NMAC BTWN A PIPER PA28 TURNING BASE TO FINAL AT A NON TWR ARPT AND A C172 ON INITIAL CLB AFTER TKOF FROM THE OPPOSITE END OF THE RWY.

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USING PA AND HAND MIKE; NOT NORMAL FOR MY FLYING; USUALLY USE HEADSET AND MIKE BUTTON ON YOKE. WAS USING PA SO THAT MY PAX CAN HEAR WHAT WAS GOING ON AND WE COULD CONVERSE AS NEEDED. STROBE AND NAV LIGHTS ON. LNDG LIGHTS TURNED ON DURING DOWNWIND. INBOUND I WAS LISTENING TO 122.80; HEARING OTHER TFC BUT NOT TOO OFTEN (NO SURPRISE FOR THIS TIME OF NIGHT). ABOUT 14 MI OUT (AS PER GPS) SWITCHED TO 123.00. LISTENED FOR FEW SECONDS; HEARD NOTHING; SO MADE A 13 MI OUT CALL FOR SCHAUMBURG ASKING FOR ANY TFC; HEARD NOTHING. MADE AN 8 MI POS ONLY CALL (DID NOT REQUEST TFC AGAIN). MADE A 2 MI CALL; SAYING I WOULD BE ENTERING XWIND FOR RWY 11 (WINDS FROM DPA 180 DEGS AT 8 KTS; SO RWY 11 WOULD BE THE PREFERRED RWY). ENTERED XWIND; HOWEVER; STAYED AT 1700 FT SO I COULD OBSERVE WINDSOCKS SINCE WINDS HAD BEEN LIGHT AND VARIABLE ALL DAY. 2 OR 3 WINDSOCKS SHOWED A DIRECT XWIND; COULD NOT SEE THIRD. REDUCED TO 1600 FT AND ENTERED DOWNWIND FOR RWY 11; MADE RADIO CALL MIDFIELD. STILL RADIO ACTIVITY; BUT SINCE I ALSO DID NOT SEE ANYONE AND THE FBO WAS CLOSED; THIS WAS NO SURPRISE. SLOWED; FLAPS. MADE TURN TO BASE; MADE CALL; SECOND FLAPS. MADE TURN TO FINAL. THAT'S WHEN I SAW XX ON WHAT LOOKED LIKE HIS TKOF. XX VEERED LAND UP; I VEERED L AND DOWN (I WAS ON BASE FOR RWY 11; HE WAS ON UPWIND RWY 29). THIS REACTION PUT MAX DISTANCE BTWN US. THERE WAS MAYBE 300 FT BTWN US AT THAT POINT. I CRANKED MY RADIO TO MAX VOLUME; WONDERING WHY I HADN'T HEARD THE OTHER GUY IN THE PATTERN AND THINKING MY VOLUME MIGHT BE TOO LOW AND THAT'S WHEN I HEARD HIS RADIO CALLS. XX SAID RWY 29 WAS ACTIVE; AND WAS OBVIOUSLY NOT TOO HAPPY. I INITIATED A GAR. SINCE XX WAS CONTINUING A DOWNWIND I WAS ON THE INSIDE TO HIM AND RWY; I MADE THE CALL TELLING XX I'D DO ANOTHER LAP AND THEY COULD LAND AHEAD (SINCE I WAS JUST 1/8 MI TO THE R OF THE FIELD AND HE WAS IN THE PATTERN; BY THE TIME I POSITIONED PROPERLY ONTO RWY 29 DOWNWIND; WE'D BE TOO CLOSE). AT THIS POINT WE HEARD XXX CALL FROM 5 MI OUT. XX LANDED; I COMPLETED THE FULL PATTERN; AND LANDED; AND XXX CAME LAST AND LANDED AFTER. ON THE GND; I SPOKE WITH XX AND HE SAID WE HAD 2 CLOSE CALLS -- FIRST WAS WHEN I WAS ENTERING ON THE XWIND FOR RWY 11; HE WAS AT 1600 FT I WAS AT 1700 FT. I DID NOT SEE OR HEAR FROM HIM AT THAT POINT. I CONTINUED THE PATTERN AND I CAN ONLY ASSUME HE DID A TOUCH-AND-GO; OR A GAR ON RWY 29. THEN AS I CONTINUED ON MY 11 PATTERN; WE HAD A SECOND ISSUE ON HIS UPWIND 29; MY FINAL 11 -- THIS ONE WHICH I SAW. I AM GUESSING THE FOLLOWING FACTORS CONTRIBUTED TO HSI; 1) MY RADIO MUST HAVE BEEN DOWN TOO LOW FOR 123.00. NO OTHER EXPLANATION I CAN THINK OF EXCEPT HARDWARE FAILURE; AND SINCE THE RADIO WAS WORKING LATER; SO IT IS MORE LIKELY USER ERROR THAT IT WAS DOWN TOO LOW. IT WAS A TAD SHY OF '12' ON THE SETTING; WHICH IS USUALLY PLENTY LOUD ENOUGH; BUT NOT IN THIS CASE. 2) SINCE XXX WAS A LOW WING AND XX A HIGH WING; SINCE XX IS ABOVE XX I COULD NOT SEE HIM IF HE WAS RIGHT BELOW ME. 3) THE FACT THAT THE LIGHT WAS FADING REDUCED VISIBILITY SOMEWHAT; I DO NOT KNOW IF XX'S LIGHTS WERE ON OR NOT. I ASSUME THEY WERE; BUT UNTIL FINAL; I DID NOT SEE HIM OR HEAR FROM HIM. 4) THE PLT OF XX CLAIMED THAT HE RESPONDED TO MY CALL AT 13 MI OUT; ADVISING RWY 29 BEING ACTIVE. ALSO CLAIMS HE DID NOT HEAR MY 8 MI CALL. HOWEVER; I BELIEVE HE SAID HE HEARD THE REST OF THE CALLS. ONCE HE RECOGNIZED THAT I WAS UNABLE TO RECEIVE HIM; HE DID NOT TAKE ANY CORRECTIVE ACTION TO AVOID ME. MY INTENT WAS CLR FROM MY CALLS; AND EVEN IF HE THOUGHT MY ACTIONS WERE INCORRECT (USING RWY 11 VERSUS RWY 29) HE WOULD KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING AND SHOULD HAVE TAKEN CORRECTIVE ACTION TO AVOID ME SINCE HE COULD ANTICIPATE WHAT I WAS GOING TO DO (AND WAS DOING; I WAS CONSISTENT ON THE PLAN FOR RWY 11 ALL THE WAY UNTIL I TURNED FINAL). 5) EVEN THOUGH IT WAS NOT YET OFFICIALLY SUNSET; THE CLOUDS IN THE DISTANCE WERE MAKING IT DARK PREMATURELY. THIS COULD HAVE LED TO EVERYONE NOT PAYING AS MUCH ATTN AND MADE VISIBILITY A CHALLENGE.