MUF - Sunlight
Sunday, August 26, 2018
Good News - Bad News
26 August 2018 -- 75 m was dead, dead, dead for short skip until 1 1/2 hours after sunrise. I did manage to work ZL2OK/P on 160 m SSB yesterday morning at 1122Z. My static level was very high, as usual, and he was 37 on the Waller Flag which is optimized for the CW end of 160. Dave gave me a 56 using my 65 ft. vertical & 1 kw. I don't see much DX activity on any of the bands....73 and good DX!
Saturday, June 16, 2018
ZL Back to Normal, JA Not!
June 16, 2018 -- ZL2OK & ZL1IU both in at 10/9 this morning. Abe, JA1MSS about 3x4 at 30 min. before sunrise. Shameful China radar was readable also... congratulations!
Monday, April 2, 2018
Room for Improvement
Monday, April 2, 2018 -- The low bands certainly leave room for improvement. The JA broadcast station at 3925 kHz was better than 10/9 this morning. I still could not copy Hat, JA6BJT at 20 min. before my sunrise. I did hear Abe, JA1MSS 58 at 2 min. past sunrise. Yesterday Dave, ZL2OK/P was 58 just before sunrise; however, he is usually 10/9 from the beach. More & more activity is shifting to FT8 digital mode ... the "joyless" way of computers talking to each other via radio, instead of the Internet.
Monday, April 9 -- Heard Abe, JA1MSS strong at 1054Z but he did not hear me calling. Maybe the radar was beaming his way. The band was unusually quiet, but no DX present.
Tuesday, April 10 -- Band strong, but heavy QRN in Panama, 20/9 crashes. I did manage to work JQ2SIX, JA1MSS, and JH4CES with good reports for me...terrible reports for them due to noise.
Monday, April 9 -- Heard Abe, JA1MSS strong at 1054Z but he did not hear me calling. Maybe the radar was beaming his way. The band was unusually quiet, but no DX present.
Tuesday, April 10 -- Band strong, but heavy QRN in Panama, 20/9 crashes. I did manage to work JQ2SIX, JA1MSS, and JH4CES with good reports for me...terrible reports for them due to noise.
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
Antenna Work & FT8
3/7/2018 -- A good week to work on antennas. 75m band has been weak to missing and the shameful Chinese RADAR has been all over the DX Window. I have the 160m vertical working at HP3AK and I have been on FT8 a bit. I like to talk with people, even if briefly, so for me FT8 is the "joyless" mode. It proves that my computer can talk to your computer, via radio. Wouldn't the Internet be easier? My new, 70 ft. crank-up tower is ready to tilt up as soon as coax, control cables, and the SteppIR beam are installed. I would be waiting one more week anyway for a full 30 day cure on the base, so no rush.
Monday, January 15, 2018
Hope Springs Eternal
1-15-18 -- Band was blah. Worked a few U.S. stations and JA1MSS at my sunrise 56/57.
1-28-18 -- ssssssshhu! (sound of the last air being let out of 75m DX in the mornings)
2-3-18 -- Finally, some DX not from JA that I could hear. Phil and I worked Graham, VK3GA at 20 min. before sunrise. No radar, but could not copy other VK3 at sunrise. Abe, JA1MSS surprised me with a 59 signal at 5 min. after sunrise...the best signal from him in many weeks.
2-10-18 -- Same o, same o; JA1MSS was the only DX and my path to JA was weeeak! 3x7 both ways. No propagation and apparently no interest by DX stations.
2/11/18 -- JA path is gone in HP!
2/12/18 -- SAD conditions!
2/13/18 -- Finally! A decent path to Peter, VK6APZ just after his sundown and 20 minutes before my sunrise. 5x8 both ways.
2/15/18 -- Hot path to JA this morning. Several stations at 10/9 before sunrise. First real opening to JA in weeks!
2-19-18 -- Back to very poor conditions. JA1MSS 3x6 /3x6 at my sunrise. Abe was weaker with Barry in TX as well.
2-21-18 -- Really poor conditions plus heavy QRN from a line of storms from TX to Quebec. JA1MSS very weak in my noise at 5 min. after sunrise (peak).
2-23-18 -- RADAR loud...'shame' of China
2-24-18 -- Poor band..JA1MSS 47/47 @ 5 min after sunsrise.
1-28-18 -- ssssssshhu! (sound of the last air being let out of 75m DX in the mornings)
2-3-18 -- Finally, some DX not from JA that I could hear. Phil and I worked Graham, VK3GA at 20 min. before sunrise. No radar, but could not copy other VK3 at sunrise. Abe, JA1MSS surprised me with a 59 signal at 5 min. after sunrise...the best signal from him in many weeks.
2-10-18 -- Same o, same o; JA1MSS was the only DX and my path to JA was weeeak! 3x7 both ways. No propagation and apparently no interest by DX stations.
2/11/18 -- JA path is gone in HP!
2/12/18 -- SAD conditions!
2/13/18 -- Finally! A decent path to Peter, VK6APZ just after his sundown and 20 minutes before my sunrise. 5x8 both ways.
2/15/18 -- Hot path to JA this morning. Several stations at 10/9 before sunrise. First real opening to JA in weeks!
2-19-18 -- Back to very poor conditions. JA1MSS 3x6 /3x6 at my sunrise. Abe was weaker with Barry in TX as well.
2-21-18 -- Really poor conditions plus heavy QRN from a line of storms from TX to Quebec. JA1MSS very weak in my noise at 5 min. after sunrise (peak).
2-23-18 -- RADAR loud...'shame' of China
2-24-18 -- Poor band..JA1MSS 47/47 @ 5 min after sunsrise.
Monday, January 8, 2018
Missing DX Stations
1-8-2018 -- Where have all of the DX stations gone? The last 2 mornings have been a total washout. It is truly ironic that the only 2 new DX stations that I have worked in several weeks were both BH4 stations from China ... the land of the evening OTH Radar! (Early morning in Panama and the U.S.) I do believe that the #$%^&! Chinese have ruined the 75m DX Window from 1000 - 1200Z or later every day!!! Poor Abe, JA1MSS, tries but cannot copy much due to the *&^%$# radar. I guess that the only solution is to get Trump to tweet about it.
1-9-18 -- No radar, but no one trying...until after my sunrise.
1-10-18 -- Abe worked Phil & Barry, but only 2 x ESP with me.
1-11-18 -- No DX except Abe working Phil. However, there was ENTERTAINMENT in the form of sniping on the DX cluster by people who should know better. It looked like a "tweet storm" from the 'child-in-charge'. Personally, I would need a much stronger signal to see anything outside of the 3 kHz normal bandwidth. One advantage of an SDR receiver is that it does not show trash if it is not present...unless of course the ADC is overloaded. That takes something like -23 dBm (50/S9) and shows as a warning in the rx window. Then it is simple enough to add attenuation before the rx antenna input (not in the later stages).
1-12-18 -- RADAR
1-13-18 -- No radar, band open, worked 2 JA & heard DS3EXX, but he had QRM from YB calling "contest". *&%^$#@!
1-9-18 -- No radar, but no one trying...until after my sunrise.
1-10-18 -- Abe worked Phil & Barry, but only 2 x ESP with me.
1-11-18 -- No DX except Abe working Phil. However, there was ENTERTAINMENT in the form of sniping on the DX cluster by people who should know better. It looked like a "tweet storm" from the 'child-in-charge'. Personally, I would need a much stronger signal to see anything outside of the 3 kHz normal bandwidth. One advantage of an SDR receiver is that it does not show trash if it is not present...unless of course the ADC is overloaded. That takes something like -23 dBm (50/S9) and shows as a warning in the rx window. Then it is simple enough to add attenuation before the rx antenna input (not in the later stages).
1-12-18 -- RADAR
1-13-18 -- No radar, band open, worked 2 JA & heard DS3EXX, but he had QRM from YB calling "contest". *&%^$#@!
Monday, January 1, 2018
Happy New Year to All!
1-1-2018 -- It took the "sunrise" bump of 2-3 dB and the help of patient friends who stood by for almost 10 minutes, but I was able to work BH4SYG @ 3x3 both ways. I suspect that he was hearing me better than that, as he had been patiently trying for the contact for 20 minutes. NOW (2nd 80m contact) HRD logbook shows that I have worked China on 80.
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