In the end of January I participated in the REF CW contest.In recent years I made many QSO's in this contest with 50 mW.
The top of my inverted vee was broken last year in a storm and I made a temporaly repair. One of the wire lays on the roof.
So I had to experience how the antenna would work.
On Saturday I made 2 QSO's on 20 m with 50 mW and 100 mW.
On Sunday I made 14 QSO's on 40 m.
In these QSO's I had to use the full 5 watts of the FT-817 due to the antenna.
Further I made a number of QSO's on 20 m with a power of 50 mW to 500 mW.
The inverted vee with one wire on the roof works for 20 m.
But on 40 m it takes more power to make QSO's.
When the propagation is good, it's not that difficult the make QSO's with very low power.
On Sunday the signal of F6KNB was S9 + 10 dB. So I decided to try a power of 50 mW.
I gave my call just once and got an immediate respons. FB.
Good evening Bert, very nice results with mW power! I was in the ARRL contest and worked some low power contacts but none so far with this new setup with 50mW of power. Good to read your one antenna you repaired was working well. I too find that with 40m it takes more power for me to make a contact.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenMike
Hello Mike, the inverted vee is 2x 10.7 mtr, designed for 40 m, but with one wire on the roof, it works well for 20m to 10m. hi.
VerwijderenAlways keep an eye on the S-meter in the contest. As soon as the propagation get better, you can reduce power.
In the ARRL Int DX I had to use 5 watts in nearly all QSO's, but I enjoyed it. 73, Bert