
To clarify - this is Wednesday night / Thursday morning.
(I personally won't be on till around 02.30Z, as I have a late gig in town!)
73 Roger G3YRO
_
Searchable
Well given the comments about lack of DX activity on 160m, I'm going to
start the promotion of a Wednesday CW Activity Night again. (I hadn't
bothered this Season up til now, due partly to very poor conditions, and
also my recent Noise problem)
There has traditionally been DX activity on
Well given that several people have posted that conditions were poor, I
guess I should be happy that I managed to work 26 NA stations in the hour I
spent on the band - even more so as I have this horrendous wideband noise on
160 at the moment!
Regarding Duplicate Calls, I also never have a
I've had an awful noise on 160m for the past 4 weeks, a buzzy hash covering
the whole band around S9. So it's been almost impossible to work any DX -
apologies if you've called me, and I haven't heard you - I have put out a
few CQ DX calls, just to see what propagation was like by checking NA
Well the poor DX conditions on 160m seem to be persisting . . .
I had a listen on the band several times during last night . . . but didn't
hear a single DX station (although I did have quite a high noise level).
But I also didn't hear any of the few Europeans on the band working any DX
This circuit is clearly MUCH simpler than the MFJ units, which uses matching
transformers and has several extra stages.
Personally, I would find it annoying that the gain isn't unity through the
unit.
ALSO - I bought a secondhand MFJ-1025 for about $70 . . . but found that I
needed to add a
Shame that conditions have been so poor the past week . . .
Roger G3YRO
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Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Yes, there's no point in blaming FT8 for a decline in CW activity . . .
If more people make an effort to come on 160m on CW, there WILL be more
activity . . . it's as simple as that!
And I get that some people who have been DX-ing on Top Band for 50+ years
(like me) have kind of lost interest
I get what you're saying Steve . . .
But to me, anything over 2,000 miles I consider DX on 160m . . . considering
most stations on Top Band struggle to work stations 1,000 miles away.
So I still consider it an achievement to work 'Across the Pond' on Top Band,
which is why it still gives me a
Having received a couple of emails, I thought it would be worth coming on
last night. . . .
I was doing a gig in town, so didn't get home until nearly 2.30am (01.30
GMT). I put out a CQ DX call, and had a call from Jon AA1K.
Put out a few more calls, but couldn't hear anyone else calling me.
Yes these signals are very strong here in Britain . . . they're about 3kHz
wide, and are usually S9 +30dB.
Someone told me they're from a company that sells Data Transmission to
companies that need to get data to lots of different locations . . . that's
why they use Shortwave Frequencies. (He
Well there's a few of us Europeans that still come on 160m most nights . . .
but generally there's very little DX activity.
(Thought I'd post something as it seems there have been NO posts so far in
May!)
73 Roger G3YRO
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I get why many of you in North America may not be active at the moment, if
there's now a lot of QRN (let alone risk of lightning strikes) . . .
But are the poor RBN reports lately due to high QRN over there, rather than
poor Propagation, do you think? (given that RBN shows signal strength
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
Well according to RBN Reports, conditions on 160m seem pretty much back to
normal . . . although there are very few stations on the band !
Hopefully we'll see a bit more CW Activity tomorrow night / Thursday
morning.
73 Roger G3YRO
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Your weekly reminder . . .
Hope to see lots of stations on Top Band from both sides of the pond
tonight/Thursday morning!
73 Roger G3YRO
_
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Well 160m DX propagation seems to be back to normal now . . .
So hopefully we'll see lots of stations on the band this Wednesday
night/Thursday morning.
73 Roger G3YRO
_
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
There seems to be almost a complete lack of DX Propagation on 160m for the
past few days . . . certainly from Europe.
Yet inter-G propagation seems normal.
Roger G3YRO
_
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
I popped on 160m a couple of times during the ARRL contest, and despite the
poor conditions I did manage to work 12 NA stations.
Signals were still well down this weekend for the Spring Stew Perry, but
came on the band a couple of times during last night, and managed 28 NA
QSOs.
It's funny
Thanks to everyone who made the effort to come on 160m CW last Wednesday
night/Thursday morning . . .
Conditions have certainly improved since last week, so hopefully we'll have
even more stations on this time.
73 Roger G3YRO
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Well conditions seem to have improved since the weekend . . . although very
few stations on the band ! (apart from those calling the 8Q7 - I managed to
work him last night)
So hopefully will see more activity from both sides of the pond this
Wednesday night/Thursday morning.
73 Roger G3YRO
Well it's a shame conditions were so very poor over the weekend . . . I
never enter any of these contests, but do pop on 160 a few times over the
weekend to see what DX I can work.
But I only heard (and worked) 4 North American stations . . . even most of
the European signals were well down on
Well we had more nightmare Storms here in Britain over the past week (100mph
+ winds) which brought my 160m aerial down again - so didn't make it on the
band last Wednesday, or over the weekend.
But a new stronger mast arrived today for one end of my aerial (which will
stop it whipping about so
Your weekly reminder, to try and stir up activity on CW . . .
Hope to see even more of you on tomorrow night/Thursday morning.
And do please Spot any stations you hear calling CQ on the DX Cluster, as
that again seems to really encourage more stations to come on the band.
(plus the Cluster
Just another reminder, to try and stir up activity on CW . . .
DX Propagation has again been reasonable the past few nights, but not many
stations on the band.
So hope to see you on tomorrow night/Thursday morning.
And do please Spot any stations you hear calling CQ on the DX Cluster, as
Ah OK . . . apologies Nick, I didn't realise you were being sarcastic !
Plus I presumed that the other station's Callsign was a special Contest
Callsign that YOU were using.
73 Roger G3YRO
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Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Nick I really don't understand what point you are trying to make . . .
Why do you think running High Power in a Contest is "harmful"?
Sure, you had more QSOs in the CQ160 this year (running Low Power) . . . but
you would expect that, as you were operating for 7 more hours compared to
last
Conditions across the Pond have been rather poor for the past week or so . .
.
But last night they seemed to be back to normal.
My own RBN reports had been about 20dB lower, but were back up to as much as
38dB over the noise. (and the same with other EU stations)
And I also had a couple of
Just another reminder . . .
A chance to work some DX for those that didn't have much joy during the
CQ160 Contest.
73 Roger G3YRO
_
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Well you were S4 on the meter on 21st Jan over here Bill . . . and most NA
stations were only S5 that night, so conditions were poor.
Were you using the same aerial then?
Roger G3YRO
_
Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
Well we had another bad storm this weekend here in the NE of England (80mph
winds) . . .
Just 10 minutes before the start of the CQ160 my Topband Aerial came down !
I don't ever come on to enter these contests, but do see what DX I can work
. . .
Although I gather conditions weren't that
Well it was great to hear so many stations on the band last night . . . and
conditions were really excellent at times.
I came on for about an hour from 00.20 . . . and again around 04.00 . . .
worked over 40 NA stations, right across to the mid-west, and had several S9
signal reports. (I also
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