FB copy here in the Columbus, OH area, Rob. Solid 579 at around 0730z ( from memory)
Band was quiet from EU and S.A. but good to W6-W7-VE6/7 land when we worked. W3HKK station: IC7610-ACOM amp-52' vertical leg, sloping to 12 ft at the eastern end with my 1/4 wave INV-L + 26 radials. & SAL30 rx antenna. Age: 82 ( my first SP effort!) ex: F7AL-5A3TG-9G1GS-ON8UD-W3HKK/PY8-W3HKK/PS7 de Bob ========================================================== Message: 3 Date: Mon, 1 Jan 2024 14:37:14 -1000 From: Rob Van Geen To: [email protected] Subject: Topband: Some photos and video from our KH6AQ portable operation in the December Stew Perry TBDC Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Dave and I (Rob, NH6V) have been enjoying experimenting with antenna setups on the east coast of the "Big Island" of Hawai'i in several of the 160 contests since December 2022. We run 1500W to a full-size 1/4? wire sloping ~50? up to the top of a 150' Cook pine tree across the road from the beach. It runs off of two 130' elevated radials that run parallel to the coastline and perpendicular to the direction of North America and Europe.. 35?. The feedpoint is back about 25' from the ocean and it even gets occasionally hit by the large crashing surf (!). A pretty ideal antenna, as it turns out. For RX this year, it was necessary to deploy a single direction K9AY loop in order to null out a new, S-3 (at 3 kHz bw) power line noise emanating from the neighborhood about 1km to the northwest. We didn't experience this noise for the ARRL 160. Unfortunately, the noise is also coming from the same direction as Japan. So this ended up being our sole receive antenna, and we must say that it was most beneficial and kudos go out to K9AY for this especially innovative antenna design. Thank you, Gary! Driving 4' ground rods into the lava rocks wasn't too easy. There was also a good amount of seawater wetted sand to help lower the resistance - we're guessing no better than about 100?. Thanks for the QSOs! Your participation is greatly appreciated by all. We hope to continue operating from this portable location in all future 160 contests. Look for our report with additional details on www.3830scores.com - to be updated within the next couple of days. Album with photos and some video: https://photos.app.goo.gl/5LC1srprU1F9SsTW9 /> Rob - NH6V ------------------------------ _________________ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
