Recent content by Rick330man

Today is the first day in weeks that I hear any kind of significant skip activity on 11 meters.

Correct. I've done it with my CB antennas and my marine VHF ones. My fiberglass Radio Shack Archer Crossbow lasted just over 40 years. The vertical radiator on my Starduster clone is an old fiberglass Radio Shack 102" whip from the early 90s.

I've also got lots of branches to deal with, so radials were going to be an issue. I have an old IMAX and it works well. Every fiberglass antenna I have used over the last 40 years gets wrapped in plastic automotive wiring loom. The loom becomes sacrificial. The UV rays eat it up instead of...

I've used both for close to 50 years. My old 23 channel Realistic Navaho sounded fantastic with a Turner +3. I kept the +3 when I upgraded to a TRC448 SSB mobile, which I used as a base. Today, I have a +3 base mic wired for when I use 40 channel walkie talkies as base units. A second one is...

Good thing there's college football!

Skip is dead down here today.

@45: Are you aware of any stations in the Destin/Fort Walton Beach area? That's probably too far for you to reach on CB, but close enough to you that you may have spent some time in the mobile out there.

The best the New York Dolls could do.

NVIS generally works from 1.8MHz to 10MHz. I'm not aware of anyone every having had any luck with it on 11 meters/CB.

I used to keep a pretty thorough log of my CB skip contacts. From the panhandle, I've made SSB contacts with: 477 in Panama City Beach; 99 in Panama City; 514 in Fountain (near Panama City Beach - several times); 447 in Panama City Beach; 1122 in Panama City; 407 in Panama City; 350 in...

Skip continues to be dead down here. I don't turn my radio on every day, but at least a couple of time a week. There's been just about zero skip for most of the summer.

Skip down here has been dead all week-end. Good luck to you guys dealing with these fire threats.

Man, it has been dead down here. Yesterday, I could only hear one or two stations - one in the southern U.S. and another in Puerto Rico - on LSB 38. That was it. Lousy skip conditions, but great for maximizing local line-of-sight contacts.

I should add that the SWRs went wacko every few years. I'd spray a little electronics or tuner cleaner up one of the week holes on the bottom and everything would be fine for a few more years. Also, I did not leave the antenna expose to the elements. I wrapped in automotive wire loom. That...

I had one. Lasted about 40 years. Decent, but not spectacular performer.