Jim:

I know the feeling about the joy of being on 160 meters for the first time!

My first time was in the Fall of  2010, when I bought a quarter-wave
half-sloper at a local swap.

That antenna is still up and is the one I have used on that band ever since.

Whenever I do 160-meter CW contests, I limit my power to 100 watts, and am
still amazed with what I can do with that simple and somewhat inadequate
antenna!

Certainly one of my 160 meter highlights was working a Z L station early one
morning during one of the contests back in 2011 or 2012.

It's amazing what one can do with simple wire antennas!

I'll be interested now to see what you are able to do in future 160-meter
contests.

Isn't this one of the truly fun aspects of this hobby!

Tom Behler: KB8TYJ


-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Jim Kutsch, KY2D
Sent: Sunday, December 06, 2015 3:58 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: 160 Meter CW Contest

I had to try 160. I've never been on that band even though I was first
licensed in 1967. I tried to see if the antenna tuner would match my
Carolina Windham designed for 80 through 10. On 160, I got it down to about
a 2.4 to 1 SWR so decided that was good enough. I held the power to only 10
Watts. Still, I put 6 stations in the log last night. Amazing and great fun
to be on 160 for the first time.

73, Jim, KY2D


-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Tom Behler
Sent: Sunday, December 06, 2015 1:30 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: 160 Meter CW Contest

Steve and all:

Well, after a few more hours last night, I ended up with 175 qsos in the
log, and worked 44 sections.  Other than Canada, I didn't snag any DX.

I noticed two differences in comparison to last year.

First, I really don't believe conditions were as good as they were for the
2014 contest.  There was a lot more QSB on the band for whatever reason,
which made copying signals more difficult.

Second, I did mainly c q ing last night, and, although I did get a few good
runs going, they didn't last long, and I only had more than one station
coming back to me on several occasions.

I suspect this indicates that others were dealing with the less-than-optimal
conditions as well, but it's hard to know for sure.

Admittedly, my 160-meter antenna here isn't the greatest, so I'm sure that
accounts for some of this too.

On a much more positive note, I can echo Phil's earlier point that CW
certainly is not dead.  I often had trouble finding a vacant frequency for
calling CQ.  Of course, the CW band segment on 160 meters is rather limited,
but there certainly were plenty of CW ops working the contest.

Tom Behler: KB8TYJ

-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Steve Forst
Sent: Sunday, December 06, 2015 1:19 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: 160 Meter CW Contest

MAR is Maritime section.   Not sure what provinces it includes, but they 
probably  eat a lot of fish.  I think VE1  and VE9 will also send Mar.

Heading to beddy-bye now.  Worked 180 with 56 sections and 4 DX.

73, Steve KW3A

.

On 12/6/2015 12:53 AM, howard kaufman wrote:
> They are running at 25 WPM, this is my favorite contest, because it 
> really tests the selectivity of your receiver.
> I worked a vy2, who gave his section as mar.
> I don't think this is from marz, but I can't guess..  I thought Quebeck.
> Last night I heard ve3ew working a dk7, I want his station!!!
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: For blind ham radio operators
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of Phil Scovell
> Sent: Sunday, December 06, 2015 12:11 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: 160 Meter CW Contest
>
> I've heard a lot of pretty strong signals tonight, Saturday, on 160.  
> One thing I've noticed about the 160 CW contests, is that the stations 
> are running slower speeds than the majority of DX CW contests as well 
> as the Sweep Stakes contests.  Probably due to the QSB normally very 
> noticeable on the top band.  It does an old CW operator's heart good 
> to hear all the CW activity on 160 meters.
>
> Phil.
> K0NX
>