11 meter is very quiet?

[2NC995]

Maybe I'm missing something but very seldom I hear those guys having a conversation with someone. They go on and on and no one can get a break.

You are exactly correct. The whole theme isn’t really to “communicate” so much as it is to be heard over everyone else. Ideally, there would be at least one, or several other people trying to talk, so that there is someone to key on. The only real communication is sent back to the person that was being talked over, indirectly...“You said tell him you was on a driver, and when you got up I got down, cause I heard it all”...and that type stuff.

It’s basically an unending pee contest over the airwaves.

 

[W4KVW]

Maybe I'm missing something but very seldom I hear those guys having a conversation with someone. They go on and on and no one can get a break.

AMEN & AMEN.I hear lots of bragging about their Awesome setup but Rarely hear them actually have a conversation.Channel 6 is by far the worst.Best channel for hearing an actual conversation around here is channel 28 AM so I stay there or on 38 LSB.

SIX-SHOOTER

 

[357magnum]

Believe me , most of the time I have problems making contacts on Ch 6 . But after all these years Iv'e done it quite a few times . Here's how it worked today for " Ol Magnum " a local on 21am said Dx is in let's go have fun ! I told him too busy for me down there today . He said Follow Me ! He was parked on the Ocean running a Cobra 29 LTD he just paid $50 for , a 2 pill feeding an 8 with an Al Capone Antenna . He made the contact & just jumped on the Gravy Train !

 

[2NC995]

Believe me , most of the time I have problems making contacts on Ch 6 . But after all these years Iv'e done it quite a few times . Here's how it worked today for " Ol Magnum " a local on 21am said Dx is in let's go have fun ! I told him too busy for me down there today . He said Follow Me ! He was parked on the Ocean running a Cobra 29 LTD he just paid $50 for , a 2 pill feeding an 8 with an Al Capone Antenna . He made the contact & just jumped on the Gravy Train !

Just out of curiosity...were you mobile during this?

 

[357magnum]

No Dan , just my friend 128 , I was on my Base .

 

[2NC995]

Ok...I just wondered how well it all fit in with my DX theories...namely..

1. Mobiles work quite well on skip east of Mississippi, or inclusive of TX, OK and straight north to the Canuck border (I always figured this was an angle of radiation thing, as the same mobiles tend to get absolutely clobbered when west coast DX comes in (This all being from a coastal NC perspective).

2. As far as your buddies rig, some thoughts on that also. As you know, an 8 isn’t very big for the Super Bowl these days, especially in a mobile. But when that East Coast skip is in, an 8 in the mobile can work rather well (even on the bowl) and a 16 in a mobile can be an absolute beast when the conditions are right. I *think* this is right back to the angle of radiation thing.

3..I love living near the water (you mention he was at the ocean). I’m from the mountains and early in my radio hobby I always figured that going home with my same setup would put me top of the world. Nope. Not even remotely close. Talking DX from elevation was always much harder, not easier. The salt flats seem to be where it’s at....S units climb on RX and TX.

Just some random thoughts, observations and very non-technical theories from over the years that in a way you have helped piece together.

 

[Turbo T]

It was fairly active a few days ago. Unfortunately not as many on the Cb these days. Even truck drivers have begun to not use them.

 

[Unit 75]

Ok...I just wondered how well it all fit in with my DX theories...namely..

1. Mobiles work quite well on skip east of Mississippi, or inclusive of TX, OK and straight north to the Canuck border (I always figured this was an angle of radiation thing, as the same mobiles tend to get absolutely clobbered when west coast DX comes in (This all being from a coastal NC perspective).

That's really weird. On Dec 4th when skip was rolling, I was on my 5 element pointing north. I have seen video gates where I am hitting Ohio and Pennsylvania at 15-20 S unit's (the videos were from both states). Yet I saw another video gate where my signal is barely 7 S units into Buffalo, NY. I couldn't figure that one out. Something is either blocking my signal or it is just dropping off.

 

[W4KVW]

That's really weird. On Dec 4th when skip was rolling, I was on my 5 element pointing north. I have seen video gates where I am hitting Ohio and Pennsylvania at 15-20 S unit's (the videos were from both states). Yet I saw another video gate where my signal is barely 7 S units into Buffalo, NY. I couldn't figure that one out. Something is either blocking my signal or it is just dropping off.

It’s called conditions and propagation no matter how much power you’re running or how big the antenna you do not control where the signal bounces.It is very simple.

SIX-SHOOTER

 

[Unit 75]

It’s called conditions and propagation no matter how much power you’re running or how big the antenna you do not control where the signal bounces.It is very simple.

Maybe I should have said that all the way up that corridor starting from Alabama to Ohio and Pennsylvania I was doing 15-20 S units. Then the signal just dropped off once it hit Buffalo. Not that my signal bounced down to just those 2 states. Sorry for the confusion. I had radio reports of 15-20 S units from contacts in Tennessee and West Virginia as well (just not video gates). I understand it's all about the conditions but I just found it weird that the signal dropped off that much once hitting Buffalo, NY

 

[2NC995]

A couple weeks ago I started taking a look at the real time e clouds on the Internet.

One day I pulled it up and saw there was one little e cloud out there, and the website predicted I had conditions to a little town in east Texas.

Went out the the truck and turned the radio on and hear 3 guys local talking. All hitting me S9 or so. After about 15 minutes I butted in and ended up talking to all three, which were sure enough from that little east Texas town predicted by the website.

And that was ALL I heard all day. Lol.

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

A couple weeks ago I started taking a look at the real time e clouds on the Internet.

One day I pulled it up and saw there was one little e cloud out there, and the website predicted I had conditions to a little town in east Texas.

Went out the the truck and turned the radio on and hear 3 guys local talking. All hitting me S9 or so. After about 15 minutes I butted in and ended up talking to all three, which were sure enough from that little east Texas town predicted by the website.

And that was ALL I heard all day. Lol.

Real time E clouds? Do you have a link? That sounds like an amazing resource.

 

[2NC995]

Real time E clouds? Do you have a link? That sounds like an amazing resource.

Sure. You’ve probably seen the site, DXMAPS.com

Once you set up an acct so that it knows your location, make your way to VHF - N.America - and click the “MUF ES” tab.

Any green boxes appearing on the map show you potential DX spots via E, and the color indicated the max usable freq.

 

[RT431]

Thursday the skip was rollimg on. 385, but yesterday it was dead.

 

[357magnum]

Iv'e always done fairly well with DX . My first house where I lived 25 years was on the water ( Fresh H2O ) , when I moved here 20 years ago my house is 679' OSL . But myself I prefer the water .