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Skip Question

J

jbo

Member
Sep 27, 2005
31
1
16
Oscoda MI
Maybe this is in the wrong spot but today when I went home at lunch I heard al kinds of skip on ch 20 and 26. I tried talking some but never got any replies. Couple of questions.

1) Everytime I heard someone talk they always said a 3 digit number then location, why and what does it mean?

2) Do you have to run lots of power to talk skip?


I have a tuned up grant xl and I was hearing all over from Alabama, New Jersey, NY, even some local here in Michigan.

I thought even with low power you could talk skip.
 

the 3 digit numbers they transmit are just made up, they are generally easier to understand and rember than using there standard handle. i use 629 or cdx001 when shooting skip.

your grant will work very well on ssb (try 37 lsb or 38 lsb). am is much harder to use because you generally need alot more power as you will competing with more and more stations that are using high power.

try 37 lsb and call cq cq cqdx this is (whatever #'s you want and your state) repeat number and state, cq. and listen, if you hear people but cant understand turn the claifier a little. eventually someone will come back.
 
Right! Most people have a relation to their 3-digit #'s somehow, suchas 3 numbers of old license plate, etc. As far as skip goes, it's all in the conditions. Some days, all thepower in the world can't get a response and barefoot does and other days vice-versa. Also, you have to consider that youmight not be transmitting in your recieve area. For instance, you might hear stations in Ala., Miss, and Fla., but your transmit might be hitting someone in Minnesota that is trying to get back to you but can't. This happens alot. Having power definitely helps, buton barefoot radio, sometimes you have to wait out fora "quiter", later talk time.
 
Sideband operators don't (or didn't use to) use handles, they use a number as an identifier, like my CDX number (the number was my badge number when I was a police officer). you can use any number or groups of numbers that you can remember 8)

Skip, or DX, or propagation, is a natural phenomenon that you can't really alter by running a lot of power. Additional power can help you be heard better on the receiving end when the band is open, but if the band isn't open (no skip), all that rf power goes off into space. Maybe the martians can hear you, but an operator 1000 miles away won't.

For now, the skip we have been hearing occasionally is called E-skip. This is a type of skip that results in relatively short, single hops, like from the east coast to the mid west. It can last for a few days or only a few minutes. In a few years, the solar cycle (sunspots) will begin to rise towards it's 11 year peak and then your signal may take several hops off the ionosphere. You will be able to work Europe on 2 watts and a coat hanger.

If you haven't been on the air during the peak of a solar cycle, then you are in for a real treat. During the last solar cycle peak, I used to work Europe & Great Britian daily from my vehicle, not to mention all my CDX buds.
 
Thats awesome, I can't wait to see the peak solar cycle. It would be neat to talk to some people in different states or even countries. Thanks for all the information I know what I will use as my numbers, 724 NE Michigan on the beaches of Lake Huron

jbo
 
next peak will be in 2012. there will still be many chances leading up to it though. every year there will be more and more, it makes it great for talking across country but terriable for trying to talk to someone in your own town.
 
Skip runs on an 11 year cycle. We are just climbing out of the quiet years now. From what I remember 98-2000 were exellent skip years so it won't be long.
 
Butcher318 said:
Skip runs on an 11 year cycle. We are just climbing out of the quiet years now. From what I remember 98-2000 were exellent skip years so it won't be long.
Click to expand...

I can't wait! CQ DX...........
 
Wow, ShockWav! :D

I really like your essay on the explaination of skips. I am bookmarking it for future reading.

Thank you, sir! ;)
 
Carl said:
your grant will work very well on ssb (try 37 lsb or 38 lsb). am is much harder to use because you generally need alot more power as you will competing with more and more stations that are using high power.
Click to expand...

AM is harder.
Because the carrier of every transmitting station beats against each other. AM CB radios don't need good frequency stability and they can be 1KHz off frequency and still be usable. So this beat frequency is also called a heterodyne tone, and is just the difference in frequency of two stations transmitting at the same time. So when you're talking on AM you need alot more power to overcome this heterodyne trash.

However AM can be easy if you get off the regular 40 channels. often some frequencies below CH1 have AM activity when skip is rolling.

SSB has the advantage here because there is no carrier to heterodyne when more than one station is transmitting simultaneously. With SSB you just hear people talking. Thats a big reason why SSB is better for talking skip.
 
jbo said:
Thats awesome, I can't wait to see the peak solar cycle. It would be neat to talk to some people in different states or even countries. Thanks for all the information I know what I will use as my numbers, 724 NE Michigan on the beaches of Lake Huron

jbo
Click to expand...
THERE YA GO
202 Constitution State WAVIN IT RIGHT BACK
 

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