Follows a rundown on the 02 March - 16 April 2019 operations of DU6/N6SS with topband data on CW & FT8.
Rig: K3 and a pampered KPA500, 300W max
Tx Ant: crossed 80 & 40m inverted vees up 50 ft on top of a 70 ft
hill, 80 broadside NA, 40 broadside EU. Inverted vees force fed
on 30-10m using a THP autotuner in shack as a line flattener.
Relays convert the system to a 42 ft vertical toploaded by the
inverted vees with a 129 ft elevated radial that runs down the
hillside aimed at NA. At the feedpoint the minimum SWR is
2:1 at 1820. The autotuner provides 1:1 to the KPA500 from
1800-1910 and probably higher.
Rx Ant: 400 ft BOG on NA available the last week of ops, it helps
vs. the vertical to NA but not as much as I hoped. More work
on rx ants next trip.
160m non-contest QSO data: (QRV 160m 09Mar-16Apr)
CW FT8
10 (5 JA, 5 W/K) 196 (including 57 W/K & 1 AL7)
With the exception of WS5W north of Dallas all QSOs were with stns in NM, AZ, CA, NV, UT, ID, MT, OR & WA. Strange but no VE was heard or seen. The few CW contacts isn't due to lack of trying. I kept a watch on Zone 3 RBNs but the few reported couldn't hear me or were not audible in DU6. In contrast 1840 was usually quite active. I did some CQing on CW with few responses.
Just 21 EU in the log but only because I wasn't awake. The K3 and PSK Reporter ran all night every night and copied hundreds of EU calls during the opn.
It was a pleasure to hand out a surprising number of "First DU on 160" contacts. All logs have been uploaded to LOTW.
DU6/N6SS should be back in business later this year or early 2020. C U then and dupes on FT8 are welcome!
73/Pres, N6SS