AmateurRadio.com

As seen on QRP-L this morning, by Paul NA5N:

Solar flares and a heads up

Gang,
Ole Sol has awoken with three large flares in the past 18 hours, an M3, M6 and an X1.  There may be more to come.  The active solar region is in the center of the sun, looking right at us, meaning any CMEs (and future flares/CMEs) will most likely deliver a shock wave to planet Earth on Friday and/or Saturday with some geomagnetic storming.

But more exciting is how these flares have gushed waves of ionizing radiation into our ionosphere. The average solar flux for the past 90 days has been a count of 150.  Today’s flares increased the solar flux to *237*, though short lived as local sunset occurred not long after in North America with EU already in the dark.

However, the prediction for the next two days is a solar flux of 195.  This is about the highest it has been this solar cycle and sufficient for 10M openings in local daylight hours.  So for those of you snow bound, freezing your coax off and otherwise bored Wednesday in the Eastern U.S., turn on that rig during daylight hours and enjoy some very likely good conditions from 20-10M.  Daytime conditions should be very favorable until late Friday, when the shock wave from the X1 flare is expected to arrive.  The CME left the sun at about 1,100 km/sec – a pretty decent shock wave.  NOAA is predicting a moderate geomagnetic storm, but it could get worse, though short lived.

These favorable conditions apply to all areas, Europe, the Americas, Asia, Australia, etc. during daylight hours.  The proton count is also fairly high, meaning signals may be very attenuated in the polar latitudes and causing some fading (QSB) in the middle latitudes.  If the proton count remains high and the CMEs hit Friday night, it could mean some impressive northern lights, perhaps extending into the northern tier of U.S. states or northern EU (depending on when it hits).

If you’re new to ham radio or QRP, check out 15M and 10M next couple of days.  If those bands are open and the solar flux indeed comes in around 190-200, you should be able to easily work some nice DX with your 5 watts.  This is the first such opportunity I have seen in a long time.  Unfortunately, I will be at work tomorrow, installing some experimental 74 and 300 MHz receivers onto some VLA antennas.  Maybe I can sneak my 817 into one of the tool bags?

Let us know if you snag any good catches, or how conditions sound at your QTH. The way I figure it for right now … turning on your 100W coffee pot and 500W shack heater to get your 5W on the air will be worth it -hi.

GL to all.
72, Paul

Current solar and geophysical conditions are always here:
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/today.html
or … http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/SWN/index.html

Alerts and warning here:
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/alerts/warnings_timeline.html

And, current solar flux values here:
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/ftpdir/latest/curind.txt
-1 means no data or the station is currently “in the dark”

Good news! Too bad I am stuck here at work!

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].

A view of Lake Ontario from the balcony

It's not news to anyone in North America that the temperatures sure have taken a dip whether you are in Canada or the south U.S. I was reading today that down in Myrtle Beach it was -4C, on the weekend the Green Bay Packers fans were freezing with the very low temps! This evening out this way with the wind chill it is suppose to hit close to -40C. By way of ham radio I am in the process of trying to Macgyver (referencing a TV show called Macgyver}something for the Alexloop to sit in the horizontal position on the tripod. This is only until the MFJ 1788 loop arrives. On Sunday I did manage to get the Alexloop on the balcony in the horizontal position.......for some reason that just does not sound right.......anyway I was able to get out on 40m but nothing on 20m. It was late in the evening and I was happy with getting some spots on 40m. It was a very short effort as the antenna was in a make shift setup for horizontal polarization...now that sounds better. For all you in North America stay warm and as for Europe I have been speaking with some of my blog bud's over there and the temps in some areas are balmy so enjoy those temps.
 
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

It was another very cold morning when I arose today with the temperature around -17 (C) . It actually dropped down to -20 (C)   last night. I had no desire to get outdoors for anything; so my morning routine was much like yesterday.

My radio contacts this morning were much like yesterday too. The contacts were difficult today but I still managed to work another five DX stations.

Although I’ve worked 12 stations in Denmark now, OZ1AAR, on 12 meters, was my first “OZ1″ Station in that country.

Also like yesterday, I moved along the bands as they drifted, and soon worked KP4ED, in Puerto Rico, on 15 meters. He was searching for SKCC members and we exchanged club numbers. His is # 6589 and mine is #4525.

I found 17 meters open this morning and worked the rest of my stations on this band.

Steve (G3VMW) was in England. He is my 8th G3 station now among 21 contacts into that country. I worked a German station (DL1DGS) who was the 4th “DL1″ station of 47 contacts now in that country. Last but not least, I worked the Italian station IK3VUT for the 4th time now. He was the 39th contact I’ve worked in Italy.

Tomorrow morning our WV Chapter of the NAQCC Club will have breakfast in Charleston at 8:30 am so I will “miss the window” for most DX stations. I’ll look forward to working some local radio people.

I made a comment in yesterdays post about being “Back in the Saddle Again” which made me think of a neat QRP station I worked several days ago.
                                   
 This  QRP station in the state of Utah (K7JHM) fit’s that description perfectly!

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

I like to play with new radios and own a small collection of Wouxun and Baofeng models. After my recent issues with my Wouxun HTs, I’ve been looking at trying the new AnyTone AT-3318. Has anyone here had a chance to use one?  If you get a chance to use one, come back and leave a comment to share your thoughts about it.

The specs look promising and the price is competitive ($99.00).

• 5 Watts VHF
• 4 Watts UHF
• RX & TX 136-174 MHz & 420-520 MHz
• RX FM Broadcast 79-108 MHz
• Wide Band & Narrow Band
• 2.5 kHz tuning step for splinter frequencies
• 5/Tone encode and decode
• 199 Channels with Alpha Tags
• Squelch level adjustable for each channel
• Squelch tail elimination
• CTCSS that really works – when scanning channels, radio will stop ONLY when CTCSS tone is present
• VFO Scanning – frequency limits can be set for both VHF & UHF
• Channel Scanning – scanned channels can be ADDED or REMOVED via the keypad
• Frequency Reverse button – exchanges TX & RX frequencies
• Talk Around button – sets TX frequency to repeater’s output frequency
• Programmable by computer
• EASY to manually program
• Keypad totally lockable to meet FCC Part 90 requirements

Matt Thomas, W1MST, is the managing editor of AmateurRadio.com. Contact him at [email protected].

I try to not editorialize too much on this blog, but rather report on real activities that strike me as interesting in the radio hobby. I didn't start the blog to present opinions, but rather experiences and adventures. However.....

There have been many reflectors, bloggers, etc... commenting on the current state of affairs in the high-end expedition world. Some of these expeditions have budgets in the $300,000 - $400,000 range. Many commenters discuss that unless amateurs contribute more, these expeditions will no longer happen and the "deserving" will be left with log books devoid of the most rare destinations. And that somehow, its is the responsibility of the non-expeditioning population to insure that these trips are properly funded and if you don't contribute, somehow you aren't paying your fair share.

My feelings, very simply, about this issue fall along the lines of how I manage my personal finances. If I can't afford it, I don't go. No-one is "obligated" to insure that my expedition is funded. That said, I have no issue with someone asking me to help defray their costs, e.g., I am paying for my expedition, if I do a good job and you want to make a contribution, then thank you. But not the approach; I need for you to contribute or I can't go. Two very different approaches.

All of this said, there is nothing new under the sun. I have been an amateur for 25 years and the same issues come up all the time. The fact is, no matter how expensive it gets, someone will go. If we need the entity and we feel inclined, then we should make a contribution, but don't put a guilt trip on me to pay for someone elses trip.

Back to regular programming.
Mike Crownover, AD5A, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Texas, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Paul Stam, PC4T, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from the Netherlands. Contact him at [email protected].

The original version of K1JT’s WSPR software had pop-up “tip” windows that showed the power in watts when you hovered the mouse over the dBm setting. Very useful for duffers like me that can’t do a watts to dBm conversion in my head. The new version WSPR-X doesn’t, however.

I found (or more truthfully Google did) an online watts to dBm converter on the web which I have duly bookmarked.

Julian Moss, G4ILO, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Cumbria, England. Contact him at [email protected].