Dee D. Flint wrote:

"Mike Coslo" wrote in message
. ..

Dee D. Flint wrote:

Just wanted to say I had a great time working the 160m CW contest this
weekend. Only had a random wire at less than 10ft off the ground but

worked

stations from Maine to S. Texas.

Wow. I wonder how many you would have worked on 160 with that antenna
if you had been using ssb?



It would not have worked well for sideband (although I have worked PA on ssb
on it) as it is too low to the ground and the background noise on 160m is
often high. I worked 4 hours Friday night and 4 hours Saturday night doing
the "hunt and pounce" approach. This doesn't net a lot of stations but you
find some interesting ones. Altogether I worked 104 stations in a total of
8 hours. The one I wonder about is where a person on Long Island finds room
for a 160m antenna!


I think that is one of the things that may dissapoint new hams that may
when the CW requirement is gone, (which I have predicted to happen about
the bottom of the sunspot cycle) and they get on the air, and they don't
do a whole lot after that? They will wonder what all the hubub was about.



I've often thought the same myself.


Whereas you worked a lot of the US with an antenna that by all rights
shouldn't work much at all!



As they say: any antenna is better than no antenna!

hehe, try telling that to some of the r.r.a.antenns group! Of course the
guru's there are operating in rarified atmosphere. (no disrespect, there
are some mighty knowledgeable people there - it's just that a person can
start a thread, and the first one or two answers answer the problem,
then the thread turns into a antenna minutae free for all. Hmm sounds
familiar!!

- Mike KB3EIA -