Showing posts with label 160 metres. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 160 metres. Show all posts

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Finally, after five days trying, K1N logged on top band!!

Just a quick update about Navassa. I now have 13 slots, and all bands from 10m through 160m except 30m. This morning, with my severely compromised inverted V system for 80/40/30, I managed to work them on top band on CW. I have been trying for five consecutive mornings, and finally heard the sweet sound of "EI2KC EI2KC 5NN 5NN" on 1.826.5. I went back with "RR 5NN 5NN 5NN" but he came back again with "EI2KC EI2KC 5NN" so I went back again with a string of 5NNs and he said "TU K1N UP". Wonderful stuff.

They're now not difficult to work on some bands, although 20m RTTY yesterday evening was extremely busy over about 15 Khz of band, with an equal mix of NA and EU calls. So needless to say I didn't make it. I tried for a while late last night on 30 metres CW, the only band apart from 6 metres where I now need a QSO. Again, he was working NA and EU and I didn't get in. Antenna tear-down is on Saturday, so I will be hoping to try for a 30m QSO before then.

Below are some videos I've made during this dxpedition:







Sunday, December 28, 2014

A little bit of fun on top band in Stew Perry

Difficult as it might be to believe, my inverted v system for 80m/40m/30m actually has some resonance on 160 metres. Resonance, as you know, does not automatically equal good performance. If you could see how the 80 metre v is dog-legged around my garden, you might have a greater appreciation of what I mean! Being able to operate on top band does not mean being able to operate well. But in order to put my system to the test I had a go at the Stew Perry contest on 160 metres last night.

I did okay. I worked 45 QSOs. I managed to work as far away as Lithuania, and worked Sweden, Iceland, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Italy, France, Finland and a few QSOs into the UK. I was entering on a non-competitive basis, although I may well submit a log in any case. A few stations had difficulty hearing me and needed either my callsign or locator square repeated. The Italian station had a lot of trouble copying my square and the QSO took a couple of minutes. Aside from that, it was quite enjoyable. I participated for about two to three hours, on and off. My total claimed score (according to my N1MM+ log) is 129 points.

Below is a video taken early in the night and features a QSO being made: