>Some 15 or 20 years ago there was a station operating from some dry lake
in Southern California in 160 meter contests. He too really cleaned up. That station was Earl, K6SE, who was partnered by another K6, and they operated from a dry salt lake. They used to come into VK6 at around S6/7 when the band appeared to be dead! Never managed to operate using a broadcast tower, but did using an inverted-vee dipole and a full-size quarter-wave vertical suspended from the balcony of the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse, 300km south of Perth at the junction of the Indian and Southern Oceans. Highlight was working K1ZM and K1PX with 70W as easy as pie at their sunrise. One antenna was on one side of the lighthouse from the other, with the tops around a quarter wave high, with ocean on three sides - see https://www.capesfoundation.org.au/visit-experiences/cape-leeuwin-lighthouse / The location was so good we could hear and work stations that Mike VK6HD SK couldn't hear a trace of. Unfortunately, the three times we got to do this, the propagation was very poor, apart from the half an hour or so when we (technical director Phil VK6APH SK and myself) worked Jeff and Jim. Fun times. Vy 73 Steve, VK6VZ _________________ Searchable Archives: http://www.contesting.com/_topband - Topband Reflector
