[Elecraft] re: Is the antenna everything?

[C T Morton]

Having come from having "super station" (pre-divorce) I certainly miss not
having stacked monoband beams; verticals on 160/80m , Alpha 89, etc. I now
use a Force 12 vertical dipole mounted in cement bucket on ledge of patio
deck...due to living in condo w/ deed restrictions (nobody can see patio). I
work all over the world low power, when condx are right, meaning open to a
certain area of the world. I plan on putting up the DK9SQ vertical w/40m
loop soon. What I have found is having vertically polorized and horizontal
antennas that depending on condx, one will typically "hear" better than
another. The answer is have as many antennas as you can afford or the space
to put up. I like to dx and contest. The beauty of my present conditions
require that my operating skills must be honed to the max to work dx. I have
been dx numerous times at KH9, VP2V, ZF, HI, TI, 3A, C6A, etc. What I have
found is that as simple as this sounds, is put your signal where the others
arent. Obviously, this is difficult in a ssb pileup when the dx is not
working split or just after a packet spot that creates the "packet pileup".
Typically, if the dx is working split and running at  3 to 4 Q's per minute,
he is hearing very well and working guys efficiently. Then timing your call
is the best you can do, unless running amp and good antenna. When the other
guy is only working 1 per min or less, then he may have multiple sigs, which
may be about the same sig strength and/or he is in "overwhelm" mode. In this
case, move up or down from the howling masses to present him with an
alternative. I frequently did this to pick stations out of the pileup. Move
around in the pileup to create a different tone in his headset; I always
hear the high pitched cw notes better than the zero beat guys. Also, change
the speed at which you are sending cw can be effective. Just try to be
"different". Listen to your own transmit freq frequently so you are not
competing against big guns.
Finally, the sun spot cycle even down for high freqs will present numeous
opportunities for dx on the low bands. This presents great chance to improve
your low band scores and improve operating skills. When the cycle starts
back up again in a few years, you will now be a superb operator!
There are many guys on this reflector who are far superior to me when it
comes to skills, knowledge of propagation, antennas etc; use all the tools
available, i.e., W6EL excellent prg and ACE-HF. What a great time to learn
more about our hobby.
GL
Tom K6CT


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