That's how I made most of my contacts, and mostly with 100 watts.
It amazes me how many people are willing to try to pull you out of the noise 
during a contest.
I don't like to use the amp much because I don't have a dummy load yet, but 
that's on my list of things to get.
About the 49 confirmed countries, that's with LOTW.
I don't do physical cards, Just LOTW and EQSL.
I don't know how many confirmed I have with EQSL, I'll have to check.
Thanks again to all that replied to my post, and 7 3.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Forst" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2010 7:00 PM
Subject: Re: Good DX frequencies?


> Rick,
>
> Sometimes it's not the "where" as much as the "when".  You may not be
> big on contests, but the big international contests bring the DX out of
> the woodwork.  You can go up on 20  any day and work all the Germans and
> Italians you want, but  when that DX contest is running, that is when
> you can grab that guy from Upper Slobovia  that only fires up the rig a
> few times a year.
>
>
> Also a few days before any big contest, lots of folks are giving the
> station a final shake down.   Very common for a  team to go to a DX
> location to run the contest and   in the days just before it starts they
> will work   a multitude of stations while making sure the station and
> logging software are working well.
>
> Anyway, you have done well considering the limitations of antenna,
> experience, and propagation.
>
> 73, Steve KW3A