FD W4ZV 1B QRP Single Op
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First, my hat is off to all you guys who use QRP all the time!
I normally run full legal power in contests to large antennas (180' vertical on 160 and an 18 element stack on 10). Rather than running stations, I would guess all but a handful of my QSO's were S&P, and I quickly got accustomed to the idea that if ANYONE else was calling I would not be heard. Quite a change from my normal mode of contesting and humility was definitely the order of the weekend. Field Day was my first contest experience with my new K2 (#4119) and it performed mostly flawlessly. I only noticed a few unusual aspects to it which may be operator error: 1. The QSK had a "thumpy" sound when listening in the monitor. I also got the impression that I was not hearing between characters as much as between words. Perhaps there is an adjustment I need to make when my mind is clear. 2. I never totally figured out the Power meter. I normally use an external meter but decided to use the K2's meter only for simplicity. What I noticed was that the power displayed when turning the Power pot while not keying was not the same as power in key-down Tune. Also, in Tune the incremental changes were sometimes very large (i.e. 1W at ~5W output). Again I may need to read the manual. 3. When recording CW messages, the K2's timing seemed to often get distorted. I eventually got messages to sound almost right but it took a bit of doing to get there. 100% CW QRP Results (not computer-checked since I did manual logging and duping): 80m - 65 40m - 239 20m - 200 15m - 49 Total - 553 Time: 19.5 hours (things were just too slow with bugs, poor light and blowing mist making me miserable around 2 AM so I QRT until 6:30 AM). I worked 48 states including KL7 and KH6. KO7X (WY) was deaf and I heard ND several times working stations I was calling. LU6EF answered me on 15 and sent an exchange which I logged. I also worked an SM5 on 20 in the evening when things were very slow (he did not send an exchange so I did not log that one). It also seemed to me that I heard many QRP stations with good signals (e.g. N0SS) working others, but they never CQed and I never CQed (because it was so unproductive), so I suspect there were only a limited number of higher powered stations to work. Equipment: Elecraft K2, Emtech ZM-2 Antenna Tuner (a great little tuner), deep-cycle 75 AH battery plus small VW solar panel, 180' EDZ at about 60' on a mountain top about 3-400' above average nearby terrain. Oriented for max lobes on 80/40 to N/S and max lobes on 20/15 to E/W. No computer and no power except to the K2 (lighting by Coleman lantern). Screened shelter but the bugs eventually discovered the opening at the bottom of the sides since the shelter did not have a floor. Will I do this again? Probably not. It was fun but a lot of work to set up and take down, and 550 QSO's in 19.5 hours is just too slow to keep my interest up. It also seemed to me that the CW bands were surprisingly empty. Maybe we're beginning to see the effects of waning CW interest in the general ham population. It also seemed to me that I heard many QRP stations with good signals (e.g. N0SS) working others, but they never CQed and I never CQed (since it was so unproductive), so I suspect there were only a limited number of higher powered stations to work. At this point I'm not even sure I will send my log in since I don't relish the thought of re-entering everything into the computer to generate a 100% correct dupe sheet (I know I made errors with the paper one). Now I'm looking forward to trying Flight of the Bumblebees where there may actually be stations trying to find the weaker Bees! Hopefully that may be a bit more fun and the 4 hour duration will also help if it isn't. See you then! 73, Bill W4ZV P.S. My XYL enjoyed the solitude while I was operating and I once stopped to to go alert her about the beautiful serenade by a Wood Thrush in the canopy of 80- 90' hardwood trees...sounded like Nature's version of Sir James Galway on the flute who we just recently heard in a Symphony performance! _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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On Mon, 28 Jun 2004 22:54:28 -0400, Bill Tippett wrote:
>It also seemed to me that the CW bands were surprisingly empty. Maybe we're >beginning to see the effects of waning CW interest in the general ham >population. >It also seemed to me that I heard many QRP stations with good signals (e.g. >N0SS) working others, but they never CQed and I never CQed (since it was so >unproductive), Our 100 watt 3A (K9OR) made 1039 Q's on 40 meters alone. The operator of that position worked 40 cw for 22 hours, pausing only for a nap when things slowed down (2:30 am) Our antennas were all dipoles at decent heights. I split my time between 80, 20, and 15, and worked you on 80. Somehow we missed you on 40. Jim K9YC _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by Bill W4ZV
K9YC wrote:
>Our 100 watt 3A (K9OR) made 1039 Q's on 40 meters alone. You may have missed the point Jim. 100 watts is 13 dB stronger than 5 watts. If most QRP stations like myself found that CQ-ing was simply not effective and did S&P only, the universe of stations to work is FAR less. I suspect most stations CQ-ing were 100 watts. Also many guys choose to mainly do S&P independent of power. If you cannot effectively CQ, you are going to miss both the QRP guys who are S&P only as well as the 100 watt guys who choose not to CQ. You can never do well in any contest (except for the NCJ Sprints) unless you can maintain effective rates CQ-ing. I thought I might be able to CQ on the higher bands well up in the band and out of the way of stronger signals, but that simply would not work on any band for me, even though I tried many times. Such is life with QRP and wire antennas I suspect. As I said before, it was a good lesson in humility but I'm not sure I want to repeat it again! I think I learned this lesson once before in the Stew Perry Topband Challenge but had forgotten it. 73, Bill W4ZV P.S. Anyone have any comments on my K2 questions? QSK thumping, power meter inconsistencies or memory keying timing? _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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No, I didn't miss it at all. I found your observations to be completely in line with my
expectations. For most contests, I have to operate as if I were QRP -- no beam, 100 watts to compromise wire antennas on a city lot (and often a high noise level). That puts me roughly 17 dB below the guys with legal power and beams (and it puts QRP to a wire antenna 30 dB below legal power and beams). In other words, you've learned how I have to operate in virtually every contest except Field Day, and is why Field Day is my favorite contest -- there are very few stations running more than 100 watts! But I have a lot of fun working contests at home, because it hones my operating skills. I am among those who believe that ALL contests ought to be limited to 100 watts to make it a more level playing field. It would mean that folks without big power and big antennas have a better chance to hit bigger numbers. 73, Jim K9YC On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 07:34:59 -0400, Bill Tippett wrote: >K9YC wrote: > >Our 100 watt 3A (K9OR) made 1039 Q's on 40 meters alone. > > You may have missed the point Jim. 100 watts is 13 dB stronger >than 5 watts. If most QRP stations like myself found that CQ-ing >was simply not effective and did S&P only, the universe of stations >to work is FAR less. I suspect most stations CQ-ing were 100 watts. >Also many guys choose to mainly do S&P independent of power. If you >cannot effectively CQ, you are going to miss both the QRP guys who >are S&P only as well as the 100 watt guys who choose not to CQ. You >can never do well in any contest (except for the NCJ Sprints) unless >you can maintain effective rates CQ-ing. > > I thought I might be able to CQ on the higher bands well up >in the band and out of the way of stronger signals, but that simply >would not work on any band for me, even though I tried many times. >Such is life with QRP and wire antennas I suspect. As I said >before, it was a good lesson in humility but I'm not sure I want >to repeat it again! I think I learned this lesson once before in >the Stew Perry Topband Challenge but had forgotten it. > > 73, Bill W4ZV > >P.S. Anyone have any comments on my K2 questions? QSK thumping, >power meter inconsistencies or memory keying timing? > >_______________________________________________ >Elecraft mailing list >Post to: [hidden email] >You must be a subscriber to post to the list. >Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm >Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by Bill W4ZV
Hi Bill,
Congratulations on your excellent showing on Field Day. With that many QSOs, I'm sure you'll do very well in your division. Yes, FD is a bit of work, but it's also a great chance to get outdoors and try your hand at emergency communication setup. I think you'll be back next year ;) > ...seemed to me that the CW bands were surprisingly empty. ... Wow -- that wasn't my impression at all. I heard wall-to-wall CW signals on 20 and 40 meters most of the time, and a good number on 15 and 80 meters. Having done FD for some 10 years in a row now, I'd say that CW activity is about the same as ever. When using QRP on Field Day, you need a lot of patience and the best possible antenna. What I usually do is put up at least two antennas (typically, orthogonal long wires that favor N-S and E-W). You can connect both to the KAT2 or KAT100 at the same time, since both ATUs have dual antenna jacks. You can then quickly test both antennas, even on a per-signal basis, using the front panel ANT1/2 switch. > QSK... Where did you have T-R set in the menu? At T-R = 0.00, the receiver is unmuted very fast, which can cause a small receive artifact with certain narrow crystal filter and DSP settings. But we recommend using T-R = 0.01 or higher anyway. For casual operation, use T-R = 0.02 to 0.05. The time required to cleanly switch the VCO between RX and TX is around 10-15 ms. We put a high value on completely clickless and chirpless CW keying, and adjusted firmware delays accordingly. Still, wiith TR = 0.01, you should be able to hear between characters (not words) even at 50 WPM. If not, you may have an assembly or component problem somewhere. It's likely that we could improve VCO lock time and obtain between-dits receive at such speeds. This is one item on my list of possible future mods for the K2. > Power meter... It's a good idea to adjust POWER when not keying. During transmit, a small additional amount of hysteresis is added to the POWER control to improve noise margin, and this can increase the power-control step size. You can also usually adjust one resistor value in the BFO attenuator to improve power-setting accuracy. Some JFETs (Q24) have much higher transconductance than average, leading to coarser steps from the 8-bit DAC. To compensate, try increasing the value of R98 from 270 to as high as 470-820 ohms. (This experiment is best done with a small trim pot installed; replace the pot with a fixed resistor close to the final pot value.) If you adjust R98's value, make sure that the rig can still reach at least 10 watts on all bands with POWER set to 10.0. > CW messages... In order to store the maximum possible characters in the K2's CW message memories, the firmware "quantizes" your sending into standard-length dots, dashes, and spaces. This is not as forgiving as using a "times-8 clock" for recording, which is characteristic of some keyers. But such keyers have a much larger EEPROM than the K2 does, or they don't provide as many characters of storage. It's conceivable that we could go to a larger part in the future and use a times-8 or even times-16 sample clock. (Another item on my future mods list....) 73, Wayne, N6KR _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
Re: Re: FD W4ZV 1B QRP Single Op
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On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 08:08:37 -0700, wayne burdick wrote:
>What I usually do is put up at least two antennas >(typically, orthogonal long wires that favor N-S and E-W). You can >connect both to the KAT2 or KAT100 at the same time, since both ATUs >have dual antenna jacks. You can then quickly test both antennas, even >on a per-signal basis, using the front panel ANT1/2 switch. Strongly agree on all counts. That has proved a winning combo for me. And the switching allows me to make the most of less than ideal antennas. I often switch between them, even in the middle of a contest QSO. It's one of the features that makes the K2 family such a powerful contest radio. I'd like it even better if a third input to the tuners could be added! Jim K9YC _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
Re: Re: FD W4ZV 1B QRP Single Op
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In reply to this post by wayne burdick
On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 08:08:37 -0700, wayne burdick wrote:
>What I usually do is put up at least two antennas >(typically, orthogonal long wires that favor N-S and E-W). You can >connect both to the KAT2 or KAT100 at the same time, since both ATUs >have dual antenna jacks. You can then quickly test both antennas, even >on a per-signal basis, using the front panel ANT1/2 switch. Strongly agree on all counts. That has proved a winning combo for me. And the switching allows me to make the most of less than ideal antennas. I often switch between them, even in the middle of a contest QSO. It's one of the features that makes the K2 family such a powerful contest radio. I'd like it even better if a third input to the tuners could be added! Jim K9YC _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by wayne burdick
Hi Wayne,
At 11:08 AM 6/29/04, wayne burdick wrote: >> QSK... > >Where did you have T-R set in the menu? At T-R = 0.00, the receiver is >unmuted very fast, which can cause a small receive artifact with certain >narrow crystal filter and DSP settings. But we recommend using T-R = 0.01 >or higher anyway. For casual operation, use T-R = 0.02 to 0.05. > >The time required to cleanly switch the VCO between RX and TX is around >10-15 ms. We put a high value on completely clickless and chirpless CW >keying, and adjusted firmware delays accordingly. Still, wiith TR = 0.01, >you should be able to hear between characters (not words) even at 50 WPM. >If not, you may have an assembly or component problem somewhere. > >It's likely that we could improve VCO lock time and obtain between-dits >receive at such speeds. This is one item on my list of possible future >mods for the K2. T-R was default at 0.02 and I was normally sending at 25-30 WPM. I'll give 0.01 a try and see if I notice a difference. I strongly applaud your efforts on CW cleanliness. I would much rather live with a few QSK thumps in the receiver than be putting out clicks on transmit! >>Power meter... > >It's a good idea to adjust POWER when not keying. During transmit, a small >additional amount of hysteresis is added to the POWER control to improve >noise margin, and this can increase the power-control step size. > >You can also usually adjust one resistor value in the BFO attenuator to >improve power-setting accuracy. Some JFETs (Q24) have much higher >transconductance than average, leading to coarser steps from the 8-bit >DAC. To compensate, try increasing the value of R98 from 270 to as high as >470-820 ohms. (This experiment is best done with a small trim pot >installed; replace the pot with a fixed resistor close to the final pot >value.) If you adjust R98's value, make sure that the rig can still reach >at least 10 watts on all bands with POWER set to 10.0. OK. Good to know to adjust it when not keying. I was in the habit of monitoring that I was <5W out key down when adjusting the Emtech ZM-2 (in it's Tune mode) and then readjusting K2 power after switching the ZM-2 out of Tune mode (when an attenuator is switched out of its internal circuit. In general, I've found the K2's meter to be very close to my Mirage MP1 at home, but the coarseness of the adjustment during transmit was my main concern. Now I know to set it when not keying. >>CW messages... > >In order to store the maximum possible characters in the K2's CW message >memories, the firmware "quantizes" your sending into standard-length dots, >dashes, and spaces. This is not as forgiving as using a "times-8 clock" >for recording, which is characteristic of some keyers. But such keyers >have a much larger EEPROM than the K2 does, or they don't provide as many >characters of storage. It's conceivable that we could go to a larger part >in the future and use a times-8 or even times-16 sample clock. (Another >item on my future mods list....) As I said, with multiple tries, I could get it to sound OK, but was wondering if I should have been doing something differently. This was actually the first time I've used the K2's memories and Fast Play since I built it. Thanks for a very nice FD transceiver! By the way, it barely made a dent in my 75AH deep cycle battery plus small 180 ma solar panel. At the end of the operation, my battery was reading 12.71 Volts, which indicates nearly a full charge. Since I was relegated to mostly S&P-ing, I probably could have used a 7AH battery for the entire contest! I also had the K2 set to LCD - Day all the time since I used a Coleman lantern for lighting at night. By the way, could you explain exactly what the K2's performance tradeoff is when using OPT - BATT? Does this give mainly less sensitivity or less dynamic range? It sounds like sensitivity to my ears so I left it set to OPT - PERF for the entire contest, but would like to know in case I am ever running low on reserve battery power. 73, Bill W4ZV _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by Bill W4ZV
> Thanks for a very nice FD transceiver! By the way, it
> barely made a dent in my 75AH deep cycle battery plus small > 180 ma solar panel. At the end of the operation, my battery was > reading 12.71 Volts, which indicates nearly a full charge. Since > I was relegated to mostly S&P-ing, I probably could have used > a 7AH battery for the entire contest! > > 73, Bill W4ZV > No kidding, Bill. For this, my first FD with the K2, I ran about 70 W. I only operated maybe five hours-- the rest of the time was spent with my 5-year-old son (his first camping trip)-- and only made 160 contacts, but I barely made a dent in a 35 A-h sealed lead acid battery. I had taken so much battery power with me, and I never needed more than this single battery. I was amazed. Now I know for next year that I may be able to use this one battery if I scale back the power a bit, and for sure if I run QRP. I usually do run QRP, and now regret that I didn't do so this year. I will next year again. Al W6LX _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by Bill W4ZV
On Jun 29, 2004, at 10:22 AM, Bill Tippett wrote: > By the way, could you explain exactly what the K2's > performance tradeoff is when using OPT - BATT? Does this give > mainly less sensitivity or less dynamic range? It sounds like > sensitivity to my ears so I left it set to OPT - PERF for the entire > contest, but would like to know in case I am ever running low on > reserve battery power. Hi Bill, OPT BATT has only a very slight impact on receiver sensitivity -- probably 1 dB or so on most bands -- and I'm sure it would not have impacted your FD operation. It reduces current in the IF post-amp by about 50 mA, which can be useful if you're running from a small battery. The tradeoff is several dB of receiver dynamic range. Other current-saving strategies include setting BAR to OFF or DOT, using headphones, reducing TX power, turning off the preamp on the low bands, and (as you discovered) setting LCD to DAY. However, since you were running from a battery 10x the size needed for a FD operation, you did the right thing by leaving it set for OPT PERF ;) I would estimate that you could operate continuously (hunt 'n' pounce) for about 150 hours with a 75 AH battery. The K2 has the lowest current drain of any high-performance transceiver, by far, and was designed specifically with Field Day in mind. 73, Wayne N6KR --- http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
RE: Re: FD W4ZV 1B QRP Single Op
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In reply to this post by wayne burdick
I completely agree with Wayne. Having listened to our mostly CW bands at our QRP FD and looking at the early scores on 3830, comparing them to previous years, I notice almost no decline. Last year, in one of the worst single propagation years I can remember in 30 years of FD (43 for W2GD who agrees), we came within a few hundred points of setting the 3A record. We were behind only the PVRC (23A) and Rochester (17A) in total score. This year we were within 500 or so points of setting the 2A battery QRP record. You cannot do this with a seriously falling density of CW ops because they count 2 points per Q (10 if you are QRP). Anecdotally and mathematically, I believe we can argue that Bill's analysis of what he has heard is incorrect. I love a good argument though, and will listen to any counter remarks with interest. Bob N4HY -----Original Message----- From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]]On Behalf Of wayne burdick Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 3:09 PM To: Bill Tippett Cc: Elecraft Reflector Subject: [Elecraft] Re: FD W4ZV 1B QRP Single Op Hi Bill, Congratulations on your excellent showing on Field Day. With that many QSOs, I'm sure you'll do very well in your division. Yes, FD is a bit of work, but it's also a great chance to get outdoors and try your hand at emergency communication setup. I think you'll be back next year ;) > ...seemed to me that the CW bands were surprisingly empty. ... Wow -- that wasn't my impression at all. I heard wall-to-wall CW signals on 20 and 40 meters most of the time, and a good number on 15 and 80 meters. Having done FD for some 10 years in a row now, I'd say that CW activity is about the same as ever. When using QRP on Field Day, you need a lot of patience and the best possible antenna. What I usually do is put up at least two antennas (typically, orthogonal long wires that favor N-S and E-W). You can connect both to the KAT2 or KAT100 at the same time, since both ATUs have dual antenna jacks. You can then quickly test both antennas, even on a per-signal basis, using the front panel ANT1/2 switch. > QSK... Where did you have T-R set in the menu? At T-R = 0.00, the receiver is unmuted very fast, which can cause a small receive artifact with certain narrow crystal filter and DSP settings. But we recommend using T-R = 0.01 or higher anyway. For casual operation, use T-R = 0.02 to 0.05. The time required to cleanly switch the VCO between RX and TX is around 10-15 ms. We put a high value on completely clickless and chirpless CW keying, and adjusted firmware delays accordingly. Still, wiith TR = 0.01, you should be able to hear between characters (not words) even at 50 WPM. If not, you may have an assembly or component problem somewhere. It's likely that we could improve VCO lock time and obtain between-dits receive at such speeds. This is one item on my list of possible future mods for the K2. > Power meter... It's a good idea to adjust POWER when not keying. During transmit, a small additional amount of hysteresis is added to the POWER control to improve noise margin, and this can increase the power-control step size. You can also usually adjust one resistor value in the BFO attenuator to improve power-setting accuracy. Some JFETs (Q24) have much higher transconductance than average, leading to coarser steps from the 8-bit DAC. To compensate, try increasing the value of R98 from 270 to as high as 470-820 ohms. (This experiment is best done with a small trim pot installed; replace the pot with a fixed resistor close to the final pot value.) If you adjust R98's value, make sure that the rig can still reach at least 10 watts on all bands with POWER set to 10.0. > CW messages... In order to store the maximum possible characters in the K2's CW message memories, the firmware "quantizes" your sending into standard-length dots, dashes, and spaces. This is not as forgiving as using a "times-8 clock" for recording, which is characteristic of some keyers. But such keyers have a much larger EEPROM than the K2 does, or they don't provide as many characters of storage. It's conceivable that we could go to a larger part in the future and use a times-8 or even times-16 sample clock. (Another item on my future mods list....) 73, Wayne, N6KR _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by Bill W4ZV
In a message dated 6/29/04 6:42:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[hidden email] writes: > Having listened to our mostly CW > bands at our QRP FD and looking at the early scores on 3830, comparing them > to previous years, I notice almost no decline. > Same here. One word: Sunspots. Particularly in a contest like FD, where each band is a whole new world, apparent activity goes up and down with solar activity. In a contest like SS, where you work 'em once and never again, solar variation has different effects. 73 de Jim, N2EY _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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