160m band is bloody hard work!

Where do we start? An acre block? A tall tower? Countless radials? More room for beverages?

And worst of all – if that wasn’t enough – in the Southern Hemisphere, the top band season is summer.

Welcome to the world of noise fighters, QRN aficionados and insomniacs.

Commonly known as the gentleman’s band, 160m is still the final frontier of ham radio. Actually, it has been the final frontier for the past 100 years. There are not many amateurs who can afford the required real-estate nor have the determination to fight the noise, season after season.

Adrian, VK2WF from Talong in New South Wales is a top band beacon. I hear him almost every night calling DX – and working them too. He is not just loud enough, but Adrian can hear well. Hearing well is probably more important than being loud. There is no secret to what works on 160m: a tall vertical antenna for transmitting, and a separate receiving antenna system. Which one to get is really a matter of space.

Beverage preferred, but there are numerous other options: small rotary loops, short phased verticals, EWE, switchable loop, to mention just a few popular solutions.

VK2WFs transmitting antenna is a Moonraker 150.

“It took me 3 months of hard work to get it installed and up and running. Set on a 2.5 acre plot, it is 15m high with a 5.2m diameter capacity hat and a top loading inductor. Grounding includes 80 radials. It is fed with 60m of underground LDF 4-50 hardline coax” – said Adrian.

On the receiving end, he has an EWE antenna, switchable in four directions. The following video gives a station overview, definitely worth watching.

Success on 160m is not a matter of luck – it is a matter of hard work.

And look at this beauty: a confirmation of two way contact with Greenland! This is an amazingly difficult path from NSW on literally any HF band, let alone on 160m. Well done Adrian!

I’ve been on top band for just one season and my DXCC total is 45 countries worked. The transmitting antenna is an inverted L suspended from a 40m tall Norfolk pine tree with sixteen 40m long radials. It took me few months to clear the bush on a very steep slope, and find a local man capable of climbing the tree. This hilltop location has plenty of potential, but the next step is to install a dedicated receiving antenna.

Unfortunately the wire is barely visible, so use your imagination.