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I made contact with 19 Japanese stations yesterday afternoon (June 14, 2013) on the 50-MHz (6 meter) band between 2314 and 2356 UTC.  This was my first “JA opening” on 50-MHz in a LONG time; my last Japanese QSOs on 50-MHz were back in the ’90s when we lived in Tiffany, Colorado (grid square DM67), a bit south of our new home in Glade Park, Colorado (grid square DM59pa). During the years we lived in Vermont the furthest west I ever reached on 50-MHz was Guam, a bit short of Japan.

If I’m anywhere near my radio (and sometimes when I’m not – thank you, smartphone) I point a Web browser at the “ON4KST 50 MHz IARU Region 2″ chat page to read late breaking 50-MHz DX related news, spots, rumors and general chatter especially during during times of the year when 50 MHz propagation is known to be possible:

• Around the spring and autumn equinoxes for Trans-Equatorial Propagation (TEP)
• May through the first half of August for the northern hemisphere summer Sporadic-E (Es) season
• A few weeks either side of New Year’s Day for the northern hemisphere winter Es season sometimes with propagation links to the southern hemisphere
• And – if we had more sunspots than Cycle 24 has seen fit thus far to bequeath – the northern hemisphere autumn and winter for F2 propagation

(Of course 50-MHz can open at any time of day and year and much of what happens on “The Magic Band” is poorly understood.  But the periods above are the ‘prime time for six.’)

It all began yesterday afternoon at 2200 UTC (which was 4 pm Colorado time) when Han JE1BMJ, a noted 50-MHz enthusiast and propagation theorist, was reported on 50,090.5 kHz by Jay K0GU on the ‘KST chat which grabbed my attention.  Jay lives in Wellington, Colorado (grid square DN70mq) about 230 miles east of me and is a dedicated, experienced 50-MHz DXer.  Jay hears a lot of stations before any one else in the Rocky Mountain region and his ‘KST posts are always worth noting.  I turned my new 50-MHz antenna (thanks to K7JA for assistance in building and installing this last month and of course G0KSC for the design) towards Japan – 312 degrees azimuth – and started listening.  At 2226 UTC I started hearing Han’s CW (Morse Code) signal slowly fade and out.

When I first attempted to make contact with Han but he was unable to hear my complete callsign and was responding to me as “AA7X” (leaving off the final T, I am AA7XT).  I eventually stopped calling JE1BMJ – I didn’t want to ‘hog the DX’ as Han and other Japanese stations were being heard over much of the US.  For a two-way contact to be considered legitimate in ham radio circles each party must copy correctly the other parties callsign and preferably some other information such as a signal report.

At 2314 I noticed Han’s signal had gotten louder so I called him again and made a solid contact straight away.  Success!  I was amazed my ‘barefoot’ (no amplifier, only 80 Watts output) Elecraft K3 transceiver and InnovAntennas 8 element LFA Yagi (an awesome antenna but it was on a tower parked at only 3 meters [10 feet ]above ground due to recent high winds) were making the 9,000 kilometer journey!  At ten feet up towards Japan my antenna was looking into a hillside!  I listened to Han work other stations for a few few minutes and savored the moment.

Here’s a short YouTube video I made of JE1BMJ’s signal yesterday:

I would have likely made many more contacts if had started calling CQ earlier!  For a long time I was only hearing JE1BMJ so I didn’t bother calling CQ until around a full hour after opening started.  I had an ‘instant pileup’ after first my CQ call; clearly I should have started CQing much earlier – Doh!  I proceeded to work 18 more Japanese stations before the path closed:

UTC	kHz	MODE	CALL	KM	GRID	RST_RCVD	RST_SENT
2356	50,093.0	CW	JA0DET	9079.748	PM97jk	559	559
2355	50,093.0	CW	JA7LGE	9355.597	PM85io	559	529
2350	50,093.0	CW	JA0MVW	9011.677	PM97ox	559	559
2349	50,093.0	CW	JA7DDK	8920.079	QM08dg	599	549
2348	50,093.0	CW	JH1RFR	9063.668	PM96wr	559	559
2346	50,093.0	CW	JN1JFC	9355.597	PM85io	559	549
2345	50,093.0	CW	JQ1TIV	9355.597	PM85io	559	559
2344	50,093.0	CW	JA1UAV	9133.899	PM96ta	559	559
2343	50,093.0	CW	JR2UKF	9351.394	PM85km	559	559
2342	50,093.0	CW	JF2WXS	9355.597	PM85io	559	559
2341	50,093.0	CW	JA7KE	8843.041	QM08pk	559	569
2340	50,093.0	CW	JH1MDJ	9355.597	PM85io	579	559
2339	50,093.0	CW	JA0RUG	9066.984	PM97jo	599	599
2338	50,093.0	CW	JH7FNM	8856.099	QM08ml	579	569
2337	50,093.0	CW	JA7EVP	9355.597	PM85io	599	529
2334	50,093.0	CW	JI1DMH	9150.703	PM96nf	559	549
2331	50,093.0	CW	JH0INP	9155.598	PM96cw	559	559
2329	50,093.0	CW	JA9SJI	9236.878	PM86pp	559	559
2314	50,094.5	CW	JE1BMJ	9355.597	PM85io	559	559

 

Toshi ,JA0RUG, who I worked during this opening, sent me a MP3 recording of my signal as heard in Japan (click on link to listen to the audio):

2013June14-2340z-AA7XT-50.093MHz-CW

Here are the grids I worked during yesterday’s opening:

The first hop was certainly Es as I was hearing loud stations in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia at reasonable Es single distance, but how about the rest of the way?  Han, JE1BMJ, the first station I worked in this opening, has developed a theory on these openings – which cluster around the summer solstice – and he has dubbed the mechanism “Short-path Summer Solstice Propagation” aka SSSP.  Articles on SSSP by JE1BMJ, W3ZZ, WB2AMU and KH6/K6MIO have been published in Dubus, CQ VHF, Six News and elsewhere.  Here are a few links:

• http://www.cq-vhf.com/vhf_highlights/2008_vhf/2008_fall_vhf/Fall08SSP.html
• http://k0ha.com/6m/ExtremeMultihopEsPubv2.pdf
• http://www.uksmg.org/content/g5kw/Short%20Path%20Summer%20Solstice%20Propagation%20bt%20JE1BMJ.pdf

So far, SSSP, if it in fact exists (such mysteries make 50-MHz DXing a fascinating avocation!) seems to be unique to the 50-MHz band.  I look forward to learning more about SSSP as more and more DXers become aware of the mode and watch for it.  Ham Radio is the exception to the ‘watched pot never boils’ rule of thumb.  In DXing, an unwatched band never opens!  One interesting note is that propagation like SSSP frequently repeats itself the next day so you can be sure I will be at my radio this afternoon!

73 and CU on the Magic Band!

Bill AA7XT

 

PS:  Some interesting recordings of 50-MHz DX signals heard in Japan by JE1BMJ can be found here (including yours truly):

http://audioboo.fm/han01a

Bill Hein, AA7XT, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Colorado, USA. He is co-owner of Force 12 and InnovAntennas. Contact him at [email protected].

Over on Twitter, this week, my pal Rachael Lucas, who has recently self-published an amazing successful first novel, drew my attention to some ‘interesting comments’ from the established publishing industry about self-publishing. Let’s just say, the comments weren’t encouraging. They reminded me of music company executives who hadn’t worked out how downloads would revolutionise their industry.

I’d casually wondered about self-publishing before, but I decided to look into what you needed to do to publish your own book. It turns out remarkably simple to get your eBook content onto Amazon. Clearly, you need to write something compelling and to be able to market it. Social Media is your friend, after all.

What does this mean for amateur radio publications? Well, if you’ve an idea and you want to put an eBook together, it’s simple! What does it mean for established publishers such as RSGB and ARRL? Time will tell, but I’d guess they will get squeezed as we see a shift towards self-publishing. That should mean that the breadth of titles available increases – up until now, ARRL/RSGB would presumably only commission titles that were reasonably mainstream. With subject matter experts able to self-publish, it would be good to feel that a wider and more esoteric range is available ( though sales may not be that high!).

For ARRL/RSGB who have traditionally made some money out of publishing, this represents an opportunity (or a threat, depending on your standpoint).

And yes, I have some ideas – I just have to find time to apply brain to keyboard.

Tim Kirby, G4VXE, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Oxfordshire, England. Contact him at [email protected].

I was able to work this new DX country (PZ5RA) on the Northern tip of South America this evening. Suriname is a mere 2,791 miles but was a difficult catch for me. He was listening “up two” and it took me several attempts to work him. Fortunately my friend Eric (AC8LJ) who also lives here in Charleston, worked him just a few moments before me. It gave me a good estimate of where he was listening.

This station in Suriname, makes my 86th DX contact.

John Smithson, Jr., N8ZYA, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from West Virginia, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Inspired by David, KK4MND’s video the other day, I thought it would be fun to see if I could at least listen to the SO-50 satellite with the UV-5R. I realised that I would most likely need a better antenna than the stock antenna which comes with the UV-5R.

Via eBay, I ordered a Nagoya NA-771 dual bander which seems to have quite a good reputation. Having read about ‘counterfeit’ antennas, I wondered what I would get, but at around £8 including shipping from Hong Kong, it would not be the end of the world if it was useless.

The antenna arrived yesterday. Some quick comparisons, inside, on local repeaters were encouraging and signals were better on several UHF repeaters that I listened to with both antennas.

This morning, SO-50 obliged with a nice overhead pass as I was out in the garden, digging out a new vegetable bed. To my delight, signals were quite audible. Rob, M0TFO had a particularly good signal and I also heard an EA7. I’m pretty sure that on a quieter pass, I should be able to make a QSO with the UV-5R.

Of course the Elk antenna is much better – but the simplicity of the UV-5R and the NA-771 is appealing.

Tim Kirby, G4VXE, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Oxfordshire, England. Contact him at [email protected].

Google has announced Project Loon, an experiment to use balloons aloft at about 60,000 feet / 20 km to provide broadband wireless Internet service to the hinterlands.  The Loon moniker is somewhat of an admission that the project is a bit crazy and a play on the word balloon, but it does have a sound technological foundation.  The technology is much cheaper than satellites and naturally easier to launch.

The experiment is beginning this month with the launch of a handful of balloons from New Zealand which will orbit about the 40th parallel and navigate around New Zealand using varying direction and magnitude air currents at various levels.  Beta testers have been selected in New Zealand to try out the system.

The idea of using aircraft to provide wireless services isn’t new, and radio amateurs have been launching experimental balloons with radios for quite awhile although recently there has been an upshot in interest.  Google is known for using open source software and contributing open source technology back to the community.  I’m curious if Google will open source the hardware, perhaps enabling amateur radio to benefit with its own balloon network similar to this someday.  Current typical amateur radio balloon missions last only a few days.  Having several balloons aloft could perhaps be an alternative to satellites which are becoming increasingly expensive and difficult to launch.

The Project Loon site has a nice video detailing the project here.

Anthony, K3NG, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com.

The car with the mono band 30m whip

I have been reading on some blogs how op's have been able to fit in some operating time during lunch hours and been successful at making some contacts. For me lunch time is not an option as I am out and about during the day and no where near my car at the lunch hour....BUT.....I do get into work about an hour or so early and that would be my ideal radio time. I would be operating from around 5:30a.m. for an hour or so. I feel that either 40m or 30m would be my best bet around that time. When in my mobile I use mono band

The mount

Final SWR on 40m

whip antennas. To prepare for my morning mobile operating time I had to tune both my 40m and 30m whip antennas. I took with me my trusty MFJ antenna analyzer and this thing is great as I find I can tune a whip antenna to the lowest SWR on a desired frequency in about 10 minutes.  With the size of my car being very very small (Scion IQ) the ground plane is very small. For this reason I was only able to tune both antennas down to about 2.2.1 and 2.3.1. Thats ok as I do have in the KX3 an antenna tuner that will make the rig see a flat match. It was a nice sunny day with perfect temp's as well for this little project. When I was done and starting to pack up a gentleman came up to me and introduced himself. He saw my license plate (VE3WDM) and connected that call to my blog. He was a ham as well and a reader of my blog.....kinda cool. We had a nice conversation for about 15 minutes exchanging ham talk and he had to get back to eating his lunch and heading back to his job. (as for me I had the day off) I am hoping if the weather is good this coming week that I will get my CW out on 30 and 40m in the early mornings.

Final SWR on 30m

Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

I have been getting a lot of e-mails about the Flight of the Bumblebees, which is understandable, as I managed it two years ago.  However, just a reminder, I am NOT managing it this year.  FOBB belongs to the Adventure Radio Society and falls under the province of Rich Fisher KI6SN.

Rich is a VERY busy man!  He edits and is largely responsible for a lot of the content of WorldRadio and CQ VHF.  So in between running around with his hair on fire trying to meet the deadlines for two very popular publications, he also manages FOBB and the monthly Spartan Sprints. That is a lot to have on your plate!

I would ask for you all to be as patient as possible.  The new edition of QST came out, and sure enough, FOBB is listed in “The Contest Corral” as occurring on July 28th, the last one of July.  I am sure that within the next few weeks (if not sooner), Rich will be making an announcement about FOBB on QRP-L.  My advice to you all is keep your eyes peeled and your stingers sharp.

Speaking of Summer time outdoor QRP operating events – please make sure to keep two others in mind!  The first being “SYBO – Scorch Your Butt Off”, which is being sponsored by Rem K6BBQ.  This is scheduled for Saturday, July 20th.  This is a semi-inaugural event as SYBO is Rem’s current edition of the Bubba event, which went by the wayside.  For all the details, please visit Rem’s SYBO Website by clicking on the contest name in this paragraph.

The second event, of course, is the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt. The Skeeter Hunt will be held on the second Sunday of August – which is the 11th, this year.  You can sign up for a Skeeter number by sending me an e-mail at [email protected].  When you request a Skeeter number, please include your name, call and the state from which you plan to operate.  This years theme is “Bodies of Water” and you can earn bonus points by operating close to a body of water, whether that be a lake, pond, river, brook, ocean, etc.  Rules can be found at the hyperlink above.

Now, the reason that I am bringing up the Skeeter Hunt is that I received an e-mail from someone who informed me in that correspondence that it was his third request for a Skeeter number!  I checked my spam folder and I never found the two initial Skeeter number requests, and that has me a bit concerned.  If you have requested a Skeeter number and haven’t gotten one – it’s not because I have put you on “ignore”.  It’s because I haven’t received your request.  I try my best to respond to all requests as quickly as possible – certainly within 24 hours.

So as a backup – here are three ways to request a number, in order of preference on my part.  If number 1 doesn’t work, try number 2, and then finally number 3.  I’ll get you a Skeeter number if I have to come out to your house and deliver it personally!

Number 1 – send an e-mail to [email protected]
Number 2 – send an e-mail to [email protected] (sometimes the ARRL reports funky things about that arrl.net domain thingy)
Number 3 – Leave a comment on any blog post.  Since comments are on moderation to avoid spam, I have to manually review each one – so that should be a safe “last fallback”.

Last year, we had 123 people sign up for Skeeter numbers, and as of today, number 67 was assigned.  I would like to top last year’s total if at all possible.  Last year over 50 log summaries were sent in and I would like to exceed that, also. The top five scores and the high score for each state/province got a nifty certificate last year, and that will be repeated this year.  And this year, SSB has been added as a category for those of you who prefer not to pound brass.  So there’s truly something for everyone – no reason not to come out, join us and have a blast!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

Larry Makoski, W2LJ, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Jersey, USA. Contact him at [email protected].