My musings on Ham Radio … and stuff!
Well, I got Rwanda (9X0Y) in the log on FT8, using the DXPedition mode on WSJT-X. The first thing I had to do was try and remember how to set up and operate in the DXPedition mode, but once I was set up and called Silvano, it didn’t take more than a minute or two to have his contact in the log. I actually never did actually see his signal on the waterfall … but I did copy him. The DX is there!
73 de Dick N4BC
Propagation this evening was nothing spectacular, but there were FT8 contacts to be made. DX worked included Portugal, Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, Cuba, Netherlands, Canada, and England. Many more were seen … W. Sahara, Ireland, N. Ireland, Wales, Europeans of all flavors … but not worked. Forty, thirty, and eighty meters were crowded … twenty and sixty not so much, but I did make contacts on all of those bands. Looks like the digital modes and lower bands are where it’s at. And remember, I’m using about forty watts and a wire … no big guns here!
73 de Dick N4BC
I got an early session on the radio as the sun was rising this morning. The solar conditions were shown as “Poor” and “Unsettled”, but there was some good stuff out there. New Caledonia, Australia, and Japan were all seen on FT8 and were making contacts with US stations. The Mayotte DXPedition (TO6OK) was really strong here on the East Coast on FT8, but there were lots of callers worldwide, and I didn’t luck out, though I really tried. I did work a new one (Belize) on forty meters, so my morning efforts were a success as far as I was concerned.
I’m not lacking stations to work, and my best success seems to be on the lower bands (80, 60, 40, 30). I’m not running anything special here … 30 to 40 watts on digital modes through a LDG tuner to a 31-ft vertical wire, through a 100-ft RG-8X feedline, with a 4-to-1 unun at the base of the antenna, and one 31-ft counterpoise laid on the ground. I get acceptable SWR on all the HF bands except 160. The fiberglass antenna support is fastened to a clothesline support with several pieces of stiff twisted wire. Can’t get much more kludgy than that!
73 de Dick N4BC and good hunting!
Once again, we met last night for our weekly net. It was a good-sized group, and we had quite a bit of discussion on several topics. We talked about choosing a hotspot frequency … what to avoid, such as national, regional, or local active simplex frequencies, weak signal frequencies, repeater input/output frequencies, satellite uplink/downlink frequencies … and probably some I’ve forgotten. The moral of the story is “don’t use a frequency that somebody else is using.”
We also discussed setting up a groups.io discussion group to keep everybody informed about what’s going on locally. We got a bit of a history lesson on how the 31515 TG came about … who set it up, why it was set up, etc. It was suggested that some of the net members visit local clubs and explain about the weekly nets to increase participation. We already have a few new people checking in most weeks, but the more the merrier!
Finally, we had a check in from Guam! It was an active duty Navy member with ties to this area checking in from KH2-land with his handheld and hotspot. Perfect copy … what a great mode for these propagation doldrums we’re experiencing. He gave us a few details of the recent Typhoon that hit Guam.
We meet Thursday nights at 9 PM Local (Eastern) time on TG 31515. Join us!
73 de Dick N4BC
Last night was not as productive on FT8 as the night before, but I did contact this guy on 17 meters, about 2030z:
Eight thousand, five hundred seventy-six miles … twenty-five watts … not bad. They’re out there, guys …
p.s. Hey, This is a new country for me for this newest vanity callsign! Already confirmed! Ain’t LOTW grand?!?!
73 de Dick N4BC