[OKDXA] 160 last night...

[Kim Elmore]

Well, I decided to gut out 160 last night and see what I could do. 
\\I figured out some better settings on the Orion II to help and used 
my K9AY loops to the best ability I had. I worked SM4CAN, F5IN, OM2XW 
and HA5JI. U se my 50 ft tower shunt fed through a remotely tunable 
L-network for transmitting. I had radials at one time, but the puppy 
(now dog) chewed them up. Still, the ground is saturated, so I should 
be doing relatively well.

I kept seeing spots claiming that these guys were "booming" in. They 
never boomed in at my QTH. This was hard work. I used the amp with 
about 700 W output to work them, but I was amazed that even those 
they tended to be in the mud most of the time, I actually did work 
them. Honestly, if I had tuned across these signals hunting on my 
own, I'd have passed them right by declaring the path too poor to be 
useable. I caught these guys only through Internet spots.

So, for you 160 veterans, I have this question: is this typical of 
160, or am I simply a spoiled newbie? Are signals signals you can 
actually hear considered booming?

Kim Elmore N5OP