Get your 160m Antenna up!!

Wow, the band has been nice over recent days. The nights are getting cooler, and the noise floor is dropping. I've been taking advantage of it a bit before work in the mornings, just before sunrise, when the atmospheric noise has been at it's lowest at my QTH.

I've pasted a pic of my band scope in this blog, so you can see. Normally (during the summer months), noise is about 1/3 the way up the band scope and distant signals are almost impossible to hear. During the fall, winter, and spring, noise is lower and DX is abundant.

The first 160m DX of the season for me, was SV3RF on 1.81852 in Greece via 180m inverted V @ 100'. He was 559 in NC. The next morning I worked VK6GX in Western Australia on 1.8215 CW at 11:20z (7:20am est). Same 100w w/Inverted-V. Yesterday, I worked VE1ZZ on 160m CW this morning around 6am. Not great DX, but it was the only thing on the bad outside of the USA in earshot and the band was quiet.

So, put up an antenna for the winter and get on 160. You'll be surprised what awaits you on the "Magic Band"!