| Author |
Message |
    
DeadlyEyes
| | Posted on Friday, December 13, 2002 - 7:30 pm: | 
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To begin with a brief reason as to why we have DX. Your signal leaves your antenna at an angle and strikes a reflective layer of he earths atmosphere (which is curved) and in the process the signal is bounced back to the surface of the earth. This bounce can continue for many time with each repitition draining energy from the signal and causing it to spin.
Now lets talk amps. Amps are a blessing and a curse, both at the same time. I find that a discrete station with great ears is better than the big boomer.
A practical example. Let us say you are running X amout of power and your signal reaches a person in say Europe. Further let us say that your signal give that Euro person an S 2 on the meter. BUT the Euro person (shall we say) does not have an amp of X power and can transmit to you at 1/4 of X power. Given the band conditions you will very likely never even hear that person reply because he cannot transmit with the same authority as yourself. He will not have enough power to get to you. This is 'One Way Skip'.
Let us carry this example one step further. Let us say that the Euro perosn can transmit 4 times your power and replies. That means that you probably will not talk to them for very long because his signal would probably attract a hoard of people itching to work the loud Euro Person.
So either way it is better, at least on paper, to work DX stations discretely and never announce their presence untill AFTER you have worked them. |
Alsworld
| | Posted on Friday, December 13, 2002 - 8:46 pm: |
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Yes DE, we receive a prime example here in my part of Florida all too often of what you describe. On the local a.m. CB channel I talk (many of the locals do not have, or can't figure out sideband???), we routinely hear an operator out of Oregon. He powers it up obviously quite a bit but unless conditions are right, he hears none of us. I have had my local friends make contact with this guy before when they kick the boxes on high, but for the most part, "Oregon is all mouth and no ears". It disrupts local talking somewhat.
Too much power but not enough receive.
Since getting my ticket and getting off the "additional" power, I am amazed at the number of DX contacts I have made on sideband, running barefoot just riding the conditions. It's fun for sure, kind of a challenge
Alsworld |
XLAXX
| | Posted on Friday, December 13, 2002 - 11:00 pm: |
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DE-
I like your points here and they are valid. What I find truly fascinating is the presence of the "carrier". It's pretty cool how you can ride a person's carrier back to them with little power. My mobile is not pushing mega watts and pills but when I key down after a strong station has keyed up you can ride it all the way back and sound loud at that station. I know skip depends on location too but you don't necessarily need a 32-pill to make some noise.
Interesting post nonetheless.
Thanks
XLAXX |
USA194
| | Posted on Friday, December 13, 2002 - 11:59 pm: |
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not a valid theory. there is no "path" created. |
de
| | Posted on Saturday, December 14, 2002 - 1:31 am: |
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Re 194...
In HF transmissions there is no path created. The conditions change almost constantly as solar flux, magnetic flux and a host of other factor begin to affect the overall condition. Which is why sometimes you can just hear a signal real lound one time and then fade to nothing as the conditions change before your very ears.
If by path you mean thermal ducting via VHF and UHF then there is a path, or sorts. Sometimes it lasts long. Sometimes it does not.
For those who do not know, ducting is condition in which temperature differences create a kind of (how do I put it) thermal duct just like an Air conditioner duct if you need to visualize. A VHF or UHF signal transmitted in the duct will bounce along in the temp duct for some pretty long distances. |
iceyesbaby
| | Posted on Thursday, December 26, 2002 - 7:00 pm: |
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"Riding" a carrier? Huh? Give me a break. |
Motorhead
| | Posted on Thursday, December 26, 2002 - 7:27 pm: |
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kind of like the deliberately skewed antenna match, remember, "cos it makes the tubes load up better..."
meanwhile, i have a secret co-phase antenna array that i need to work on, but dont you dare ask as to its' dimensions!
relax, it's all just a dream
wra534 |
Highlander
| | Posted on Friday, December 27, 2002 - 8:16 am: |
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We have a guy locally who insists you have to check swr while producing audio. He calibrates then switches to reverse and screams "AUDIO!" into the mic while looking at the meter. Needless to say, he has determined that all antennas are junk and cannot produce an SWR lower than about 2.5 to 1. |
Phineas
| | Posted on Friday, December 27, 2002 - 1:47 pm: |
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Amps on CB for DX = Useless
You can create all of the scatter you want, but in the end that all it is. I once worked a guy out in California on 10 meters. I was hitting him S9 with 25 watts, he was hitting me 30 over with 1500 watts. Obviously he did not need all of that power. Now, to talk and extended range locally, that is a different story.
Bottom line, at 27mhz, if the conditons are not right, no matter how much power you have, you will not talk DX if the conditions are not right, and you dont have a good recieve antenna...period.
Phineas |
Highlander
| | Posted on Saturday, December 28, 2002 - 8:12 am: |
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When I take my mobile out to a high point in our county, orient my vehicle in the direction I wish to DX (usually Western Europe in the morning), running President Lincoln with a Wilson 1000 magmount, I get 20 watts barefoot, 180 watts with the KLV 351p. Most stations report a noticeable improvement with the higher power. The 20 makes the trip, but when there is interference, it can become coccasionally unreadable. It's that first 3db of power increase that matters most. If I were to increase power to say 3 or 4 hundred, it would do very little for me. I would need another 3db, which would require going up over a Kilowatt. |
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