160 meters

[kl7aj]

With the sunspots on the slippery slope to oblivion, it's nice that we have low-band alternatives! How many here are on the world's best amateur band, 160?

eric

[wa4ilh]

I get on it ocassionally but not very often. High power line noise here. And,... I don't own an amplifier Tom WA4ILH

[WA3KYY]

I am for some small value of "on the band". I am severely antenna challenged for this band and probably have a whopping 5w ERP for 100W out of the transceiver. But I have managed 38 states so far. Unfortunately, nothing out of Alaska yet.

73,
Mike WA3KYY

[K9STH]

I run a maximum of 80 watts PEP output from an old Hammarlund HX-50A transmitter (receiver is a Collins 75A4) from a suburban lot that is 72 feet wide and 130 feet deep with the house occupying the middle 1/3rd. The antennas are confined to an area about 60 feet deep by 50 feet wide.

My 160 meter antennas definitely do not run in a straight line. However, I don't have any problems working stations on either SSB or CW. This includes during contests when there are signals stacked one upon the other for several deep.

Glen, K9STH

[ne3r]

I can't operate on 160 yet for a couple of reasons, one being my license class, I'll fix that soon. Two, my 22 ft wire on the tuner probably won't work so well for 160. I'm working on some crazy antenna ideas, but I'll be lucky to get on 80 with my restrictions.

I will add this, I really enjoyed listening to all the CW during the 160m contest the other weekend, even though most was too fast for me to copy, I really got to see the value of the CW filter I installed in the radio.

[kl7aj]

Quote[/b] (N3PAQ @ Dec. 14 2005,13:22)]I can't operate on 160 yet for a couple of reasons, one being my license class, I'll fix that soon. #Two, my 22 ft wire on the tuner probably won't work so well for 160. #I'm working on some crazy antenna ideas, but I'll be lucky to get on 80 with my restrictions.

I will add this, I really enjoyed listening to all the CW during the 160m contest the other weekend, even though most was too fast for me to copy, I really got to see the value of the CW filter I installed in the radio.
You might be amazed at what you can do with a 22ft antenna. Just use a HUGE large diameter loading coil. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

eric

[WB2WIK]

I operate 160 a bit, mostly CW, using a half-sized inverted vee at 55 feet. It's just about full-sized for 80m, but uses 80m traps to heavily load it on 160 and its bandwidth is narrow.

But, it works. Probably a kW into it produces 500W ERP or so. Makes contacts pretty easily.

I miss my full-sized 262' dipole, that I had at my last QTH on a larger lot. That did work better.

One of my problems is the times when 160's in the best condx are later than I'm normally on the air. Really a "dark" hours band.

WB2WIK/6

[K3STX]

I only operate on 160 during the 160 meter contests, and for them I throw up an inverted L and use the radial field for my 80 M vertical.

paul

[wa9cwx]

I just started working 160 the last few years.
Put up a 400 foot dipole (ladder line fed) just to be able to get on this band.(almost 90 feet high at the feed point)
Have about 26 countries and all but ONE of the states.
(ALASKA!!!) I have worked VK and Hawaii.
I do NOT have an amp for this band, so 200 watts is top power.
NEAT band and fun.

[K3UD]

I enjoy 160. Using a 1/2 sloper for the antenna and 100 watts. I can work some DX and both coasts for my western Kentucky location. The largest problem is noise and I really need a low receiving loop as I do not have the room for a beverage I find that I can transmit further than I can hear most nights.

73
George
K3UD

[kj3n]

Not a band I get on very much, but a 365 foot wire loop @ 45 feet in the air has netted me 26 states. No DX so far. This is probably due to the incredibly high angle of radiation (can you say NVIS?). 500 watts is all I can give it. All operation is Phone here.

I have heard 1 or 2 DX stations on 160 Phone, but couldn't make the hookup. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

I'm going to have to come up with an antenna scheme for DX that will work on a 3/4 acre lot and no trees over 50 feet tall. Still thinking about it. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[AA0CX]

I'd love to try 160 but don't have an antenna for it!

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[wa9cwx]

Just reminded me....I bought a 160 meter mobile loaded whip. GOT to try it!
It is still sitting in the back of my Explorer since I got it last summer at a hamfest!

[K3STX]

jja,

try an inverted L. 50 feet vertical isn't great, but it will still be a pretty good antenna. You might think about buying "Low Band DXing" by ON4UN. It has great info, most of it related to antennas.

paul

[kj3n]

Quote[/b] (K3STX @ Dec. 14 2005,21:06)]jja,

try an inverted L. 50 feet vertical isn't great, but it will still be a pretty good antenna.
The part of the antenna that's actually in the air isn't too tough. It's where I can manage to put the radial system that's giving me fits. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

I could extend the 40m wire vertical into an inverted L if I use a 40m trap, but the radial system's going to be a bitch. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[wb7dmx]

I get on some times with my 857D and my g5rv with a tunner, also mobil with my 160 stick.
I have always liked 160 as it was the very first band I heard ham radio with a BC reciver when I was 8 yr old.

[K3STX]

jja,

Although 1/4 wavelength radials are ideal, shorter ones work too. In the last CQ 160 M contest I used my inverted L and I only had 8 radials down, each was 66 feet long. In about 10 hours of operation I made about 260 QSOs in 47 states/provinces with 4 other DXCC entities all with 100 watts out.

For comparison, in the last ARRL 160 M contest I only used my 110' long dipole (fed with ladder-line) and used my tuner to make a "match". I could not even make a QSO with NY from MD!!! Yes, it did work, but certainly not well. I have about 10 feet of coax from my tuner to the outdoor Remote Balun, I suspect I am losing 90% of my RF into that short run of coax. WB2WIK/6 mentioned to me that I was probably putting about 5 watts out with such a set-up.

A resonant antenna, like a simple inverted L, will work wonders.

paul

[K7FE]

I run 160 in the car late at night and sometimes at home.

73,
Terry, K7FE

[N8CPA]

I force feed my inverted VEE during contests--CW only--but the antenna probably turns my 100W into mW. Ironically, I made more contacts in less op time during the 160M contest, for which I have no antenna, than I did during 10M, for which I have two. Propagation, go figure! http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[kl7aj]

Quote[/b] (n3jja @ Dec. 14 2005,17:32)]Not a band I get on very much, but a 365 foot wire loop @ 45 feet in the air has netted me 26 states. No DX so far. This is probably due to the incredibly high angle of radiation (can you say NVIS?). 500 watts is all I can give it. All operation is Phone here.

I have heard 1 or 2 DX stations on 160 Phone, but couldn't make the hookup. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

I'm going to have to come up with an antenna scheme for DX that will work on a 3/4 acre lot and no trees over 50 feet tall. Still thinking about it. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif
How to get a dipole up in a high tree:

Tie it to a low tree and wait. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif


eric

[K2WH]

Not a band but an obsession.

With a 265 foot dipole only 25-30 feet high, I worked and confirmed all 48 states and 13 countries, most with 1.5kw. All on SSB which is much harder to do than using CW. Do not operate there now since I relocated but I listen with the 80 meter dipole and a tuner.

Best DX- South Africa.

K2WH

[w8cbc]

kl7aj: Quote[/b] ]How to get a dipole up in a high tree:

Tie it to a low tree and wait.

I like it. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

I do 160 from home with the zigzag - strictly local, a Thursday night net - and the 90 ft. wire I run out on the weekends, which gets me out to most of the 1895 crowd (8s and 9s).

In northeastern VE3, well, 160 is where that thousand-ft wire really becomes worth the effort I put into running it.

100 watts into each, no amp.

[ys1cf]

I have made few contacts on 160 with only 100 Watts.

But just in the last couple of months I am getting more and more interested on the band.
My AL1500 amp has a bad tube (I bought it that way)
and it is impossible for me to get one here.
I am working on making a better antenna and QSO with alot of you guys interested on the top band.
Some times I call and call but nobody hear me.
I am interested because it is as much exciting to be a new country for some one as it is for me to work a new country.
Hope to QSO very soon with you guys

Cisco YS1CF http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[N8CPA]

I think I like it, because it's so close to VLF, and therefore a bit of a challenge. Given the size of a resonant antenna, I think 160 is a band you get on because you can or, as in my case, just to prove you can.