Posts Tagged ‘Propagation’
Things are very slow on the bands
October 26th, 2014 | 
Author: 
Lets hope the conditions some what improve this week…..
HV0A
Holy pileup, Batman!
There was a H U G E pileup just above 18.077 MHz. Some listening revealed that it was indeed a "holy pileup" as the quarry of the hunt was HV0A - Vatican City. And he was loud - very loud! In 36 years of Ham Radio, this was about the second or third time that I have ever heard the Vatican on the air. I have never worked them before.
But today, with them being that loud (599+), I felt I stood a chance. In case you're wondering, wonder no more. My QRP sensibilities took a backseat and I pumped up the KXPA100 to its full 100 Watt setting. How many times have I heard the Vatican? Again, only once or twice before - it's rare for them to be on the air, for me to be home at the same time, and for propagation to be so favorable. I wasn't about to let some false sense of QRP Pride get in the way of getting a rare and new country in the log.
The operator was smooth and was handling the pileup quickly and efficiently. Operating split, he was running a standard racetrack pattern. He was listening slightly higher up after each QSO until he reached a certain frequency and then began listening down unilt he reached a frequency about 1 kHz above where he was transmitting. The he began listening up again, starting the whole cycle over again. Almost exacty like trying to work any of the ARRL Centennial stations - once I figured out his pattern and approximately how much higher he moved after each QSO, I made my plan to "get in his way". After about 6 or 7 attempts, I got in the log. If I ever hear the Vatican this loud again, then next time will be a QRP attempt, this time I'm just fat, dumb and happy.
According to the CW Ops e-mail reflector, the operator was Robert S53R, CW Op #492. Whomever, he was, he was good!
This is one QSL card that will be framed and hung on the shack wall, once I receive it.
Still stoked!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Good lunchtime DX session
But the day heated up, and by lunchtime it was 84F (29C). Quite a warm up! And fortunately, it wasn't only the air temperature that had gotten hot. 17 and 15 Meters were hopping and hot - well, maybe not as hot as a few months ago, but hotter than just a few weeks ago. The sunspot number had risen to 128 making conditions better than they have been in days. I'll take it!
I worked 9Y4/AI5P on Trinidad/Tobago, RI4CWC/3 in Russia and PI4DX in the Netherlands, all on 17 Meters. The thought then occurred to me that if 17 Meters was working so well, then 15 Meters might be worth looking at. It was, and after switching over, I worked OQ4U in Belgium and SP2GUB in Poland. All the stations on both bands had excellent signal strengths and I got decent reports back, the lowest being 559.
I don't know how long these good band conditions will be able to maintain themselves. The way the Sun is throwing fits and starts, it may not be for that long. But if you get a chance, get on the air and make hay while the opportunity presents itself!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Conditions
It’s evident that we are now on the down side of the peak of Cycle 24. For the most part, I have had superb conditions for working DX during my lunch time QRP sessions for the past 17 months. DX has been plentiful, with good signals and decent RSTs on both ends. 17, 15 and sometimes even 12 Meters have been happy hunting grounds. There have even been smatterings of openings on 10 Meters, which is not often the case during the 1700-1800 UTC weekday time frame.
I still hear DX signals on 17 Meters, but they’re not as strong or as plentiful as they were. 15 Meters is nowhere near as nice as it was just a few months ago. It wasn’t so long ago that I was working three or four different DX stations during my lunch break – and it seemed like all areas of the world were open at the same time! I think that the days of working the world “with 5 Watts to a wet string” are just about over – as far as Cycle 24 is concerned, anyway.
With band conditions changing, it seems that lately, more and more of my lunch QSOs have been domestic – not that there’s anything wrong with that! Today, I was saved from being shut out at lunchtime by Jim K4AHO, who answered my CQ on 20 Meters. We had a nice chat that was not only 2X QRP, but was also 2X KX3. Jim was using a dipole and I was using the Buddistick, of course. QSB was a bit of a nuisance. At the fading’s worst, Jim was 459, and at best he was 579 (which he was for most of the QSO).
In addition to the declining ionospheric conditions, the weather here in New Jersey this Summer has been less “Summer-y” than I was looking forward to. Take this morning for instance. When I woke up this morning, the thermometer was displaying an outdoor temperature of 52F (11C). Very strange for August 18th. That’s almost unheard of, any other year. On the whole, it’s been an average to dry Summer and the temperatures have been down and the humidity has been way down compared to the past three or four Summers. The number of days that we have reached or have gone above 90F (32C), can be counted on both hands. There have not been many hazy, humid, hot days (The Dog Days of Summer) this year at all.
The weather people on TV have been saying that we are experiencing is an “average” Summer for this part of the country. The past few have been hotter than normal, so that’s why this one feels so strangly cool. After the Winter we had last year, I was really looking forward to the heat. I guess there’s still time for us to get some hot days, but I saw on the AccuWeather.com website that the Northeast and the upper Midwest are supposed to experience a Polar Vortex in mid September, bringing along temperatures closer to what we might expect in mid to late November. Brrrrrr.
The other day, while walking my beagle Harold, I noticed the oak trees in the neighborhood are already shedding their acorns. That’s not a great sign as the trees did the same thing around this time last year and we had a terrible Winter. Normally, the acorns don’t start falling until mid to late September around these parts. The squirrels will have extra time to store up food for the Winter, and we’ll probably have another long, cold one. Oh well, at least conditions on 160 and 80 Meters will probably be good. You always have to look for the silver lining and try not to think about the heating bill!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
What a difference a day makes!
Yesterday, at this time, the bands were humming (relatively) with Skeeters, WES’ers, and WAE’ers, just to name a few. 24 hours later, during a later lunch break ……. not much of anything. This is where I was picked up by RBN:
The bands are slipping
Band conditions seem to have vastly deteriorated from what they were just a few months ago. It’s not that propagation is non-existent, it’s just that it seems to have left us in a bigger hurry than I would have thought.
I went out at lunchtime today (around 1730Z) to find activity on 15 Meters to be nil. A quick scan of 17 Meters revealed not so much. Just a few months ago, both these bands were hopping with all kinds of DX. It wasn’t all that rare to hear Europe, South America and Asia all at the same time! It wasn’t all that rare to hear a good amount of activity on 12 and 10 Meters just a few short months ago.
Since 15 and 17 seemed inactive, I went to 14.061 MHz and called CQ after QRLing to make sure the frequency was dead. I was answered by fellow New Jerseyan, QRPer and blogger, Chris KQ2RP who gave me a 559 from Maine.
After that, I worked fellow Polar Bear, Ken WA8REI who is having a hard time enduring the heat and humidity in Michigan. It’s hard to put up with the Temperature Humidity Index when you have so much fur! 😉 Ken was a good solid 579 here when the QSB wasn’t wreaking havoc. We had a nice little chat and then it was time for Ken to go, and my available lunchtime minutes were growing short, too.
Before heading in, I decided to check out 17 Meters one more time. There, blasting in at 599+ was GA14CG, the Special Event Station for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Scotland. There was a bit of a pileup, but he was so loud that I figured that I could work him, if only I could place myself correctly.
With time running short, I was able to eventually find the right spot. GA14CG was using the ol’ racetrack pattern scheme. Start at a frequency, move a bit higher after each call, reach a high point and then continue to work stations, moving a bit lower after each QSO until arriving at starting point and starting the process all over again. Essentially, he was doing laps, which I guess was appropriate considering it’s the Commonwealth Games. I placed myself correctly on the return trip home and got into the log. They’re on the air until August 3rd, so you have plenty of time to work them.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
Article on the Sunspot Cycle
Seems the general public is beginning to learn about stuff we have been observing and talking about for the past few years.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!
