After reading all the comments about the end of the 160 season, I wondered how many DX contacts I make in the "off season." I'm not very consistent in my operating habits and although I often "check the band" before sunrise, I'm not too good at staying up late looking for DX to the east. I'm a casual DXer and I have a lot of irons in the fire so I'll not break any records. Plus, knowing that so many stations in the northern hemisphere "roll up the radials," so to speak, I tend to spend less operating time on 160 vs. other bands in those months. BTW, I live in the semi-tropics 25 miles inland from the noisy Gulf of Mexico. I have lots of excuses, don't I? I went back through logs since 2004 and made these findings. The numbers for March and September are almost the same as for the other "in season" months, so I threw those out. The numbers for April, May, June, July, and August are certainly less than September through March, and nearly equal for each of those five months over the years in question. Here's what I worked in those "off season" months on 160. VK,- 89 contacts JA---22 contacts XQ6---4 contacts LU-----5 contacts FK8---2 contacts ZL-----6 contacts DU9--2 contacts DL----2 contacts 4O3--2 contacts KL7--2 Contacts KH6--3 contacts HK----3 contacts FM5--2 contacts PY----2 contacts CY9--2 contacts PJ4---2 contacts G------2 contacts CX5---2 contacts XE-----5 contacts And one contact with each of the following: VK9, F5, SV3, KP2, IK1, N8S, AH2, 5W5, EI2, FW0, NP4, 5W0, LZ, LA, T77, HR, VI9, S51, E51, UT5, HA, C6, ET3, ZP6, So, for 8 years, that's 183 DX contacts or an average of about 24 per year and a bit under 5 per "off season" month. That's not bad for a not-ready-for-prime-time effort, but may not be exciting enough for many. I think that a more systematic approach to my operating habits would help my numbers. Then if folks around the globe did a more exuberant bit of spotting, it might get the attention of many who gave up in March. Of course the development of leather eardrums after 58 years on 160 is an asset I'm proud of. Best DX, 73, Barry _______________________________________________ UR RST IS ... ... ..9 QSB QSB - hw? BK
