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FURTHEST LOCAL NON-DX CONTACT?

Got it, the title is fixed, non skip contact, somewhere around 45 miles , it's hard to determine if signal is skipping here to Austin, have talked to truckers on I35 on lsb
You can get some decent miles on SSB at night and conditions are good. On my long distance contact I talked to several other SSB stations. Not skipping there.
It called weak signal station work. That is what drew me to SSB in the first place.

I'm surprised that hams don't work 2 meter SSB. It should reach out there pretty far with 100 watts,
 
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In the morning time, I talk to a buddy that has a Maco 7 element beam 55' in the air on the vertical. He lives in Columbus, Mississippi (just over the state line). I use a IMAX 2000 that sits on a 3 foot tripod just outside my shop door. We talk at 6am pretty much every morning when the noise level is still low. I live in Oxford, Alabama. The direction we talk puts our signal right over Birmingham, Alabama. We do this on the AM side of channel 20. I talk to him on a stock Galaxy Pluto with a D-104 mic. He says I hit him at 2 s units but my audio is very clear. I know he runs some power because he hits me between 4-5 s units. I'm sure it is all ground wave because we can do this on a daily basis. That is the furthest consistent distance I can talk. I just checked and I am at 680 ft of elevation at my location. I live on the west side of coldwater mountain. I cannot talk east at all. Not even with my beam because the mountain blocks my signal. So no contacts to Georgia.....not even running power!
Coldwater mountain is 1,177 ft in elevation.
 
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SONAR: The normal ambient noise threshold is so much quieter on 15/10/6 meters is what drove me to the Amatuer bands.
The noise threshold on 11 meters due to the noise toys plus the heterodyne from the overlapping AM carriers, even when using SSB is horrendous. You can't work them if you can't hear, regardless of the power level. During the good Sun cycle in the mid 80's , I had a 25 watt Yaesu FT-7 transceiver mobile I could talk 50 to 60+ miles easily to one or more of my Elmer's, then when band was open had a friend stationed in HILO, HI. We would talk 2-3 times a week while I was commuting home from work in the late afternoon. The band is just that much more quiet.
All the Best
Gary
I agree. The noise on 11 meters is absolutely horrendous! For about a month I was using the West Mountain DSP speaker. What a difference! I traded it for some equipment. The equipment I got in the trade was worth about four times more than the DSP speaker ($189 @) cheap ham.) As soon as my antenna is back up I plan on logging into cheap hams website and purchasing another. What an incredible job it did at depressing the noise. With the DSP speaker on my receive so very quiet complained to my rigs rx. The next one I get I won't be partying with. I was a bit upset when I finally logged on to this site after a couple of months absence, and saw a friend and member had listed a DSP speaker on the CB radio swap section right here on wwd x. Someone scored big-time! $100! Had I logged in days earlier I would have grabbed it in a second. I checked eBay, and noticed a lot of time wave DSP filters. The eham reviews rate those filters very high. I considered purchasing the filter, but enjoyed the ease of use when it came to the speaker. A single knob in order to dial in the amount of DSP, and 11 m sounds awesome.
 
Some of my fondest memories of CB came in my very early days. I am thinking around 1964-65. I had a Regency Range Gain (my Uncle gave it to me/Dad was not pleased!). That radio had some sweet RX/TX audio. I used an old Turner Plus II on my first base with I am guessing a CLR II for antenna @ maybe 20ft.
I did not realize, I had a Amatuer operator across the street couple houses down. I was friends with his son, we went to school with each other. Jeff (his name) told me his Father wanted me to bring my radio to him for "something". Jeff's, Father (Do not even remember his name or callsign/I'm OLD) took my precious Range Gain took it apart on his work bench (OMG!:eek:) had it strung out all over his bench! I did not what to say, Hell I was like 11-12 years old!
Well to make a long story short he took my rig, tested all the tubes, quick alignment. Then he jumped into this radio with a vengeance! I seen parts going out, parts going in, he kept sticking this HOT Iron "thingy" inside my radio!!!:eek:
Soon he was putting it back together, gave it another quick test listening to it on his big rack of radios. Ok son he said it's ready to go, have fun.
He said, I'll show you something here, which he did and how to use it.
He had made the Double Sideband Mod. He said you and Jeff can use this to talk on now (I think Jeff had a Imperial) he would use when his Father was not on his Big Radio's.:ROFLMAO:
I fell in Love with Sideband, the range was to me back then crazy, how something so quiet could hear stations so far away to me was astounding.
OK enough of this old man's dribble, but I was hooked. I kept that rig forever(though I owned many others), until I had my own money and graduated to an used SBE Console II. I could not live without a Sideband radio.
All the Best
Gary
 
Some of my fondest memories of CB came in my very early days. I am thinking around 1964-65. I had a Regency Range Gain (my Uncle gave it to me/Dad was not pleased!). That radio had some sweet RX/TX audio. I used an old Turner Plus II on my first base with I am guessing a CLR II for antenna @ maybe 20ft.
I did not realize, I had a Amatuer operator across the street couple houses down. I was friends with his son, we went to school with each other. Jeff (his name) told me his Father wanted me to bring my radio to him for "something". Jeff's, Father (Do not even remember his name or callsign/I'm OLD) took my precious Range Gain took it apart on his work bench (OMG!:eek:) had it strung out all over his bench! I did not what to say, Hell I was like 11-12 years old!
Well to make a long story short he took my rig, tested all the tubes, quick alignment. Then he jumped into this radio with a vengeance! I seen parts going out, parts going in, he kept sticking this HOT Iron "thingy" inside my radio!!!:eek:
Soon he was putting it back together, gave it another quick test listening to it on his big rack of radios. Ok son he said it's ready to go, have fun.
He said, I'll show you something here, which he did and how to use it.
He had made the Double Sideband Mod. He said you and Jeff can use this to talk on now (I think Jeff had a Imperial) he would use when his Father was not on his Big Radio's.:ROFLMAO:
I fell in Love with Sideband, the range was to me back then crazy, how something so quiet could hear stations so far away to me was astounding.
OK enough of this old man's dribble, but I was hooked. I kept that rig forever(though I owned many others), until I had my own money and graduated to an used SBE Console II. I could not live without a Sideband radio.
All the Best
Gary
There's nothing wrong with sharing the old time stories. I'm assuming your rig was double SSB. When you say he did an SSB mod did he possibly turn the not so good double SSB into single SSB (is that possible?)
I do believe back in the early to late 60s SSB was double side band. Thanks for sharing your intro into the wonderful world of radio communications for the lobbyist.
I wish more of the members here would do the same. Share those old stories. I find them interesting not to mention the fact that they bring my memories to the Forefront of my mind. 73
PS. I recall my brother's two or three Channel Lafayette walkie-talkie,with it's worn leather.case, bent antenna, and putting that telescopic antenna out of our Second Story bedroom window, and actually talkin to a couple of locals.
It was a fascinating moment to hear other stations replying to my brothers calls.
It was almost an out of this world type of feeling that washed over me.
It was around 1973 and only six years had passed since we landed on the moon. All Christmas and birthday toys had to do with robots, spaceships, rocket ships, and science fiction.
It was almost as if my brother were talking to people on another planet.
I was only 9 years old, and was absolutely fascinated with the fact that my brother could actually talk to people without the use of two cans and a string. LOL
 
In the morning time, I talk to a buddy that has a Maco 7 element beam 55' in the air on the vertical. He lives in Columbus, Mississippi (just over the state line). I use a IMAX 2000 that sits on a 3 foot tripod just outside my shop door. We talk at 6am pretty much every morning when the noise level is still low. I live in Oxford, Alabama. The direction we talk puts our signal right over Birmingham, Alabama. We do this on the AM side of channel 20. I talk to him on a stock Galaxy Pluto with a D-104 mic. He says I hit him at 2 s units but my audio is very clear. I know he runs some power because he hits me between 4-5 s units. I'm sure it is all ground wave because we can do this on a daily basis. That is the furthest consistent distance I can talk. I just checked and I am at 680 ft of elevation at my location. I live on the west side of coldwater mountain. I cannot talk east at all. Not even with my beam because the mountain blocks my signal. So no contacts to Georgia.....not even running power!
Coldwater mountain is 1,177 ft in elevation.
Glad to see others are using antennas just as they can. 3 feet off the ground, and making a 65 mile stock trip is excellent! I am fairly positive that had I not been 500 whiskeys there's no way in the world I would be making a 65 mile trip into Staten Island New York. I can't wait to get back on the air! I miss it. tremendously
 
About ten yrs back or so I used to talk with a dude about 20 miles east of Terre Haute In. Thats about 150-160 miles from me crow flys. We would catch each other early in the morning on 37 LSB. He was doing all the heavy lifting with a 6 element quad at 110 ft... he ran a little power but not a ton. Like 200 watts. I was running my D104/ DX 2527 into a palomar 4 pill out to an Imax at 61 ft feed point. If I remember we were both giving each other s4-5 reports, arm chair copys.. Great dude to chat with..My work schedule changed and we lost touch.. wonder if he's still kicking?
 
I regularly talk from my house (south of Littlerock ca) to north Bakersfield with any issue (5/8 wave). Some knife edge down around Disneyland to the south.
6 element on the Flat side to Santa Maria,Ca a few times..around 140 miles...hit or miss.
Back in da day back east in the mobile, Belmar Marina,NJ to Middletown,NY, Pocono Mountains..around a 100 miles was common. Amazing ground wave location. Marconi had his antenna's there in the 20's 30's.
 
Some of my fondest memories of CB came in my very early days. I am thinking around 1964-65. I had a Regency Range Gain (my Uncle gave it to me/Dad was not pleased!). That radio had some sweet RX/TX audio. I used an old Turner Plus II on my first base with I am guessing a CLR II for antenna @ maybe 20ft.
I did not realize, I had a Amatuer operator across the street couple houses down. I was friends with his son, we went to school with each other. Jeff (his name) told me his Father wanted me to bring my radio to him for "something". Jeff's, Father (Do not even remember his name or callsign/I'm OLD) took my precious Range Gain took it apart on his work bench (OMG!:eek:) had it strung out all over his bench! I did not what to say, Hell I was like 11-12 years old!
Well to make a long story short he took my rig, tested all the tubes, quick alignment. Then he jumped into this radio with a vengeance! I seen parts going out, parts going in, he kept sticking this HOT Iron "thingy" inside my radio!!!:eek:
Soon he was putting it back together, gave it another quick test listening to it on his big rack of radios. Ok son he said it's ready to go, have fun.
He said, I'll show you something here, which he did and how to use it.
He had made the Double Sideband Mod. He said you and Jeff can use this to talk on now (I think Jeff had a Imperial) he would use when his Father was not on his Big Radio's.:ROFLMAO:
I fell in Love with Sideband, the range was to me back then crazy, how something so quiet could hear stations so far away to me was astounding.
OK enough of this old man's dribble, but I was hooked. I kept that rig forever(though I owned many others), until I had my own money and graduated to an used SBE Console II. I could not live without a Sideband radio.
All the Best
Gary


Love that.

A pair of guardian angels exchanged hand signals, and a boys future changed compass heading by a couple of degrees.

You’ve never forgotten his example, have you?
(Several of your posts with this quality immediately come to mind).

Stop by his tombstone someday.

.
 
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  • @ BJ radionut:
    EVAN/Crawdad :love: ...runna pile-up on 6m SSB(y) W4AXW in the air
    +1
  • @ Crawdad:
    One of the few times my tiny station gets heard on 6m!:D
  • @ Galanary:
    anyone out here familiar with the Icom IC-7300 mods