Old Friends and more

This morning I caught my old friend Elvin, JA3CZY on 40m at 1120Z. He was 30 / 9 in Panama!  Elvin lost all of his antennas in super typhoon Jebi in September 2018 and just got the big, rooftop system rebuilt completely. It was great to hear him again.  I alerted Mike, W9MK and Elvin was 10 /9 in the North Land.

I checked 75m & 160m at 0500Z today.  A couple of European stations on 75m SSB and a few on 160m FT8.  I worked 10 stations on 160 and 10 on 75m FT8 before going back to bed at 0615.  I am up to 85 "countries" worked on 160m, thanks to FT8 ... since my last CW contact was in 1958.  );-())

JQ2SIX has been around S7 at my sunrise on 3796.  Weak for me ... the new "normal" I guess.  LU6FL, Coco, was loud on 3799 at 1025Z on the 2nd and the VK/ZL morning path has been fair, off & on.

73 & good DX!  Jay, HP3AK

Weak DX & "Strange Day" Longpath

A little weak DX from ZL2XC, VK3ATO, and JQ2SIX this morning.  W9UCW was in a vortex with VK / ZL coming from the southeast (longpath).  He did copy JA well.  

W6UC came on with his rebuilt Heil microphone sounding good.  W9MK was also present. (K7FX was lurking, but not heard from.)

Better conditions are "just around the corner", or so I'm told.

73, Jay, HP3AK

75m SSB & 160m FT8 Openings ... some

Well, first I am still alive and well at 79 years plus a couple of months.  Being alive seems to be the prime requirement to participate in "amateur" radio.

On March 22 at 1139Z I got a nice surprise when H44MS, Bernhard, gave me a call on 3.796.  He worked a few others after that.  I had worked him several times over the years, but the last previous contact was 4/23/2017.

I have been awake during the late evening hours the past couple of nights and have made some decent contacts. On March 27, from 0530Z until 0552Z, I worked 10 European stations on 3.799.  Several were well over S9, with the strongest at 15 / 9. Of course there were the usual 2 or 3 that were too weak to copy.

On March 28, from 0433Z until 0522Z, I worked 27 European stations on 160m FT8.  Many of them were new countries on 160m. 

75m morning DX has been poor to weak to not-even-there for the past season.  A few decent openings to JA and a few more to ZL / VK, but mostly very weak signals.

The old regular group has become the "irregulars", with W6UC, W9MK, and W9UCW showing up at times.  K7FX is usually lurking, but playing with his new computer.  JQ2SIX is still on 3.796 in the mornings and gives us a beacon from JA.

73 & be safe and well.  Jay, HP3AK

Monday - 18 November 2019

Sunrise surprise!  Kazu, JA4HCG was still coming in 58 at 25 minutes after sunrise.  He gave me a 59 which was even more surprising so late in my day.  The guys that were here working the CQ WW SSB contest reported some late 75m DX three weeks ago...so you never know!

I could still hear Kazu talking 45 minutes after sunrise.  Strange is normal on 75m.  de HP3AK, 73

Tuesday 12 Nov 2019

You snooze, you loose!  75 m is still poor and noisy part of the time.  However, this morning and a couple of mornings the past week it has been relatively quiet and open to VK & JA.  I worked Peter, VK6APZ before his sunset today 57-58, and Kazu, JA4HCG at sunrise yesterday.  I was 37 with Kazu at 2 min. before my sunrise and 59 three min. later!

Some DX Activity

Sunday, 10-20-19 --
Well, some DX recently. VK9NC (Norfolk Is.) on 3799 this morning and VK9NE yesterday on 40 and a couple of days ago on 75m.  Rare TX station, W9UCW was heard on 75m this am.
On 10-7 worked ZK3A (Tokelau Is.) on 75 ssb. 10-4 worked ZK3A on 160m FT8 (still the joyless mode).
So beginning to get a little activity and interest....stay tuned.

He's baaack ...almost!

Sunday, July 7, 2019
Well, Barry, W9UCW is back on 3796 ... sometimes.  He has been around mostly on the days when there is no DX.  Wait ... that's most days!  We can depend on Bobby, K7FX to show up and Phil, W6UC has been on the band more lately.

Now if we could just get some DX interested.  ZL1ICU has been heard on 3796 calling CQ DX, but he is very weak and he apparently receives the same.  Some of our old JA friends show up from time to time, and a few VK / ZL regulars, but generally it is quiet in the Pacific in the mornings. There has also been some activity by the LU stations on 3799, but not strong here.

I do not generally get on the band in the evenings for 3 good reasons:  

1.  I am usually headed off to bed by an hour after my sunset  
2.  I don't want to have to compete with the long-winded and persistent big guns on the East Coast
3.  Most of the Europeans are working in groups and usually have several stations that are too weak to hear through the QRN --- just too difficult

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  I'll see you on 3796 if you have "leather eardrums" and unlimited patience.

73, HP3AK "Real DX"

Heard from W9UCW

I got a brief email from Barry, W9UCW today.  He has been listening some of late but not heard much.  No surprise, as there has been a dearth of activity on 75m SSB for months.

I have been sick with a bad chest cold for 3-1/2 weeks and sleeping in, when I can sleep at all.  I did manage to work one or two JA stations on 160m FT8 at my sunrise a few days ago.

I will be back at my post, calling and listening on 3.796 in the early mornings as soon as I feel better.  73 all....

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!

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!

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.

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.