DX and long distance contacts.

CQ DX...CQ DX...

Long Distance Contacts, Skip Talking.

Firstly lets start with the disclaimer.

This page is being written and produced from inside the United Kingdom and at this moment in time, Owning, Installing and Using a Side Band Radio to Transmit on is Illegal . The Creator of this page in NO WAY Endorses or Promotes the use of Single Side Band Radio's, or any other Transmitting equipment that contravenes the liscensing conditions currently set out by the Radio Liscencing Authority in the U.K.

The average contact that can be made with comfort over a CB Radio is around 15 Miles, this is affected by geographical conditions, Radio Eqpt. Antennas, Power etc. although this should be no more than 4 watts ERP.
This range can be increased by your signal reflecting down from the Ionosphere, this is a layer of particles surrounding the earth. The main layers concerning the Radio user are the " E " region and the " D " region. When your transmitter is activated radio waves radiate in all different directions including upwards, these waves reach the Ionosphere and usually pass straight through, unless conditions are right, then the signal will be reflected back down to earth some times many thousands of miles away, this happens in the E region, signals which reflect from the D region usually land shorter, perhaps a couple of hundred miles which is great for working inside Europe.
These conditions exist on SSB but also on FM which, if you are not using any kind of amplifier, makes it perfectly legal for you to try and talk as far as possible, there are usually stations from Europe who wait for calls on 27.315Mhz and 27.325Mhz. channels 31 and 32 on UK Mid Band, if you put a call out on these channels, usually during the daytime, you will get a reply and a QSO and don't forget to ask if they QSL it can be interesting to collect cards from as far afield as possible.
You can make your own call sign, start it with 26 if you are in England, see Prefix List , your initials GB etc. then a random number. So your home made call sign would be 26 GB 001.
Or join a DX club there are many up and down the country, for your membership fee you will receive a club Call sign, a P.O.Box number you can use for QSL cards, some QSL Cards, and various other bit and pieces which promote the club and its ideas.

SSB (Single Side Band) The more advanced radios have three other modes of transmission AM, USB, LSB. all of which are currently illegal in the UK but not in other parts of the world. Under the 11 sunspot cycle, of which 2000 is a high activity year, stations from all over the world, USA, Australia, South America, New Zealand, can be heard regularly and without much effort. These are best heard on SSB, Upper or Lower, both are used, 27.555Mhz USB and 26.285Mhz USB are the main international calling channels and are usually buzzing with activity during the day especially during the summer months when the Ionosphere is most highly charged.
You can also, under good lift conditions, here stations talking locally in the USA our Mid Band channel 19 corresponds with the US main breaking channel and it is not uncommon to here the occasional "10-4 Rubber Duck" or "Shepherd to Lost Sheep" in that unmistakable Mid Western accent we are used to on Convoy etc.
Back to the technical bit Side Band uses the frequencies slightly off centre of the normal AM channel, and also the Carrier Wave used to transmit the modulated information on AM is done away with, the carrier is only used when power is sent through the addition of speech, thus when there is no speech, there is no signal and no power being used, this also means there is more power for transmission usually 12 watts from a 4 watt radio.
Also the receiving radio must use a BFO (Beat Frequency Oscillator) to be able to de-modulate the received transmission and make sense of it, with out this the signal being heard would be totally unintelligible. Other names for the BFO are RIT, Clarifier or KC Shift.

Making The Call There are lots of different variations on the CQ call really it is up to personal preference, and a case of developing a technique that you are comfortable with. This call would usually be made on the calling channel.
This is the general call:-
"CQ DX, CQ DX, this is station ( Your call sign ), repeat call sign in (Your QTH ) calling CQ DX and standing by, on frequency 27.xxx Mhz please QSY to 27.xxx mhz QRZ and Standing by."
When you arrive at your chosen frequency repeat the first part of this call and then listen on the frequency for any replies.
When the bands are busy it is better to listen on different channels until you find a clear one then transmit this frequency at the end of the CQ call.
The call with all the gaps filled in, to give you a bit of an idea how it sounds:-
"Hello CQ DX, CQ DX, this is station 26 CB 03, 26 CB 03 in Manchester, North West, England calling DX and standing by on 27.560, please QSY to 27.560, I am QRZ and standing by."

CODES The basic codes used are the Phonetic Alphabet, this is a must to convey information clearly, when exchanging QSL Cards it is standard practice to spell each word of your co-ordinates (twice) slowly to make sure the correct details are given. Take your time the station on the other end wants to confirm the contact as much as you do. If you have an E-Mail address spell that out too and jazz up your E-Mail with a picture of your shack, or some one else's if yours is no good, but make it interesting.
You may also come across " Q Codes " while DX'ing you are better of familiarizing yourself with the basic ones QSY, QTH etc.

Signal Meter readings (R, S, T) codes
Legal UK CB Frequencies
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