80 meters in the morning seems for this Mid-Westerner has become a different band this year. I have heard a couple of the Big Gun JAs but could not work them. VK/ZL are rare this year. OH was on this morning almost readable at sunrise but KE9L could not raise him. Several DXers stop by to visit the 80 meter DX window but don't stay long or come back often. The East coast guys at 3793 are having a similar experience.
And with the Chinese Radar continues to win the day blanking out most JAs and other Asian DXers.
The bands are a changing at least for me. I like working 40 meters in the evening however most times there is not much DX in the evening. ZS6CCY Bill is a fixture on 40 phone and is strong but he is almost the only game in town most evenings.
Lately 40 has opened to Europe in the afternoon starting around 1pm Central Time and ending by dinner time. Good and even some rare DX have been spotted and worked on both Phone and CW. I do really like my (new to me) Rotatable Dipole. It is a quiet antenna and really offers a great option over the Hytower which has always been a good antenna on 40 meters. Only a few of the big gun EUs working in the US at our sunset in the evening. Better days ahead.
My Ft-2000 is still in the shop. It is still a mystery as to what happened. I was under the impression that I may have gotten too much RF into the receiver. It seems that it is a control board issue which is not close to a receiver input so the hunt for the fix continues. So maybe I did not do it. LOL
We are at a time in the year where our sunrise is about an hours and a half before panama so Jay is in and gone before Texas and Illinois have any impact from the suns power. Global Warming impact?? I believe the impending sunspot minimum is the larger issue on the weather changes as well how are bands are acting.
And lastly I think that the age of this group of DXers has an impact on our ability to remember what that last sunspot minimum looked like. Just saying! And I resemble that remark.
Best 73
Stay Thirsty My Friends
W9MK
1 comment:
Mike, I was going to comment but I forgot what I was going to say. ;-) I second some of your comments, third some, and am still scratching my head about others.
BTW ---The last minimum could not have been too bad as I worked the 3Y0X DXpedition on Peter I Island on 75m SSB from Tennessee -- as well as on 40, 20, 15 & 10 meters! I was also working a lot of DX on 75m SSB from Panama beginning at the end of 2007 and through the absolute minimum in 2008-9.
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