[80m] 80m DXing - a beginner's view

Fri, 11 Jan 2002 00:26:07 +0000

Are you the QSL manager for LZ1JY?
Bernie

Iowaguy wrote:

> John:
>
> Don't despair.  80 meter conditions this year have been the poorest I've
> seen in over a decade.
>
> 73..Dave
> W0FLS
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]On
> Behalf Of John Harper AE5X
> Sent: Monday, January 07, 2002 6:00 AM
> To: 80m list
> Subject: [80m] 80m DXing - a beginner's view
>
> After 23 years in this hobby, I finally "discovered" 80m DXing last winter.
> Previously, I either had been a teenager succumbing to the parent's rules
> (get those darn wires outta the trees - NOW!) or in the Navy without a
> permanent home upon which to build an antenna. Last fall, I bought my first
> house, on a hilltop in rural northwestern NJ. Before, the band had always
> been the same old group of local guys have a 2 meter-equivelent conversation
> on 80m. This notion of 80m had been burned into my mind's view of what the
> band was all about. This and nothing more. Imagine my surprise at (having
> moved into my house and installing an 80m inverted V at 50 feet) tuning
> around one evening at the bottom of the band and hearing DX! Nothing exotic,
> just a few G's and EA's. That winter, my DX count on 80 went from 2 (USA and
> Canada) to 61, all with 100 watts and too-low-for-DX inverted V. The best DX
> was working VQ9QM thru a pile up.
>
> The bug has bit me hard and I've bought the requisite books (ON4UN's
> LBDXing), studied the geometry of trees in my yard, pondered ground
> conductivity, read the reviews for amplifiers, etc...... in an effort to
> improve my signal.
>
> Some things I've noticed:
>
> 1. 80m DX stations are poor QSLers! I hope I'm wrong in the long run, but so
> far, none of the cards from the bureau from last winter's QSOs have been
> from my 80 contacts. All the other bands, but not 80. I have received a few
> cards, but I sent direct with green stamps.
>
> 2. JA's are a tough path from here in W2 - I still do not have Asia or
> Oceania for 80m WAC. I can't even hear Japan yet I routinely hear the same 4
> or 5 guys in W1 & W2 working strings of JAs on any given Sunday morning.
> What the hell are you guys using for antennas?! I want one!
>
> 3. My fantasies have migrated from get-togethers with Elizabeth Hurley to
> 4-squares with elevated radials. Near salt water.
>
> My goals on 80 are simple for now - WAC and then DXCC. If you guys are
> right - that propagation is comparitively poor this year - then I consider
> it a good time to be starting out on the band since thigs will only get
> better. In the meantime, I'll keep listening for a JA (5B4 would be easier
> for Asia) and a VK to complete my WAC. 73 all.
>
> John Harper AE5X
> Outdoor QRP (and some newbie 80m DXing stuff!): http://www.qsl.net/ae5x
>
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--
Bernie McClenny, W3UR
Editor of - The Daily DX - The Weekly DX - How's DX
3025 Hobbs Road
Glenwood, MD 21738

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