hi gary, i totally disagree with your assessment of contest versus normal operation on 160 meters. top band is a gentleman's band at ALL times, either in a contest or otherwise. nothing is ever on a "level playing field". big guns are truly deserving of the title. lots of time, energy and money is necessary. not withstanding is the devotion to the band and years of experience. i worked my last zone on 160 meters in the "window". long path with EY8MM. sked frequency was chosen because the "window" offered the best chance of having a clear frequency. observing the "window" in a contest is a great advantage for the little "pistol" to work DX. no 60 db over 9 signals to contend with. all of the big guns that i know respect the window, it's one of the ways we can honor the gentleman's code of top band. i worked my first european station in the "window". what a thrill that was. been a believer ever since. have fun. 73, larry n7dd In a message dated 04/02/11 4:52:04 P.M. Morocco Standard Time, [email protected] writes:
Background: Cap Gun Station, LP, admitted cloudburner antenna. Ignored DX Window during this CONTEST. WARNING: small sample size. TOTAL Qs: 514 TOTAL Qs in DX Window: 105 (105/514 ~= 20%) LOCAL Qs in DX Window: 102 (102/514 ~= 20%) DX Qs in DX Window: 3 DX Qs outside DX Window: 10 TOTAL DX Qs in band: 13 (does not include Zone 6, to keep data consistent with K8IA/NI5T) You can do the math. I, without apology, unabashedly admit that I did some running in the DX window. Note that I would have ~4/5 of the Qs if I did not. I found a clear frequency (outside W6XIs interference range of +/- 20kHz), and I used it. IMO a contest is not a gentleman's pursuit (after all, we ARE OUTLAWS!). Be a gentleman when not in a world-wide contest, but in a world-wide contest we're supposed to be on a level playing field. +Gary Keck, KE7DX Arizona QSO Party Coordinator Member, Catalina Radio Club, Radio Society of Tucson, Arizona Outlaws Contest Club ARRL Life Member SKCC # 5615 ______________________________________________________________ AOCC mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/aocc Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html _______________________________________________ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
