160 METERS: A Whirrrl'd Unto Itself

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of the 10 HF bands available to radio amateurs, 6 of them currently allow radiosport activity:
160, 80, 40, 20, 15 & 10 meters.  The [so-called] WARC bands were specifically designated to
be "contest free", giving non-contesters relief from the pandemonium often presented by radiosport activity.  The 1st two weekends of December offer radiosport activity at completely opposite ends
of the HF spectrum: 160-meters and 10-meters, respectively.

I/We survived the 10-meter contest.  As it turns out, that GiG is sandwiched between a pair of 160 contests: The ARRL 160 contest (Dec 2nd to 4th) and the Stew Perry SP-160 GiG (Dec 18th and 19th).  The 10-meter GiG relies heavily on magnitude of the Solar Flux Index (SFI) - the higher the better.  By comparison, 160-meters tends to produce greater contest operating possibilities with a considerably lower SFI.  Today, as I transform scribbled notes from December into this Blog entry,
my compatriots @NX6T are easing into the annual CQ-160 Ssb contest, which envelops most of
this weekend.

We often think of 160 as mainly a Cw band, whereas back in the 1950's and 60's AM-mode stations were littered throughout the band.  Today, AM stations still hangout above 1.900; 1.925 in particular.  Of course, single sideband has taken over as the HF voice mode of choice.  The FT8 digital mode
has found itself a home (around 1.842), altho RTTY (at least in radiosport) is not used on 160.

The 2022 CQ-160 Ssb contest seemed to be quite a DuD, despite low-noise and technically
wide-open propagation.  It seemed like (across the USA and Canada) that many normally
160-OPs were off doing other things.  I guess my 1-QSO WQ6X log is NoT so surprising
after all.

Because 160 is so close (in frequency) to the AM broadcast band, either band can be used to propagation-predict the other.  I've often said, if everybody is listening and no one is calling CQ,
the band will seem to be DEAD, when in fact it is wide-open.  I wrote a Blog about this phenomenon.  ([CLICK HERE] to read that.).  This applies to 10-meters (in particular) as well as Top Band (160).

Since adding a Yaesu FT-2000 to the operating lineup in Concord, have a more aesthetically color screen allows for more effective use of the IPO selections, VRF tuning adjustment and DNR (Digital Noise Reduction) controls; these settings are most important on 160 AND 10 meters.

For me, psychologically, 160 exhibits a "warm glow" feeling.  In a contest the "feel" shifts as the OPs East of me drop-off as sleep takes over.  More-or-less 6 hours later, a reverse action occurs as these same OPs wake up and indulge in their various forms of caffeine intake.

During winter periods, 160 can be amazingly QRN-free, except of course when lightning storms are scattered all about within a more-or-less 1,000-mile radius.  Noise-wise, summertime is not a lot of fun; probably why there is only one 160 radiosport GiG: the Stew Perry SP-160 contest in mid-July.  [CLICK HERE] for a link to the Stew Perry website.

During previous solar cycles, I've not paid much detail-attention to how 160 functions during a solar flux maximum.  For Cycle 25 I'm going to pay more close attention to nuances of evening propagation and write it up in this contest Blog.

Bottom-Line: 160-meters is a unique and fascinating operating world, which (in contrast with the daytimeness of 10-meters), doesn't normally come-alive until an hour or 2 before sunset.  Granted,
it takes a LoT of "antenna wire" to make it all happen; and experiencing the "Magic" of Top Band is Well Worth It.

When was the last time YOU actually operated on 160 Meters?

What was YOUR Top Band experience like?