80M SSB

[N4NYY]

Well, I had asked about 5 band DXCC in another thread. Last night during the ARRL DX contest, the trap dipole was working well to the Caribbean and Europe and got a slew of new countries for 80! It is not the vertical I would need, but the contest is a quick way of making up some ground! Conditions for QRM were pretty bad, but the OPS were excellent and gave me a shot until I they got my call. 

[W2IRT]

Conditions weren't nearly as great as they were two weeks ago in the CW contest but even at that, with my inverted vee I was still able to pull out 48 entities last night for 71 QSOs (I was well over 150 Qs and 77 entities in the ARRL-CW effort). 80 is a band made for CW DXing, though; SSB on 80 takes a special kind of masochism, I've found. Worse on Topband.

[W1VT]

It is a lot more fun on 80CW than 80SSB with 100 watts--though it is cool to get a station just before the spot shows up on the DX cluster.  I had 41/31 last night on 80--shutting off the radio at 1AM.  I got  V26M for another country on 80, and finally got XT2TT on 40 CW.  Well worth staying up past midnight.

With LoTW QSLs from A71EM and A65BP, the "magic number" for 5BDXCC  DXCC is down to 5--just 5 more QSLs to go 

Zack W1VT

[AF5CC]

For some reason I kind 80 SSB better for DXing that 40 SSB.  There are quite a few good stations you can find around 3.799 most evenings.  Now CW beats SSB on both bands, especially 40m.  I rarely work DX on 40 SSB, although that was the first place I worked San Felix and the South Orkneys for new ones.

John AF5CC

[NU1O]

You don't have to contend with any broadcast stations on 80 until you get very high up where the contests stations don't go so it's better in that respect.

Most of the broadcast stations on 40 have moved, as they were required to do, but there are some stations in North and West Africa who are very strong between 7.200 and 7.3000.  Mauritania has a station on 7.245 which pounds into the East Coast. 

I worked stations operating split has high as 7.284 last night/this AM  so there was interference.  40 is a band I am glad I don't currently spend a lot of time on.  When I get a beam for 40 things may change.

73,

Chris/NU1O

[N4NYY]

Maybe it is only me, but I am having a blast search and pouncing on 80M. It is like fishing. I am not going to break any score, but chasing new ones for band is fun.