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Author Topic: Popularity of OH and VA  (Read 286 times)

NO9E

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Popularity of OH and VA
« on: March 02, 2021, 08:25:11 AM »

When working in 160m contests, a large fraction of stations are coming from OH then VA. Not as many from slightly larger MI, and few from slightly smaller MI. Quite of few stations from MO but relatively few from from slightly smaller KY.

Is there any reason why some states or more popular with active ham radios?

Ignacy, NO9E
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K0UA

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Re: Popularity of OH and VA
« Reply #1 on: March 02, 2021, 08:40:09 AM »

When working in 160m contests, a large fraction of stations are coming from OH then VA. Not as many from slightly larger MI, and few from slightly smaller MI. Quite of few stations from MO but relatively few from from slightly smaller KY.

Is there any reason why some states or more popular with active ham radios?

Ignacy, NO9E

I live in Missouri, and Missouri has a large Ham population. At least as compared to some other states very low populations.

http://www.arrl.org/fcc-license-counts

Note that Ohio and Virginia have rather large ham populations
« Last Edit: March 02, 2021, 08:44:17 AM by K0UA »
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73  James K0UA

KF5LJW

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Re: Popularity of OH and VA
« Reply #2 on: March 02, 2021, 09:24:07 AM »

Perhaps they have nothing better to do.
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W1VT

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Re: Popularity of OH and VA
« Reply #3 on: March 02, 2021, 09:57:32 AM »

The obvious issue in correlating ham population with state population is that nearly everyone who lives in the cities can't have a useful 160 meter antenna.
The correlation would be better if you factor out the urban areas as being unsuitable for HF ham radio.

Zak W1VT
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KA3JLW

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Re: Popularity of OH and VA
« Reply #4 on: March 02, 2021, 12:14:24 PM »

Agreed -

The big factor here is the 'small farm, older neighborhoods' factor - areas with lots that are not recent suburban (so light or no HOAs), that are not urban (antenna challenging) and that do not have massive farms / ranches / parks that eat up big chunks of the land that people might live on. 

That, combined with a reasonable amount of amenities and economic opportunity is the recipe for a denser-than-average population of hams.

OH, VA, MI, MN, IL, NC, FL - these are all the kinds of places that fit this description.  Some states (MD, MA, CT) are probably just as dense but have a smaller overall population so they don't stand out.   

Other states like LA, MS might not have the economic engines that are behind a dense ham population, while states like NE, MT, ND, SD are just sparsely populated with massive farms and parks.

These are generalizations and of course there are exceptions.   It would be interesting to run some stats to see how ham density maps to the overall state density, and my hypothesis is that a state with uniform, medium density supports the most dense ham populations

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N2SR

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Re: Popularity of OH and VA
« Reply #5 on: March 02, 2021, 12:57:32 PM »

Also note which states have large, competitive contest clubs. 

Though I do always note that OH seems to be the Field Day "capital" in the county.

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N8AUC

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Re: Popularity of OH and VA
« Reply #6 on: March 02, 2021, 05:56:46 PM »

Don't quite have enough real estate for a decent 160 meter antenna.
It's big enough to put up a decent 80 meter antenna, but not 160.
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K0UA

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Re: Popularity of OH and VA
« Reply #7 on: March 02, 2021, 09:06:44 PM »

Don't quite have enough real estate for a decent 160 meter antenna.
It's big enough to put up a decent 80 meter antenna, but not 160.

are you sure?  you don't need much for an inverted L and they are effective.  A heck of a lot more effective than a dipole.  Mine has 45 feet vertical (in a cedar tree) and then about 85 feet horizontal strung over to another cedar tree.  118 confirmed on 160 with this.  Dipoles really suck on 160 unless you have a 256 foot high  center support.
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73  James K0UA

K3TN

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Re: Popularity of OH and VA
« Reply #8 on: March 03, 2021, 03:01:48 AM »

On 160 antennas: if you have an 80M dipole, you can short the coax at the antenna feedpoint and it will become a vertical T antenna. You can do that via a relay for a permanent install or just temporarily for 160 contests. Very inefficient unless you put some ground radials under it, but it will load up pretty easily.  Many people roll out some radials for the winter, put them away in the spring. My 160 antenna for many years has been a 102' G5RV with the ladder line shortened - really works well.

On hams in VA and OH - of course, it depends on your antenna pattern and propagation from GA. California has 5 or 6 times as many hams as VA and OH combined, but we don't hear them as well on the East Coast.

Agree with the club comment - I'm in the Potomac Valley Radio Club (PVRC) and we get MD, DC, VA, NC and a bit of WV/PA/DE out in big numbers and have won the club competition in the CQ WW RTTY a few times.

You see a lot more remote stations on in the 160 contests, as older hams retire and move to places where they can't put up antennas at all or where urban hams try out 160 that way. Pretty soon Maine will have more towers for remote stations than for full time ham residents!

73 John K3TN
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John K3TN

NO9E

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Re: Popularity of OH and VA
« Reply #9 on: March 03, 2021, 06:33:13 AM »

I think that the popularity of OH and VA has less to do with the number of hams (say Extras) than with other things. Here in GA there more hams in areas close to industrial centers. Perhaps more people with technical skills and engineering backgrounds.

Antennas for 160 contests are not that critical as many run stations have excellent receive antennas and probably can hear a QRP connected to a gutter.

Ignacy NO9E
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W1VT

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Re: Popularity of OH and VA
« Reply #10 on: March 03, 2021, 06:58:36 AM »

My 70x110ft suburban back yard is big enough for a 36ft high Inverted L and eight RX loops (every 45 degrees).
I've worked DXCC on 160 CW!  Overall entity total is 145 confirmed countries!

I've worked over 500 stations in the ARRL 160M contest running low power.
High power is difficult with the 160M contests because I routinely have icing issues that cause the amp to trip out.
The ice changes the SWR as it builds up and melts.

I have worked a page full of stations on 160M running QRP to low end fed wire worked against a ground rod from a 2nd floor apartment.

Zak W1VT
« Last Edit: March 03, 2021, 07:02:28 AM by W1VT »
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