Crazy Part 15 DX
Posted on April 24, 2011
After taking (and BTW passing :)) an Amateur Radio test this morning, one of the three test admins said he would try to get my station on the South end of the island … that’s 11 miles away!!
After taking (and BTW passing :)) an Amateur Radio test this morning, one of the three test admins said he would try to get my station on the South end of the island … that’s 11 miles away!!
He called me late afternoon, about 4:30pm PDT, to tell me he heard my station. I was so much in shock I almost fell off the dock!! I happened to have my little $2 (rummage sale) multiband radio with me (not sure why, I just sometimes carry it around to check if the STL computer is still running the stream), and sure enough, he was indeed hearing my station. Nothing you’d want to listen to for very long, but he punched in a filter and it got even better.
Here’s why: He has a triple conversion all-band very high-end ICOM communications receiver in his shack hooked up outside to a longwire Rhombic antenna pointed in my general direction.
Just goes to show … great reception gear makes a lot of difference when it comes down to it. Still, 11 miles is a long ways for puny 100mw into final …
