Last week I was listening to the VP8ORK DXpedition to the South Orkney Islands. They were a good 559 on 7024, working split. I had exactly no chance of getting in their log.
Firstly I only have one VFO on the Gateway 40, so I can't work split. I do have RIT, which I use for my CW offset, but it only runs from about minus one kc to plus 2 kc. The offset is skewed because of the non linear range of the varicap diode that is used for RIT. Interestingly the varicap diode also causes the VFO to drift quite a bit, so I typically turn RIT off completely when using SSB, so that the VFO is more stable.
I also do not have a big enough signal to cut through the pileup. My 50 watts to a dipole will be lost as the AGC in their receiver adjusts to cope with the big signals.
Finally, I just dont have the skills. They were working at about 20 words per minute and my CW is only good for about 12. I need to practice more. I could not reliably copy the call sign of the stations they were working and I could not find the replying stations in the pile. If you can't find the stations that are responding, then you don't know where the DX is listening and you have no chance of working them.
So it is the beginning of February and I have a list of station improvements that I need to make if I am going to achieve my goal of DXCC with homebrew equipment.
Enter Comments Here:
Copyright 2001-2021 Chris Thompson
Send me an email