[ADXA] Pennant and using pskreporter.

[Curtis]

If anyone is interested in comparing RX signals on 160, I have 2 receivers reporting to pskreporter since last night. W5ZJ/1 is the North south inverted L and W5ZJ is the NE pennant. KB5WBH has also been reporting to pskreporter on an east west inverted L .Not only is this good for a RX comparison, but is good for a propagation check. 

Bear in mind this is not 100% accurate as far as determining which is a better antenna. It is affected by reporting times, and if the monitored station has spent  time transmitting. You can tell if this has happened by changing your query options in pskreporter to see if the monitored station has transmitted. 

How I use pskreporter is by getting several instances running, one for each call sign. This allows me to compare signals and times without pskreporter kicking me out for too many queries. 


I usually am looking at 12 and 24 hour periods and total stations received, as well as directional patterns on the map. Nothing beats operating time, but doing this allows me to learn while I sleep. 

So far, the pennant has been a low cost, minimal effort, solution that has made operating 160 so much more enjoyable. Netting a few more DX entities that would not have even been heard on the L has been a plus.

The pennant is not a “silver bullet”. My guess is if you have high, external noise or minor QRM issues from 90 to 180 degrees of your favored direction, the pennant may help enough to make an impossible QSO possible. 

 Future plans include adding a preamp at the antenna, broadside phasing a pair, and experimenting with twisted pair feed. 

Have a great day and good DXing!
Randy/W5ZJ


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