Got QSOs on four different bands tonight - they all seemed to be in decent shape.
CN8KD in Morocco on 20 Meters
UA3TCJ in European Russia on 17 Meters
UT6UD in the Ukraine on 30 Meters
EW7LO in Belarus on 40 Meters
No rag chews tonight - just quickie kind of DX contacts. The QSOs on 17 and 20 Meters were completed through the Butternut HF9V and the QSOs on 30 and 40 Meters were made through the 88' EDZ antenna. As per the little NA5N propagation box, conditions on all the bands I used were pretty good.
Just for the heck of it, I hooked both antennas up to my coax switch and then to the KX3. You could actually hear the signals being attenuated by the switch. The difference between direct hookup to the rig and going through this crummy switch was like night and day. I'll have to try and see if I can find a good quality coax switch at the hamfest this weekend to replace this piece of junk.
It would be nice to be able to switch real quickly. Take the QSO with CN8KD for example. When I first heard him, I was on the wire. I called and called and called with no result. I switched over to the vertical and bingo - first try resulted in a QSO. Maybe it was coincidence, but in my mind, in this case the vertical made all the difference in the world. The wire is a much better performer on 80 and 40 Meters. It sure would be nice to be able to switch at the flick of a button.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Good morning Larry, I too found the bands to be in a very good mood. For me 17 meters was the best A65BR from Egypt was coming in around S4. Up to this point I had seen the spot but no signal. Having said that I did what you did....tried tried and tried....but for me there is no switching antennas so it was just not to be.
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