My musings on Ham Radio … and stuff!
While I was dressing for work this morning about 5:15AM (EDT), I turned on the rig, just to see what might be on. There was a station on 40 meter CW that was a good 599. He was answering stations with their callsign, a 599, and then “UP.” He was going back to primarily JA’s and Europeans. Ya’ know … I listened for at least ten minutes and never heard him identify his station. I guess everybody else knew who he was. Never did find out, myself …
73 de Dick N4BC
The bands have been a bit sparse the past few days, but you can just about always find signals on FT8 frequencies when nothing else can be heard. Last night was a bit lean, but I did work nine North American stations on FT8 … all on forty meters.
There were a few CW stations participating in a CWT Contest, but I have my paddles disassembled at the moment, so I’ll make it a priority to reassemble them and get them back in action. There weren’t a lot of stations there, but several were quite strong. Nothing exciting, though, unless you were actually participating in the contest.
We dodged the bullet on this last Nor’easter … we only had a mix, with no accumulation, mostly rain, and above freezing temperatures. Further north, they got the brunt of the storm. This coming Saturday, we’re looking at some sleet and rain overnight, but the temperatures are supposed be be in the upper forties. I’m ready for Spring!
73 de Dick N4BC
I got on the bands last night to see what was happening on FT8, and 40 meters was really busy. I tried replying to several station, but either they couldn’t hear me or were ignoring me. I ended up working one station in California that was a repeat contact. Eighty meters had a few stations, but no luck there either. Just a bummer of an evening.
I fired up the DMR rig and hotspot and talked to a couple of guys … one in Yorkshire, England, and another in Malta, and had a pleasant chat with them. That’s a great medium for ragchewing. Crystal clear most of the time … world-wide.
Well, that should hold me for this morning. I’ve got a radio club meeting tonight … not sure what the program is. I should be able to hit the local DMR repeater from our meeting location (which I can’t do from home, thus the reliance on a hotspot). Maybe I can demo some DMR to a bunch of D-Star folks!
73 de Dick N4BC
I didn’t have much time for radio this weekend, but I did find the higher bands were still alive. I had a couple of contacts on 17m FT8 and did hear some stations on 10m SSB.
Just goes to show ya that there is still a bit of life left “up there.” I wonder how often the band is actually open, but quiet because nobody is there? Hmmm. Maybe we ought to try more often?
73 de Dick N4BC
I fired up on 40 meters when I got home from work yesterday, and worked quite a few FT8 QSOs:
Mostly US stations, but a few Europeans mixed in as well. Things had quieted down when I got back home later after choir practice and Scouts, and I decided to call it a night. Even in these days of lower activity, you CAN make QSOs. You just have to turn on the rig.
73 de Dick N4BC