The "Unfavorable DX frequencies" table on 160m - (update 3May2024)

Hi all,

maybe you remember that long time ago I tried to create and keep updated the list with "unfavorable frequencies > the frequencies which are QRMed in some locations or somehow horrible to use...

Unfortunately, this little idea has sunk in overtime…

So now I am coming back with that idea updated 3-May-2024, and I will try to keep it up!

As many of US hams reported in the past, topbanders should avoid frequencies 1810, 1820 and 1830 because on the west coast US commercial radio stations create on these frequencies of the harmonic frequency, they cause on 160m interference up to S9 and prevent them from receiving.

The "Unfavorable DX frequencies" table on 160m (original article 4-Mar-2007)   

Hi all,

from my experiences with DXing on Topband I found that there are some frequencies which are not usable in some DX locations cause of local heavy QRM over there or permanent local BC interfered signals or other problems.

These frequencies are permanently unusable or even unfavorable for DXing in that DX location and its not efficient to calling CQ or looking for DX from that location overe there...

In my oppinion it will be very usefull for all Topband enthusiasts to have the table of that "unfavorable QRGs" available for quick check if needed. This table will be updated as many time as possible.

QRG (kHz)	Unfavorable range (kHz)	DX-location	Comments
1820	1819 - 1823	JA	permanent BC QRM in JA around 1820
1818	1815 - 1821	ZL	strong QRM from local GPS correction on 1818

1810   1810, 1820, 1830 USA      west coast BC harmonics                                         interference up to S9

Information about another "unfavorable QRGs" in Your locations are welcomed for sure! Please let me know by email or in comments bellow...

73, Petr OK1RP

DXNL 2378 - Nov 1, 2023 DX Newsletter by Andreas, DK5ON

DXNL 2378 - November 1, 2023 DX Newsletter

a free and weekly service of
DARC Committee "DX"
(http://www.darcdxhf.de)

Editor: Andreas Salder, DK5ON
(e-mail: dxmb@darcdxhf.de)

translation by: Oliver Bock, DJ9AO

DX Activities
=============

3W, VIETNAM:
Alex, KU1CW, currently works near Pleiku and will be active as 3W9A
during the CQWW DX CW Contest on Nov. 25/26. QSL via homecall.

4W, TIMOR LESTE:
The large team is eager to begin their 4W8X DXpedition on Nov. 5,
with more operators joining them on Nov. 12. For more information
see: http://timor-leste-dx.de/.

CN, MOROCCO:
Stephan, DL1MOG, is currently active again as CN2MOG and will
remain so during November, while exploring the Atlas mountains on a
caravaning trip. QSL via DL1MOG.

LU, ARGENTINA:
Hoc, LU5BE/p, and Enri, LU8EFF/p, activate the rare locator FF59kt
(Rodeo in San Juan province) between Nov. 1 and 5 on 40-6m (SSB,
CW, FT8). For QSL information seee qrz.com.

LU, ARGENTINA:
Members of the Radio Club QRM Belgrano will be active with the
callsign LU4AAO between Nov. 4 and 12, marking their 2023 Tradition
Day. An award is also available. QSL via direct, via-email, eQSL.
http://lu4aao.org/cert_dia_tradicion_2023.htm

ON, BELGIUM:
OR79CLM marks the liberation of the town Knokke, 79 years ago, by
Canadian troops. QRV from Nov. 3 to 5. QSL via bureau, eQSL,
qrz.com.


IOTA
====

IOTA QRGs
CW: 28040 24920 21040 18098 14040 10114 7030 3530 kHz
SSB: 28560 28460 24950 21260 18128 14260 7055 3760 kHz


AS-116; BS7, HUANG YAN ISLAND (aka SCARBOROUGH REEF): Gil, 4F2KWT,
announces that he has received permission to visit the island Bajo
de Masinloc (a Filipino-Spanish name for Scarborough Reef). More
information to follow later.

OC-040; E6, NIUE ISLAND: Michael, DF8AN, continues his trip around
the Pacific and will be active as E6AJ from Niue between Nov. 3 and
10 on the following frequencies: CW: 3519, 5354, 7010, 10109,
14019, 18069, 21019, 24890, 28019, 50105 kHz. SSB: 3795, 7125,
14215, 18140, 21295, 24940, 28485, 50140 kHz. FT4: 3575, 7047,
10140, 14080, 18104, 21140, 24919, 28180 kHz. FT8: 3567, 5356,
7059, 10131, 14093, 18098, 21094, 24911, 28094, 50313 kHz. Before
and after he signs ZL/DF8AN from Auckland. QSL via DF8AN (d/B).

OC-065; H40, REEF ISLANDS: Jun, JH4RHF, now wants to operate from
Pigeon Island as H40RH between Nov. 2 and 11. QRV mostly on CW and
FT8 on 40-6m. QSL via OE1JUN.

OC-155; V6, WEST CHUUK group: Cezar, VE3LYC, signs V62P from Pulap
Island between the 1st and 7th of November, mostly on CW. This IOTA
reference has only been activated once before in 2004. QSL via
VE3LYC, OQRS.

OC-299P; V6, YAP EAST group: Cezar, VE3LYC, then moves on to Satawalu
Island for November 9 to 16 with the callsign V62S.
This will be the first activation of OC-299. QSL via VE3LYC, OQRS.

Unfortunately, only very few of teams are focused on the CW operation or SSB so the nightmare is continuing... But let's try to track Michael, DF8AN from Pacific and maybe Alex, KU1CW from Vietnam.

73 - Petr, OK1RP

.../-.-

Who's Who on TopBand & JA's 160m Privileges

Hi all,

just few links in case you forgot where to find them...

Who is who on TopBand

JA 160m bandplan

UK 160m bandplan

US 160m bandplan

IARU Ragion 1 HF bandplan

IARU Region 2 HF bandplan

IARU Region 3 HF bandplan

Do not remember when you are operating on 160m band that JA's has no longer just small 1907.5 - 1912.5kHz window but they have Privileges to operate down too.

Japan Expands 160m band Privileges

Effective on 21 April 2020, Japanese amateurs can operate in expanded frequency segments on 160m and 80m bands as described below.

160m band

          1,800 — 1,810 kHz   All Modes (New segment)

          1,810 — 1,825 kHz   CW (Existing segment)

          1,825 — 1,875 kHz   All Modes (New segment)

          1,907.5 — 1912.5 kHz CW, NB Data (Existing segment)

73 - Petr, OK1RP

.../-.-

CQ160 CW 2021 - Single Op Low Power Europe plaque winner - Mindis, LY4L

 

Hi all,

I would like to send my big congratulation to Mindis, LY4L for winning the CQ160 CW 2021 - Single Op Low Power, Europe plaque !

Excellent job and results!

As always You had chance to grab the plaque sponsored by me in Single Operator - Low Power, EUROPE category in the CQ160M, CW contest this year (2022) as I renewed my plaque sponsorship for this year too...

In Memoriam to Jo, DL1RK - one of the most biggest Top Band enthusiasts, excellent CW operator and mainly one of my best friend!

The actual results of the CQ160, CW 2021 are available here:

CQ 160 - Scores

The current list of plaques and the sponsors appears at:

CQ 160 - Plaques

I wish to all of you good luck and CU on the TB soon.


73 - Petr, OK1RP
.../-.-

John, ON4UN - SK

Dear folks,

Very sad news just received from the daughter of John, ON4UN

It is with sadness, but also gratitude and pride, I have to let you know my father John ON4UN, has become silent key.

John’s health has steadily deteriorated throughout the year, but in the last few weeks he was home with us where he peacefully passed away yesterday November 9.

Ham Radio, and especially Low Band DXing, were my father’s lifelong passion and always had a strong presence in our house. Sometimes literally, when many of you paid us a visit or a group of DX’ers came over for a weekend of contesting. At other times in the background, when my dad was working on a project or experimenting with new equipment or antennas.

Though I don’t have a call-sign, I very much feel part of the big radio family and always will. I am very proud of everything my father has accomplished together with you, and I am grateful to the many of you who have given him so much joy over the years. We will miss him dearly, but we take comfort looking back on the beautiful life he lived as a member of the wonderful Ham Radio community.

We are planning a digital farewell ceremony on Saturday November 21st and will keep you updated on practicalities.

If you would like to send us a message please mail to ON4UN.SK@gmail.com – John’s old e-mail account is not in use anymore.

In the meantime, you can pay him a visit at QRZ.com where he always kept his resume up to date.

Marleen Devoldere

Orion AGC Settings by Len, WT6G

Hi all,

found it on QRZ.com > all rights reserved to Len, WT6G.

After playing with the Orion for over a year I've come up with a procedure that appears to really work for these settings and I thought I'd write it up.

First, one comment. The AGC Hang time is VERY useful for FAST AGC in CW mode. Dots are often short enough at high speed, but some operators shorten them intentionally. Frequently the signal length of a single dot is so short the AGC of any rig has trouble acting properly, which makes the signal harder to copy and leads to operator fatigue.

This is easily fixed using the AGC Hang time. I typically use a hang time of .12 seconds or less for about 22 wpm, but if you are slower you can increase this a bit. I've played with settings as high as .25 seconds for novice speeds, and find values of .04 and .08 more useful for high speed CW during contests.

This setting means that once the agc level is determined by a signal, the dsp will hold that level for the indicated amount of time. It helps to visualize this in terms of the frequency that the signal is "evaluated". For example, if the Hold Time is set for .250 Seconds, the AGC will be evaluated 4 times per second, or once every 250 milliseconds. This is ok for very slow CW. Faster speeds should use faster sampling or shorter Hold Times. The Orion offers holdtimes of .04 .08 and .12 seconds, which are very useful for fast CW. Try adjusting this while listening to CW on your favorite band with the Fast AGC set and you will really see what a great feature Hold Time can be!

To set the SQUELCH control use the following procedure:

1. Preamp OFF, RF Gain 100, no antenna connected, AGC slow Set the bandwidth for the mode you normally use with slow AGC ie SSB, 2.8 KHz

2. Select the Main RX then got to Menus, RX and select Main RX Sql.

3. The default is -127 dBm. Decrease this until the audio is squelched. Be sure to find the exact point where it squelches. On my Orion this happens at -110 dBm.

4. Now select the slow Threshold for Main AGC and increase the number slowly from the default .37 uV until the radio unsquelches (ie The audio comes back. On my Orion this happens at .59 uV.

At this point, your DSP has some reasonable levels for Squelch, and AGC threshold. The audio should never be muted by the squelch and the AGC action will begin at a realistic level for your radio.

You may notice, if you don't set these values as I've described, that the RF gain control will unsquelch the radio as you decrease it if you have the squelch set.

To demonstrate this, leave the sensitivity set at .37, squelch the audio, and then return to normal operation and decrease the RF Gain below 100. My audio pops back on! Once you follow the procedures outlined above, this little anomaly will go away, and you will note what appears to be a smoother operating AGC. I didn't write the code, and it's not Open Source so I'll have to admit some lack of knowledge on the exact effect this has on the radios firmware, but it seems to improve performance.

Repeat the procedure for "med", "fast" and "prog" at the bandwidths you typically use for each of these. I set up "slow" and "med" at 2.8 KHz. "fast" and "prog" are set up at 250 Hz. "fast" and "prog" work nicely at 500 Hz when set for 250 Hz.

AFTER the AGC is set up, you can adjust the Hang Time for the AGC speeds you normally use in CW. On my orion I set this to .12 for "fast" and .08 for "prog". I also set the decay slope at 200 dB/s for "prog", 5 dB/s for "slow", 40 dB/s for "med", and 80 dB/s for "fast".

In CW, I usually use "fast" and then switch to "prog" for really fast QSO's. I use "slow" and "med" for SSB with no hang time.

NOTE: If you set your bandwidth too narrow, (ie 100 Hz) you may have
trouble making these adjustments. I recommend 250 Hz minimum because at 100 Hz it's sometimes hard to hear enough noise without a signal to tell if the RX is squelched or not. Of course this note applies to CW ops. You can get really confused if your filters are not centered.

Accordingly, you should have the additional roofing filters properly  centered before you make the AGC adustments. This is simple to do. I accomplish it as follows:

a. Select a bandwidth using the BW control equal to the filter you are aligning. For example, 500 Hz or 250 Hz. Tune in a cw signal and in the Filtr menu vary the Center Frequency Adjustment.

b. As you move it around you should see your S meter change. note the points on the ends where the signal goes away (a weak signal will drop completely out) This will give you two numbers. For my 500 Hz filter, I noticed the signal edges appeared at -200 and +550. (this depends on signal strength).
The difference between these points is 750. Divide this by 2 to get the center of the passband, and then add this to the lowest number to get the absolute setting. 750/2 = 375 -200 + 375 = 175 ... I set the control to 170 since values of 10 are the only resolution available. Obviously you can do this quite accurately with a voltmeter on your audio and a constant CW tone signal source, but you get "close enough" by ear for all practical purposes.

I find a strong CW signal and the S Meter is pretty accurate to find the edges.

Don't be surprised if you start to hear some incredible stuff while ou're adjusting these settings. I was on 40 meters adjusting my 250 Hz filter after the last software upgrade and copied some JA's in QSO.

There is nothing like a 250 Hz roofing filter followed by a 100 Hz  DSP filter that does not ring! With the settings made as described above you can actually tune accross the band at 100 Hz bandwidth in 10 Hz or less step width and hear and work stations!

I have all of the roofing filters in place from 250 Hz up, and I love the performance of the Orion. There's nothing like it at any price.

/Len WT6G

Capacitive loaded vertical?

Hi all,

did you tried this antenna in your QTH...?

73 - Petr, OK1RP

.../-.-