Quiet Day Gone to Waste

The quietest radio morning in recorded history and NO one around.  The lightning count this morning was less than 4 per minute and the band was very quiet.  Too quiet as no one was on the radio.  At 12 minutes before my sunrise the Chinese radar came on, very strong, so propagation was good. 

On Tuesday morning the band was very noisy here and everyone was on.  W6UC, W9UCW, K7FX and others were active.  On Wednesday I got up early and nothing.

Happy Birthday to "old man" Barry who is 82 today.

73 & Merry Christmas,

Jay, HP3AK

Late Opening to JA on 80m

 I had a late opening to JA on 3796 KHz this morning.  JK1CBO and JQ2SIX came through beginning at 2 minutes before sunrise (1138Z).  They were peaking at sunrise. Then JH1HDT came through at 5 minutes after my sunrise 58-59.  Tad was still 59 at 14 minutes after my sunrise (1152Z).

Bobby, K7FX has been on again and his verticals are working well.  W9UCW and his wife Linda, W5TRV have been on some mornings.  It is very early in TX but I hope to hear them more often.  We were even honored by a visit from "Dr. DX", W6UC a few mornings ago.

Happy Holidays to all.

73, Jay, HP3AK "Real DX"

New DX on 3796 KHz

 If you are not on the air then you miss the DX!  I was pleasantly surprised this morning when Setsu, JL1UXH returned to my CQ DX on 3796.  It was about 7 minutes before my sunrise (1126Z) and he was 59 with light QRN.  I talked with our old friend Taka, JQ2SIX at 1115Z.

Linda, W5TRV, is doing her best to get Barry, W9UCW up and to the radio in the early morning in Texas.  So far, it is not working very well.

I have been trying to fix an old Ameritron AL-1200 amp that a friend wants to sell.  After about 10 miscellaneous repairs it appears that the tube is soft.  Only about 1,200 watts out for 100 watts drive on most bands.  He is moving back to Canada and it is impractical to ship the amp back to the U.S. or Canada.

So I am looking for a good used 3CX1200A7 tube for a decent price. So far, no luck.

73 from Panama

Jay, HP3AK