Category: General operating

80 Meter Activity and Antennas

Eighty meters was pretty good at the QTH here last evening. Made contacts on JT9 up and down the East Coast. The QRN was minimal, and some stations were pretty strong, too. It’s the best I’ve seen it in quite a while.

It amazes me that my 31-foot wire vertical loads so well on 80 meters, too. The LDG tuner grinds a bit, but it does find a match. I don’t want to think about the efficiency of that antenna. The inverted-L is a disappointment though … nowhere near as good as the vertical and much noisier. I had the thought last night that maybe the coax is not up to snuff. It’s probably around twenty years old, even though it’s only been in use for maybe five years. I think I’ll substitute a new piece and see if that makes any difference.

I’ve got a new MFJ-1835 Cobweb antenna, still in the box. The weather hasn’t been cooperating since it arrived, and I’m hoping for some reasonable temperatures the week before Christmas, because I’m taking vacation then. I’ve read some pretty good reviews, and am really interested in experimenting with this antenna.

Hope everybody has a great Holiday season …

73 de Dick N4BC

CQWW SSB

Well … that certainly was a sucky weekend, propagation-wise. I didn’t have a chance to get on Sunday, but I certainly had no luck on Saturday. Not one of the better efforts on my part.

Sunday, the XYL and I went over to the eastern Shore of Virginia (about an hour and a half drive via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel) to attend a choral concert. The daughter had a solo … WOW! Can that girl sing! Very proud parents. She’s a member of the choral group at Virginia Wesleyan College, where she’s a Junior.

I’ve gotten on the past couple of evenings to work some JT QSOs, and have had some interesting contacts, but even there, activity is a bit light. All I can do is keep on trying … that’s all any of us can do. Even the CW pickings have been slim.

Well, so much for my musings. I’ve got a radio club meeting tonight, and may get a bit of operating in before that, but I’ll have to see how that goes.

73 de Dick N4BC

Two little letters …

Sunday evening, after all the contests and QSO parties had been turned off, the bands were dead. Sound familiar? “Oh the bands are terrible … there’s nobody there … I think I’ll sell the rig …”.

Geez, guys … just try calling CQ! Everyone moans and groans and tunes from one end of the band to the other and hears nothing. That’s because everybody is listening! Put some RF into the void! Wake someone up!

I tried a CQ on a dead 20 meter band and worked six stations before I had to pull the plug and go to bed. They’re out there … listening! You’ve got to put a line into the water to get a bite. Don’t be scared … throw in!

73 de Dick N4BC

Back into the fray …

I sat down to the radio equipment tonight and got a little bit of operating done … JT65. Conditions were doable, but certainly not what you would call good. Twenty and forty were usable, and I did make a few contacts.

I spent most of the evening paying bills and changing emails and usernames on accounts that use my callsign. I never realized just how many there were!

We were under a tornado watch and threats of flash flooding, but luckily nothing materialized. They are predicting rain and thunderstorms on into Saturday, so I don’t think I’ll do much outside work this weekend.

73 de Dick N4BC