John EI7GL has a great blog post about some experiments recently done by Salvador EA5Y. Salvador was aiming his 4 element yagi in one direction, sending dits, and watching for the signal to come around the other side. You can see the results in the display above. I commented that this might be the time for one of those antennas with which you can instantly reverse the pattern. Or, probably better, have some other hams aim their antennas in the opposite direction so that they can catch the circumnavigating signals. Check it out:
https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2023/12/twice-around-globe-on-21-mhz-and.html
Two trips around is 80,000 km or about 50,000 miles! That's quite a trip. But how about 3 times around? Or more?
Thanks to John EI7GL and to Salvador EA5Y.
Try a W8JK beam with a switch at the feedpoint. Built one a while ago out of sticks and wire. Had too much fun working DX to try the "Gray Line" test, but certainly a good option.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about the StepIR's direction switching feature, but their FAQ says it takes about 3 seconds to switch directions, which is too long. But their bi-directional mode might work (much like the W8JK). FAQ: https://consumer.steppir.com/support/faqs/
ReplyDelete73 Bill N2CQR