Gery,

I did hear you fairly well from Philly when you checked in and I relayed 
your QTH to Kevin in Washington state, who was net control.    Don't know if 
you stuck around, but nobody heard you when you were called to make a 
transmission later.    Perhaps you didn't hear the stations calling you to 
transmit.

You should  have a log  full of stations on 20 meters with that Butternut, 
all over North and South America and well into Europe without much trouble.

Your antenna is either poorly tuned, poorly installed, or has a poor radial 
system.  Maybe all of the above.  Verticals aren't for everyone.  Perhaps 
you should go in a different direction.  This should be a fun hobby and not 
a frustration.

73, Steve KW3A


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gery Gaubert" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, January 10, 2010 9:53 PM
Subject: cross country net today


>I was the very weak signal from New Orleans.  I did hear Tom and I think
> someone named Kevin and Steve.  I couldn't hear Gary in Mississippi.  I =
> was
> unable to get very much on the vertical but was able to hear some on my
> dipole that is only about 18 feet up.  Not sure if I should look for a
> different antenna or just what I should do.  I hear Verginia, Kentucky, =
> New
> Jersey sometimes but I am not at all impressed with the audio with the
> Bbutternut 6v.  I hear others saying that people have good strong =
> signals
> and I can't hear anything.  For some reason I thought ham reception =
> would be
> better than it is.  Any ideas or thoughts would be great.  I am really
> getting discouraged.
>