[OKDXA] Noise

[N5PA]

John:

Yes, the noise was down to S7 at my house yesterday on 20 meters.  It was S8
on Saturday morning.  When I was in Malawi the noise was good and VERY bad
at times.  At night it was real bad.  Most of those 3rd world countries have
very poor electrical distribution systems and they can wreak havoc on your
receivers.  But when it was clear, it was very quiet.  

Walt was thinking with only 500 watts that they would not be able to hear
him, but it goes to show that it does not always take full legal power to
make the contact.  My beam is still mangled from Katrina even though it
still loads up well.  Each end of the boom is about a foot lower than where
it attaches to the mast.  I am sure I am not getting as good a signal out as
I should but the AL-1500 makes up for some of that.

I know when I lived in Oklahoma I always wondered what I would do if I could
have had a tower.  I lived in a restricted neighborhood in Edmond and we
could not even park our cars in the driveway, much less put up a tower.  But
I did enough tower work up there to know that the wind can really work on
antennas and towers.  The ice storms are a real threat, also.  I know Coy
and others can attest to that.

I just hope you guys get some good propagation up your way.  Even though you
might only barely hear them, I think they will be able to hear you.  Keep up
the fight and Good Hunting!

73,
Alan, N5PA