We are currently experiencing the most severe solar storm in very many years with HF very badly disturbed. There are auroras expected far further south than normal. This is a result of a CME event on the Sun interacting with the magnetic field of our planet.

If the weather is clear, check for a visual aurora!

It is also worth keeping eyes and ears alert for auroral propagation on 10m, 6m, 4m and 2m. I have in the past worked stations via aurora using QRP SSB and CW with very simple wire antennas on 10m and 6m. As frequency goes down SSB becomes more possible. What may be a very rough hissy CW note on 2m maybe a fairly decent SSB signal on 10m. The 10m and 6m bands are very worth a try when there is an aurora about.

See http://spaceweather.com/ .

Saturday being PI Day 3.14 on the calendar and with still major remnants of cabin fever after what seems to be a very long and never ending winter I decided to head out to a place South of Thunder Bay towards the ON/MN border.

The site is located off of Memory Road and is a slight walk up to the top of the hill and from there is a beautiful look at Pine Bay and Lake Superior.

The wind was quite strong but at 4C and bright sun peeking through the clouds made this outing a great one.  I snowshoed in as the snow was soft but had to take them off when I got to the hill for the last part of the climb to prevent sliding down. Once at the top the view is awesome, there is also a Shrine that was built many years ago now and serves as place for people to go and share some thoughts I guess, as well on the way up are benches for resting with the words, LOVE,HOPE and FAITH on them, As well there are various pictures of Jesus carrying the cross.

I brought my PRC-104 with me and the PRC-74 antenna with counterpoise and figured that since we were in the time frame for both RaDAR and the HFPack roundup on 18157.5 I would call CQ if the band was not busy, I used cw first and was able to work KC5UN, after that I worked WB4ETT on voice. I then tried the other bands but no joy. I then went and checked into the MMN on 20 meters on 14.300 and checked in with NCS.

PRC-74 antenna

PRC-104 Radio

So once again another good day to take the radio out and enjoy the day and just to get out. The video of my outing can be seen on my YouTube Channel at:

I do say Trout Bay in the video but it is Pine Bay, Trout Bay is just a bit further down the road from where I was but is also a bay along the shores of Lake Superior. I thanks all those who listen and work me, and for all the others who enjoy the hobby as much as I do. Portable Ops have really taken the front seat for me and I have no ambition to be cooped up inside the house in a room, but would much rather be outside. The cold I can kinda deal with in my outings, but come summer it brings along the mosquitoes, ticks and blackflies that really have no way to stop or get away from, unless you wait till after 11 PM at night when things cool off and the bugs slow down. But lets see how things work out. See you all down the logbook and have fun. Next RaDAR event is April 4th and I look forward to operating from the same place my winter survival shelter is located near Prince-Jarvis Bay.

73

Fred

VE3FAL

Thunder Bay, Ontario

If proof were needed that we are now on the way down to the next minimum then take a look at the sunspot number graphs at http://www.solen.info/solar/ .

Although conditions are sliding, do not abandon the higher HF bands like 10m. There is (usually) quite a lot of good DX around still. In the last solar minimum I was still able to work well into southern South America on 10m with QRP SSB.  WSPR should be even more reliable when conditions are edgy.

I really do hope a strong core of WSPR operators stick with 10m as, in many ways, in the poorer times are when WSPR will be most valuable as a tool. I am hoping that when not on traditional modes like SSB or CW people will still WSPR so we can catch fleeting openings, which are probably far more common than people expect on 10m. Remember, the F2  or transequatorial propagation has only to go above 28.126MHz for 120 seconds and someone on WSPR may spot it!

AmateurLogic.TV Episode 76 is now available for download.

A simple shutdown switch avoids trashing your Raspberry Pi’s operating system. SSTV from the ISS with Peter. George visits the Orange Texas Hamfest. Modulation on a Scope, viewer emails and more.

1:08:20

Download
YouTube

Courtesy of Wireless Telecom Group, Inc.

Have you ever seen “IP55” or something similar written on the specs of a mobile or handheld radio? Do you know what it means?

“IP” stands for “Ingress Protection” and is a standard promulgated by the International Electrotechnical Commission. It allows you to quantify somewhat nebulous marketing terms like “waterproof,” “water resistant,” “dust resistant,” etc.

The chart above shows how to easily read an IP rating code. The first number denotes the protection against solid objects (think a finger, paperclip through a ventilation hole, or even dust). The second number denotes the liquid protection which can include direct sprays under pressure or even total immersion.

One of the more common ratings we see in portable radios is “IP55” which means that it’s protected against “dust…” and “low pressure jets of water….” Some models like the Wouxun KG-UV3D, KG-UV6D, and KG-UV8D all claim this rating. Other models such as the new AnyTone Tech TERMN-8R claim an “IP53” rating which provides equal dust protection but slightly less water protection. For other radios it’s hard to find an IP rating at all. For example, the Baofeng UV-5R is listed as “IP54” on some Chinese websites but the reliability of that is unknown.

Some uses such as firefighting or military require higher standards because of more extreme environments. For example, Kenwood and Motorola both offer fully submersible models with a rating of “IP67” (dust-tight and immersion to 1m). Ed at Import Communications just announced an upcoming release of the Anytone AT-3140UV which also claims a rating of “IP67.”

Keep in mind that some manufacturers “self-certify” their products rather than submitting them to an outside testing firm. You’ll see specs like “meets IP55 rating” which doesn’t tell you anything about who really did the testing — or whether it actually meets the rating. Caveat emptor!

I was able to get outside Monday March 9th just after 1600z. I was on 18157.5 HFPack frequency using the PRC-104 with the PRC-74 antenna and a 10’7″ counterpoise. The PRc-104 runs 20 watts out on SSB. I also had the KY-116/U key on as well.

I called CQ a few times with no answers, then I heard Paul in CO. W0RW call me after seeing my posting on HFNow. He said my cw cq was a 559 and my SSB signal was a 3×3. We were able to work each other and complete a qso. Paul was a solid 5×9.

I then worked KBOSFP in MO. He was a 5×9 and I was a 5×5.

Then all the way over to Seattle Washington to Byron W7SWC also a 5×9 here in Thunder Bay and I was a 5×4, yet again another great qso.

One of the regulars from the Military Radio Net Paul WB4WCJ also was able to copy me and send me a report, Paul from South Carolina was a 5×5 and I was also a 5×5 but had some fading.

Then just before I was ready to pack things in on this 4c degree day with light snow falling I heard Greg N4KGL in Florida give me a call. Greg is a RaDAR member as well and was operating the AlexLoop with his KX3. He was a 5×5 and I was a 5×3 into Florida.

So it was a great Rapid Deployment Amateur Radio (RaDAR) session by far. I hope to work many more of you while I am portable. I am working on a few more backpack setups for my IC-703 and My KX3 as well.

Here is the link to the video of yesterdays outing.

Once again many thanks to all those who enjoy the hobby, HFNow and GORC for the groups to be able to post such outings. Those who listened but I was not able to work. Gurus and elmers like W0RW, WA3WSJ, wG0AT and others.

This is a great hobby and has so much to offer be it new or old technology, it all is fun and never gets boring.

72/73

Fred

VE3FAL

(The Ice Man)

Thunder Bay,ON EN58hh