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?

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.

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

- Mike KB3EIA -


Wow, as a newbie I had EXACTLY the opposite experience.

I was a Novice and could hardly hear or work anyone on CW. After
upgrading to Tech, I was talked in to cutting my 40M dipole down to
10M (because I upgraded about the same time as the Novice Enhancement
came along), and got on 10M SSB. WOWEE!!! That was what all the
hubub was about!

And my 10M antenna was tied off to a crabapple tree at 8', and the
other end was tied off to the gutter at about 12'.

Yup, CW gets through when everything else will - sometimes.

Brian