Re: [IRCA] How Many ULR Loggings are Possible?????

["HASCALL, DAVID CIV DFAS" <DAVID.HASCALL@xxxxxxxx>]

Nice, thought provoking article, Rob.  My "guess" is that the sky is the
limit.  Time at the dials seems to be the key.  Some DX'ers seem to be
able to make more time for DX'ing.  Me, not so much.  My "total" logbook
is only 775!  Now that is only US/Cdn. stations but the lower number
equates to the fact that I may go weeks, months, years or decades (not
really joking) without doing serious DX.  

ULR's have been fun (although I can only afford a basic hand me down
SRF-59 and whatever "non-conforming" units from Goodwill), I was able to
log 102 stations in four hours for the Spring ULR contest and logged 77
in an hour and a half for the Autumn contest.  The more important thing
for me, however was that I added six new ones to the main log.  

Rob - I think that in a year or two, you will be telling us how that
after you've reached 1000 ULR logs, that you are going for 1250!  Good
Lucka nd 73,
Dave in Indy

------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2008 13:24:17 -0500
From: "Robert S.Ross VA3SW" <va3sw@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [IRCA] How Many ULR Loggings are Possible?????
To: IRCA AM List <irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Message-ID: <495A6751.5070506@xxxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Hi Guys:

   After logging # 602 I have found myself in another Drought...not
hearing anything New on ULRs for the last 2 Days!! Several people have
asked the Million Dollar Question....Is there a limit to how many
stations can be logged using ULR Radios??? Will we eventually hit a
Brick Wall that will cause us to give up and abandon the ULR cause??
Interesting question......and I have asked myself the very same
question.

   When I began ULR DX'ing back in Jan/08......I thought it would be
cool to hear 100 Stations on my New SRF-59. After a week and over 100
Loggings....I figured with a Lot of work ...I could most likely Log 300.
( That took the rest of the month!!) I surely never imagined that 300 in
a month would be possible.

The trek continued........it started to slow down a bit....but soon
enough I had 400 then 500 and now 600 Stations in the Log!! The Last 100
from 500 to 600 took about 3 Months...so you can see that it's starting
to become more of a challenge with each new station heard.
However...rather than have that Discourage me....it gives me more desire
to try and hit # 700...and beyond.  Now we're actually getting to the
stage where I'm not just turning on the Radio and listening for New
Ones...I actually have to work at it....use various strategies......use
propagation to my advantage ...and rely on other things like External
Antennas, Filters, and of course Lady Luck!!

Being in the right place at the right time has a lot to do with
it........so it only makes sense that if you spend a lot of time at the
dials.....you will hear a lot of stations. Listening at different times
of the day and night are factors that will add to your totals. Don't
forget as well that no 2 Days are alike (Except for the ones where you
hear nothing!! HAHHA). Sometimes Sunset Skip favours the South , other
times it's the West, other times stations seem to be coming in from all
directions!! Some days the GraveYard freqs are totally Jammed...and
nothing can be sifted out of the Mud.....other days the Stations seem to
jump right out at you.

What I am finding lately is that I am NOT hearing NEW ONES every day any
more...but they seem to be coming in bunches....nothing for 2
Days....then 3 or 4 stations in 10 minutes!! I am also seeing a lot more
Regional Stuff being heard....like last night I was hearing everything
from the Philadelphia, New Jersey, NYC area . Sometimes if I hear Grand
Rapids, Michigan on 1230 Khz....I will also hear them on 1340 Khz as
well. I know the propagation for AM BCB is not like FM Radio...but at
times what you hear on AM tends to have that FM TROPO Feel to it. Stuff
from a particular area is all over the band.

I think a real important factor now aside from any skills I may have
picked up along the way is an element of LUCK!! Somedays will be Poor no
matter what you do....whole others will be Excellent in spite of
anything you may do wrong. It all comes down to being there when it
happens. Keeping an eye on the tips from the members of the various
reflectors will help add New Ones to your Totals. I have logged a pile
of New Ones thanks to someone even 500 Miles away advising they were
hearing something Unusual like a Station on Late, or a Station Testing.
We have to use the expertise of others to help in our quest.

Now back to the Million Dollar Question........do I think there is a
LIMIT as to how many stations can be heard on a ULR Radio?? No....There
is no limit, as long as we are patient, never give up and use all the
tools we have at our disposal. I believe there is NO LIMIT because even
though I have logged 1200 Stations OVERALL on the BCB in 35 Years, I
have already logged 600 , or half as many in my first year with an ULR.
Also...of those 600 Heard.....200 of those were New to the OVERALL Log
as well. How may people with over 1000 Stations Heard can say they have
Logged 200 NEW ONES to their Overall log in the past year???  My guess
is NOT MANY!! One of the reasons I was not hearing many new stations for
the Overall Log was it was just not fun fighting through all the noise,
QRM, and Crud on the Band the last few years. Since obtaining the ULR's
I have found those obstacles much less of a problem ...and therefore am
enjoying myself much more. When something is FUN....you tend to stick
with it!

Oh yes...things are going to slow down substantially.......but I don't
think they will ever dry up as far as ULR DX'ing goes. It's gonna get a
lot tougher....but somethinjg I am finding now is that when I do log a
New One.....it is usually a GOOD Logging....either a Low Power Station,
A GraveYarder....or something FAR AWAY!! I think I have pretty much
logged most of the close in stuff, and all of the easy stuff. You know
something else....everyone is in the Hobby for different Reasons....be
it Diehard DX'ers, Casual Listeners, Live Sports Aficionados, QSL'ers,
or Technical Geeks!!! (No Offense Gary, John and Guy!!) HAHHAA.....

Friendly competition is something that spurs some of us on the ACHIEVE
just a little more. As I passed the 600 mark in URL Stations
Heard......there is a healthy group of ULR DX'ers that have either
reached the 500 Mark....or are making a surge towards it. As they motor
along logging more and more stations each and every day....I see them in
the Rear View Mirror...and it's only a matter of time before one of them
takes the lead....and in turn takes the ULR Hobby to the next level. I
hope that my efforts to hear Stations on the ULR Radios has given others
the desire to try it out....and in turn spread some of their enthusiasm
on New ULR Dx'ers!! I'm sure Gary Debock sometimes scratches his head
and says.."Oh My God...what kind of a monster have I created here!!"
HAHAHAA.....It's a Happy Monster Gary...sort of like "Milton the
Monster"....for those Old enough to remember this 1960's Cartoon!!

My "Thing" with ULR's is DXing and Logging Stations.....I'm not much of
a TECHIE.......Guys Like Gary, John, Guy, Steve and a Bunch of the
others out on the Left Coast are the Experts in that department. I need
to thank them for spending countless hours attempting...and succeeding
in making the ULRs a Lot better for me to DX with!! Without the
Knowledge and Practical Skills of these guys.....I would be equipped a
little less to battle the Propagation Gods!!

Finally for all those ULR DX'ers that are Stuck at 200 or 300 or 400 and
think things will eventually dry up making it impossible to hear new
stations..FEAR NOT. I really do not believe there is any limit or magic
number that can be heard before it's all over!! Just as the Long
Distance Boys have proven that there is NO LIMIT in Distance that can be
heard....Spare the circumference of the globe!!

Press on .....and remember the most important aspect of ULR DX'ing is
not how many we can hear....or how far away they are, or what they are
playing when we hear them.....the most important aspect is HAVING FUN!!
I truly believe that is what has brought ULR DXing to where it is
today...and where it's going to be in years to come!!

HAPPY ULR YEAR TO ALL ......

73...ROB

Robert S. Ross VA3SW
London, Ontario CANADA





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