Reclaim LSB 16

[Rick330man]

I had my walkie talkie marine mobile set up last week-end. 38LSB was pretty backed up. The annoying thing was the number of local conversations folks were having apparently oblivious to the idea that they might be cluttering up the main call channel.

I had a short QSO with 77 in London, Ontario. There was nothing on LSB 16 or USB 40.

 

[Rick330man]

Anyone up for a Turkey Day week-end LSB 16 DX week-end? Of course, I'll have to step away for the Florida vs. Florida State game. But college football, Thanksgiving and a little DX sounds like a pretty good week-end to me.

 

[whiteastro]

I was listening to 16 lsb in the car yesterday and sounds like the Mexicans took over.

 

[BC Coyote]

With all due respect, this whole reclaim 16 thing is a bit of a joke. Back in the 1970's when 16 was the sideband channel, there were relatively few people running big splattering amps on the band, and lots of people monitoring 16LSB.
Fast forward 55 years to now, and there is almost nobody using sideband on 16. Instead there are hundreds and hundreds of people worldwide using it as an AM channel. Many with big splattering amps. As well, the adjacent channels 15 and 17 have even more high powered stations. All of which makes 16 useless for any kind of communication, AM, LSB, or anything else.

The days of 23 channel radios being useful communication tools ended in 1978. With the current high sunspot count, all of the regular 40 channels are also pretty much useless for anything but very local communication. I just tuned through the regular channels a few minutes ago and they are ALL a wall of noise, with 6, 17, 19 & 28 all pegging the needle.

If we really want to have a channel where WWDX members can meet and ragchew it will HAVE to be above channel 40 somewhere. I realize that the illegality involved in that bothers some people, but it's the only way we are ever going to be able to reach out and communicate with other members from this site. Trying to do that on 16 is a colossal waste of time.

 

[AudioShockwav]

Trying to do that on 16 is a colossal waste of time.

Actually many of us have made contacts on 16 lsb over this last year, it simply requires a dedicated effort, but it can be done.
I talked to Marconi in Texas from my mobile here in CA on 16.
Difficult, yes but it can be done.

73
Jeff

 

[BC Coyote]

I've made the occasional contact on there as well, it just takes a monumental effort and a very high tolerance for noise. It's just so much easier on other frequencies....

 

[Rick330man]

I actually keep a log of my 11 meter DX contacts. The DX was hopping big time on LSB 16 around this time last year. I connected clear across the country to AudioShockWave and quite a few others using less than 10 watts on SSB on my Cherokee AH-100 walkie talkie.

The points made above aren't new to us. I can live with them and the quasi-QRP wattage. All of us using LSB 16 have been well aware of its shortcomings. They just haven't stopped us from pursuing the noble goal of making LSB 16 great again...and having a little fun in the process.

 

[rixdafix]

I still call out on 16LSB looking for WDX members every time I get on the air. Just in case.

 

[BC Coyote]

I tried calling on 16 LSB several times yesterday with no luck. Only had one person respond to my call and that was an idiot with an echo box going hello hello amigo amigo over and over.
No problem talking all over Europe and to Indonesia on the uppers though........

 

[Rick330man]

I've had the CB on all afternoon as I did things around the house. There was plenty of skip rolling in on LSB 35-40. LSB 37 & 38 were at times unusable because of the clutter and the occasional noise maker idiot. I did hear one station calling out DX on LSB 16 a few minutes ago, but he didn't hang around for long.

Conditions are there. It is just a matter of getting some stations on board.

 

[Rick330man]

There was skip rolling yesterday. LSB 38 was active, but there was the usual "11111..." jerk and another idiot or two. But LSB 40, 39 and 35-37 were sharing the wealth.

I dropped to LSB 16 for a while. I made a couple of solid contacts with 948 out of Ridgeway, PA. I heard him call out a few times but did not hear any responses. My efforts at further contacts also proved fruitless.

Remember to mark your calendars for Saturday and Sunday of Turkey Day week-end. We'll have LSB 16 hopping!

 

[Rick330man]

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25th and SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 26th LSB 16 NET

The skip has definitely been better these last couple of months. So, as we've discussed already, let's see if the skip gods will be kind to us next week-end and give us skip conditions worthy of us giving thanks for.

Let's stick to our old protocols of starting Saturday at noon eastern/11:00A.M. central/9:00A.M. pacific and then using the top of each following hour as the primary hailing times. We'll keep it going until 6:00P.M. eastern - though obviously nothing stops folks from continuing to work the airwaves as long as they like. We'll repeat it on Sunday.

Chime in if you're interested and help get the message out.

 

[Smokinone]

Just connected for a short a gentleman in Joplin,MO on a Galaxy 88. 16 LSB. So it's open down here, don't think it was a member tho.

 

[ForestRunner98]

Calling CQ at the moment

 

[AmericanEagle575]

Calling CQ at the moment

I believe I just made contact with you ForestRunner 98, very faint in the background but I was able to pull you out of the qrm on my end,good making contact with you, have a great upcoming Thanksgiving!!

73's