Let the DXing season begin…
W5 – 3B9
Anyone who’s been on HF the past two weeks has no doubt enjoyed the great conditions. Some well-run DXpeditions are on the air as well, making the best of them.
TR8CA Gabon was a new one on 10m, followed by T6LG Afghanistan who was sounding like a local last night on 20m. Is he really using a Spiderbeam and only 100 watts?!
But best of all was the team on Rodriquez Island, 3B9SP, on 80m for a New One on that band. Ten minutes after their sunrise and 90 minutes after my sunset, they peaked for about 10 minutes during which time they were S7 with lots of QSB and some summertime QRN still having to be dealt with.
VOACAP gave me a 0% chance of working them on that band but I think their saltwater surroundings overruled that program’s variables.
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Themocracy
Hi John. I just learned something: I thought the VOACAP red line was the Maximum usable cutoff frequency, that any freq below that was in the realm of the possible.
Each color represents a percentage of liklihood – I should have included the legend, which can be seen at:
http://www.voacap.com/predictions/5081d9ce05143/
The red line may be the MUF but that has nothing to do with lower freqs being usable. If it did, I would have good prop to 3B9 24/7.
Off-topic reminder: the Orionids meteor shower tomorrow night is predicted to be “better than average”.
John, your “Anyone who’s been on HF the past two weeks has no doubt enjoyed the great conditions.” statement fills me with high expectations for next week’s CQ WW SSB.
I am going through an historic period of low on air activity (= nothing outside of the major contests) and I have absolutely NO idea what to expect. Just like you I prefer CW over any other mode but hey: any contest is better than no contest! So fingers crossed for long lasting DX openings.
Two weeks ago I played a few hours in the California QSO Party and the Oceania DX contest and I found DX propagation to be only so-so with 10m a total bust to both target areas.
Keep the bands hot for me, I need a shot of DX!
73 / CU
All these DXpeditions and you remain off the air?! You really are a specialist! Good luck in the test…I’ll be sitting this one out. Maybe the mass migration to phone will make Macau easier for those of us who need it on CW!
“All these DXpeditions and you remain off the air?!”
DXpeditions have lost my interest. I really REALLY like working DX but I’ve had it with the practices I encounter in the pile ups.
Carriers on top, self-appointed policemen who do more harm than good, deliberate jamming, sending their callsigns over and over while the DX has made 2 new QSO etc.
I often feel sorry for the guys on the other end, spending tons of cash and sometimes risking their lives and being rewarded with an unruly mob.
OTOH I am always surprised about the numbers of nice DX that call ME when I call CQ – especially on 30 CW. There are active DX stations everywhere that never call CQ because they avoid pile ups but are eager to work anyone who calls CQ. Much more rewarding when the DX calls you ;o)
I agree with you about the cops and some of the ops. I’ve gotten into the habit of listening to the pile-up side of things after I work the DX and can’t believe some of what I hear – people who continue to send their calls after another station has been responded to…time after time. Chief among them in several pile-ups for different DX stations is N3DG. Upon Googling his callsign, it all makes sense – his behavior in other aspects of life seems consistent with his on-the-air behavior. If I were the DX, I’d work but not log stations like this.
I’ve come to look at pile-ups not as mini contests, but as locks to be picked. It’s not the competition to get through that attracts me, but rather the employment of a strategy to makes it happen despite all the obstacles.