[Lowfer] hellschrieber on 160 - what I learned

[Andy - KU4XR]

Greetings all: First; a thank you to the monitors who tried to
receive my 10 watt hellschrieber signal on 160 meters on 1-1-2013
I ran the rig for a bit over 15 hours, and received 2 captures
showing my transmission.. Both were within my " magic zone " of
right at 500 miles.. That distance is very consistent for my 
setup here.. One thing that I " Re-Learned " is the value of a
signal report, screen capture, and just a simple email letting me
know, Yay, or Nay, whether they heard or saw my signal.. 
Reminiscent of my days running beacon " XR " on 1750 meters, the
beacon would run 24/7, but I had to wait for someone to actually 
" tell me " they heard, or saw my signal, otherwise, I was just
burnin, and churnin away at a whopping 1 watt, wondering if it was
getting out of town.. Man, the excitement it brought when an email
with a capture came into my inbox.. Even someone telling me they
didn't receive my signal was encouraging from the standpoint that,
someone was at least looking... This gave me a little better 
understanding about the fascination with modes such as WSPR, and OPERA.
These are " Instant gratification " modes.. You have no need of anyone
telling you whether or not you were received.. The online database, 
or software net reporter instantly lets you know when someone received
your signal... That's pretty cooool... The grabbers work the same way
by showing QRSS / Graphical mode reception over a webpage.. My 15 hours
on 160 meters, " waiting ' to hear from someone gave me a greater
appreciation for the Part-5, AND !! Part-15 operators who have invested
their time, money, and efforts to put a station together, and a signal 
on the air," waiting " for someone to look for it, and let them know 
they did..
In the days ahead... I'll try to be a bit more diligent with the
reception reports.. 
Thank you gentlemen for allowing me my time on the soapbox.. 
I'll step down now.. 73 to all, and have a fabulous day:

Andy - KU4XR