The 2022-2023 160 meter season is coming to a close. I began taking down the BSEF-8 160 and Beverage antennas here at W5ZN yesterday in the areas where hay is cut during the summer. The HiZ-8 160 and YCCC-9 vertical elements remain during the summer months but I take up all of the electronic components, since they're "active" arrays otherwise the lightning will eat them alive over the summer!

After two dry years during COVID with no new ones on 160 meters I was able to pick up three new ones this winter that will put me at 286 on 160. Bouvet would have been a new one but, as Tony Soprano would say "Whatya gonna do?"

There was one very exciting moment that simply lit up my early morning on January 26 while listening on 160. Eddy, XV1X, showed up on CW and we had prop for about 5 minutes and I completed with him, one of only two NA that did. Why am I mentioning this now? I just walked back from the mail box and Eddy's QSL card for our 160 meter contact arrived (see attached)!

Most of the die hard 160 meter CW folks have been complaining about the propagation on the band this year. Overall is wasn't that good but it did have some exciting moments.

73 Joel W5ZN