G'day
As Carl K9LA and Jim K9YC have pointed out, the ambient noise levels just about everywhere are creeping up, which has a particularly bad effect on 80m and 160m operation. However, we are still fairly near the top of a solar cycle and activity levels on these lower bands are going to pick up greatly in a few years' time because that is where the propagation is going to be. Sure, the higher noise level is going to make life more challenging than it used to be, but aren't we forgetting the hell-hole of Loran and coastal radio stations that 160m used to be in the heydays of W1BB, K1PBW, VK6HD, EP2BQ and PY1RO? 160m has never been easy and that is where the fun lies. At present, 20m to 10m is a lot of fun, but that will change soon enough. To paraphrase Mark Twain, the death of 160m has been greatly exaggerated. And no-one is making us use FT8 - what we CHOOSE to do as individuals on topband is going to be by far the major factor in its operational future. Vy 73 Steve, VK6VZ/G3ZZD/VL6T PS I choose to use no digital modes here because found it is not fun. 😉 _________________ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
