Dave, When I worked them, if I would have had an S Meter instead of the bars on the K3S, it would not have moved in the least by the signals I heard from them.
I was sitting at the radio for at least a half hour yesterday, having waited 3 hours the day before & hearing squat fragments of calls from them. When I heard **0EK come through as a faint hiss in the noise level, not a tone. Not a tone in the least, I called 1.5 below and got them on the 2nd call, hearing a hiss, not a tone reply, I heard KA1J 599... Yes, the K3s Helped hugely as did the HI-Z triangular but had I not been listening to absolutely NOTHING... and imagining Ghost signals in my brain working overtime to make sense out of the popping sounds in the QRN, I would have never worked them. This kind of 160M contact is what we live for, not the 100% solid Q. This is (to me at least), the joy in the game. 73 OM and I hope you work them tonight! 73, Gary KA1J > Topbanders. . . > > Here in Iowa I have been a bit challenged with hearing them on various bands > from their current location. They've never been strong on any band at any > time but sometimes workable. Aside from 160m, they've been weak here on 80, > 40, modest signals on 30m and 20m, fleeting and weak signals above that. > They are 11,451 miles from my QTH. With 43 minutes of common darkness > there's not a big opportunity for a 160m QSO, but an opportunity > nevertheless. > > Observing now for a few days at my SS (0035z today) some patterns have begun > to emerge for 160m propagation. First of all, the prop is very spotty and > selective. . .much more so than, say, with an EU, Asian, or African station. > I was truly surprised (and confess a little frustrated) when Dennis, NT0V, > worked them Sunday evening (bravo Dennis!) from his ND QTH with even less > common darkness than I have here in Iowa. I heard nothing from them Sunday > night but was encouraged to see that a Q at least seemed possible. Last > evening (Monday) Alan, WD8PKF (106 miles north of me) worked them (bravo > Alan!) at our SS while, again, I heard absolutely nothing. Finally, around > 0050z they gradually started coming up out of the noise. I worked them at > 0059. Within five or seven minutes they had faded and were gone well before > their SR. They were never stronger than S1 or S2. Incidentally, they were > peaking east rather than southeast. Several others have reported the same > thing. > > The 160m prop at NA SS so far clearly seems to favor the northern part of NA > over the southern. The past few nights the guys in 1 land, some 2 land, VE3, > Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota have been hearing them and > working them with reasonably good signals. Dropping further south the guys > in OH, IN, IL, and me in IA have had much more difficult time hearing them > and a much shorter time hearing them. In the meantime the guys further south > in 4 land and 5 land in particular seem to have had a near total drought. > Not sure if this pattern will continue but it has been prominent and > consistent so far. I'm sure the guys out west with a NA SR window have a > whole different situation. > > Anyway, the same 160m game rules apply that always apply. . .you've just > gotta be at the radio during the window and listening carefully. The > antennas here are full size ground mounted four square for TX and a Hi-Z 8 > circle array for RX. While the TX array hears well, I wouldn't have worked > them last night without the help from the Hi-Z 8 circle. Good luck! > > 73. . .Dave, W0FLS > in Iowa > > > _________________ > Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband > _________________ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
