A note from the peanut gallery.
This is topband@CONTEST.com
I am on a postage stamp lot and the house & garage occupy approximately the
middle one third. The frontage is not usable for antenna systems due to the
underground utilities and overhead power lines. I am limited to compromise
antennas for this band and those must be further compromised from published
designs to fit into the space. I can be heard in Canada and the eastern
United
States. Most of the daily signals are for dx only. In some contests I can
work
a few stations on the north American continent. I can hear a lot of them but
they don't hear me. I don't have an antenna for 160 at the moment and not a
lot
of motivation to put one up. Other bands seem more productive given these
conditions. I would be satisfied with QSOs in the continental range but most
are DX hounds and can't waste their time on more local rag chews. I am ready
to
just sign off from this list and get out of your way. Am I missing
something?
Happy New Year to all and...
73,
Bill KU8H
OK, I'll be very honest and say that I don't really understand posts like
this.
Is Bill just generally complaining, looking for sympathy or maybe wants
antenna ideas?
(it's really not clear to me)
Bill - 160m is a tough band...tougher when you don't have real estate, but
it's certainly not impossible.
For nearly 30 yrs I've run 160m mobile on again/off again (more off than on)
and have I think 67 countries on Top Band.
I have also placed pretty well in the Stew Perry TopBand distance contest 2
or 3 times with a 160m rig in my mini. (see qrz.com)
I'm not trying to brag, but only tell you what's possible with very little
for an antenna.
I've read stories about W6's with postage stamp lots wrap 200' of wire
around ~30' of PVC, read about the W9 Minooka special and have personally
used a plethora of mobile antennas with ice-cream bucket loading coils and
top loading capacity hat wires to get on the band. Sure, I was pretty weak
but have worked K7RAT, NA7TB and Hawaii while mobile(parked) and all over
the USA, extreme western EU and into the Carib. some of the time in motion.
AA1K has worked way more than I have mobile. There was a KH6 who's call
escapes me now who's done better still. Then there was W1BB (who can forget
him and his mobile pix in "73" magazine?)
It *IS* possible.
Maybe you could clarify exactly what your point was. I feel like it wasn't
widely interpreted unambiguously.
73 Mike VE9AA
Mike - Keswick Ridge, NB, Canada
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