11 meter is very quiet?

[BC Coyote]

i have s5 noise floor where here and use <20w

With all due respect this is about 90% of your problem right here. When skip conditions are marginal, many many stations are well below s5. That doesn't mean you can't work them..... I have an s1 noise floor and regularly work stations coming in at s2 or 3. Is your noise from powerlines or some other source? There is equipment available that can mitigate that noise.. Check out MFJ-1026. It will take s9 of noise down to s1 if it's set up right.

As far as running under 20 watts output......again, you are at a handicap. I get that legal power in the U.S. is 12 watts max, but the vast majority of the newer CB radios that most people are using now run far more than that. You'll find huge numbers of operators are running Anytone radios (also sold as Radoddity) that put out 60 watts or more on SSB. Ranger and Galaxy radios are often in that range as well and some even more. Even the newer President radios can be easily modified to put out 40 or 50 watts SSB. Some of these radios also have impressive swing on AM.

So you may just need to up your game a bit in order to be competitive on the band. I run about 150 watts SSB and 100 FM and as I said above, it's a rare day that I don't make at least a couple contacts somewhere. And then there's the whole antenna side of it. A poor antenna equals no contacts.

 

[Greg T]

Maybe just stick to the CB Lounge on Facebook then and you'll be alright LOL

I have a response in regards to CB radio lounge, but the language involved is not appropriate for this website.

 

[BC Coyote]

I have a response in regards to CB radio lounge, but the language involved is not appropriate for this website.

I feel that way about both the CB Radio Lounge AND Facebook !

 

[c316buckeye]

With all due respect this is about 90% of your problem right here. When skip conditions are marginal, many many stations are well below s5. That doesn't mean you can't work them..... I have an s1 noise floor and regularly work stations coming in at s2 or 3. Is your noise from powerlines or some other source? There is equipment available that can mitigate that noise.. Check out MFJ-1026. It will take s9 of noise down to s1 if it's set up right.

As far as running under 20 watts output......again, you are at a handicap. I get that legal power in the U.S. is 12 watts max, but the vast majority of the newer CB radios that most people are using now run far more than that. You'll find huge numbers of operators are running Anytone radios (also sold as Radoddity) that put out 60 watts or more on SSB. Ranger and Galaxy radios are often in that range as well and some even more. Even the newer President radios can be easily modified to put out 40 or 50 watts SSB. Some of these radios also have impressive swing on AM.

So you may just need to up your game a bit in order to be competitive on the band. I run about 150 watts SSB and 100 FM and as I said above, it's a rare day that I don't make at least a couple contacts somewhere. And then there's the whole antenna side of it. A poor antenna equals no contacts.

apartment 25yds from a major intersection. blinking lights, street lights, neon signs in a store, and 3 other apartments in this house, likely sharing the same ground. pt99 @ 27ft with a good ground there. lmr240 going to a dosy meter, chokes on everything that could make a difference in here. heard about the old boys making contact on less than 5w, and have been able to have qso with many folks between 5-10w on my end. started it all with a little wilson on the porch roof and a 949 galaxy and happily got at least 1 person every time conditions were good. much better luck in the mobile. thank you for the input

 

[BC Coyote]

Just noticed this thread has reached an impressive 556 pages ! Well done all !

I raise my cup to Tweetybird, who started the thread way back in 2019, and to every single one of you that's contributed to it over the years.........

I've been checking in on this thread regularly since long before I even became a WWDX member !

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

after talking to many operators, some of the reasons 11m is getting more quiet is because there are so many people sick of getting stomped on by "out of band" ham operators. most of them using WAY more than the allowed power, bragging about their icoms, and cussing up a storm because they are not allowed to on "their bands". nothing new, as this has been the case for many years. citizens have 1 ssb call channel, hams have how many? just sharing information...

And 99% of those operators are CBers that got their ham tickets and then returned to CB to continue their crap because they know they would be called out for it on the ham bands.

 

[whiteastro]

Those idiots have always been and they will always be and we all have to tolerate them.

Truer words never spoken ! I've never found a perfect thing yet. Like they say Variety is the spice of life. It's kind of like fishing some are keepers and some you just throw back. And there is a variety of channels.

 

[unit_399]

I don't care if it's a Ham, CBer, Freebander , whatever. I just enjoy talking Dx no matter who it is. Most people I talk to are courteous, speak well, and are just looking to communicate with someone in South America.
I used to disregard stations that were over-driven and totally distorted, but now I just record a "gate" and play it back for them. Usually when they hear what their station sounds like, they disappear.

Our new member needs to take a chill pill.

- J.J. 399

 

[unit_399]

And 99% of those operators are CBers that got their ham tickets and then returned to CB to continue their crap because they know they would be called out for it on the ham bands.

CK-
Why do you always diss CBers. ?? I got my ticket last August, and hooked up my TS430 and gave 10 meters a shot. A few contacts were fine, but 8 out of 10 had some sarcastic remarks about Colombia and drugs . Or asked me if I came down here to do drugs. Or. . .made some low-class comment about my Latino wife.
THIS IS REAL CRAP !! I don't get any of this from CBers on 11 meters.

- J.J. 399

 

[c316buckeye]

CK-
Why do you always diss CBers. ?? I got my ticket last August, and hooked up my TS430 and gave 10 meters a shot. A few contacts were fine, but 8 out of 10 had some sarcastic remarks about Colombia and drugs . Or asked me if I came down here to do drugs. Or. . .made some low-class comment about my Latino wife.
THIS IS REAL CRAP !! I don't get any of this from CBers on 11 meters.

- J.J. 399

that's curious about the 10m situation. as stated before, i was relaying what i had heard others saying about why 11m was quiet, as the thread is titled about. i really should have taken more consideration with my own words though. chill pills got thrown out when i got divorced, no need for them no more. that's a fine point you made about CB'ers mentioned from a senior member. free citizens on 11m. possibly the last stretch of freedom we have alongside technology these days. always a pleasure to hear from Mr399 on the air. 234 and 316 said that in the buckeye

 

[BC Coyote]

i had heard others saying about why 11m was quiet, as the thread is titled about.

LOL! I hadn't made the connection to the thread title until now !

Just a bit of background.... this thread started in 2019 when the sunspot cycle was it its low point and skip wasn't happening much. It's now been six years since then and we are at the high point of the cycle with skip booming every day. Thing is, along the way, this thread has kind of become a general catch-all for members to discuss current conditions (good or bad) and their 11 meter contacts both local and DX.

The title of the thread doesn't actually reflect much of what is being discussed in here........... it's just that 556 pages ago, the 11 meter band WAS quiet. That is no longer the case, but everybody is in the habit now of posting in this thread anyways.
Hope that makes the whole thing a bit clearer for you !!

 

[Eldorado828]

Skip conditions on AM channel 19 have been pretty lively for about a week here in the Texas panhandle so it's been pretty unusual. I can't report on ssb for a few more weeks until the base is back up and running but I'll at least report am.

Just trying to get back to topic

 

[BC Coyote]

Skip conditions on AM channel 19 have been pretty lively for about a week here in the Texas panhandle so it's been pretty unusual. I can't report on ssb for a few more weeks until the base is back up and running but I'll at least report am.

Just trying to get back to topic

Up here in the wilds of Canada SSB has been hopping with short skip for the last couple months now. It follows an interesting pattern of there being zilch for a few hours, then skip booms in for an hour or two, then there's zilch for a couple hours again. Rinse and repeat. It is also often much better conditions in the evening an hour before and a couple hours after sunset.

In the last week I've had E-skip contact with Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado and Montana.
Also Florida, Hawaii, Australia and South Carolina, so there is still a little longer propagation around too........

All those contacts on my homebrew delta loop that I put up a couple months back. That thing outperforms my A-99 on DX by at least 1 S unit and often more!

 

[unit_399]

Up here in the wilds of Canada SSB has been hopping with short skip for the last couple months now. It follows an interesting pattern of there being zilch for a few hours, then skip booms in for an hour or two, then there's zilch for a couple hours again. Rinse and repeat. It is also often much better conditions in the evening an hour before and a couple hours after sunset.

All those contacts on my homebrew delta loop that I put up a couple months back. That thing outperforms my A-99 on DX by at least 1 S unit and often more!

That's exactly the same pattern I have here. Strong Dx for a couple of hours and then almost silent for 2 hours and repeat. Sunset is around 6pm and skip is usually strongest from 5 to 8pm or so Sometimes as late as 10pm.

BTW, BC. . . can you post a picture of your delta loop ??

J.J. 399

 

[BC Coyote]

BTW, BC. . . can you post a picture of your delta loop ??

Here ya go ! Hopefully you can see it OK in the pic as the wire is pretty thin. It is at about 35 feet AGL strung between two trees which are out of sight to the sides.
You may have to zoom into the photo to see it clearly. It is fed with Belden 9913 RG8 cable. That is a 4:1 balun at the feedpoint. That's what I had available. You can adjust the impedence of a delta loop from about 100 to 400 ohms by changing the length of the sides relative to the horizontal top. I fiddled with the lengths until I got 200 ohms. It has a less than 1.5:1 match from 27 to 28 MHz.

As a bonus you can also see the roof of my shop, my A-99 in the background and a wee glimpse of a VHF marine antenna on the right side of the shop roof. And one of our world renowned giant fir trees too ! The top of that tree would be a great spot for a vertical if not for the hurricane force winds that blow up there in the winter.........an antenna in that tree wouldn't last long!