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International Ham Radio News & Opinion

Topband’s Poor Winter Performance

11 January 2023 | by Steve VE7SL | Leave a Comment (0)

A recent discussion on the Topband mailing list regarding the exceptionally poor propagation this fall and winter, especially on the polar path, brought forth some interesting opinions as to the reason. The rapid growth of solar Cycle 25 and its seemingly continuous flaring was the prime culprit ... but what was the exact mechanism?

One of the best and clearest explanations was posted by Frank, W3LPL, who, with 317 countries confirmed on 160, knows a thing or two about propagation on topband! His comments are particularly relevant for stations in the northern regions of the US as well as for all regions in Canada.

"There's some confusion about the effects of increasing solar activity on 160 meter DX propagation.

160 meter DX propagation is often badly affected by nighttime propagation degradations, especially as Solar Cycle 25 becomes much more active from now through solar maximum in about 2024-2025 and as it slowly declines to current ionization levels through about 2027-2028.

Solar flares have no known impact on 160 meter DX propagation. Solar flares produce electromagnetic radiation that travels from sun to Earth at the speed of light - in about 8 minutes. Solar flare electromagnetic radiation (mostly X-rays) affects only the sunlit side of the earth and ionosphere. There are no known physical processes that extend solar flare effects into the night time ionosphere.

While solar flares have no relevance to 160 meter DX propagation, solar flares often occur coincident with (but are not caused by) coronal mass ejections that can cause severe post-midnight absorption in the D region on propagation paths that cross the auroral oval (e.g., North America to northern Europe and Asia). CMEs cause the auroral oval to dip to much lower latitudes causing post-midnight increased D region absorption on propagation paths crossing lower latitudes.

Unrelated to CMEs, coronal hole high speed stream effects also cause increased D region absorption in the post-midnight auroral oval and occur very frequently compared to geo-effective CMEs (thankfully most CMEs never strike the Earth or its magnetosphere, they usually miss our tiny planet).

But what about 160 meter absorption usually present much earlier in the night, from sunset through midnight and later?

The E region usually retains enough ionization to degrade 160 meter night time propagation especially during the more active years of the solar cycle. The ionized night time E region causes increased absorption at the bottom of the E region (just above the D region) and blankets propagation that would otherwise pass through the E region to the F region. Blanketing causes many shorter hops that suffer increased loss from multiple lossy passes through the ionized E region.

73 Frank W3LPL"

I found Frank's comments regarding the auroral zone (highlighted in RED) particularly interesting as it confirms behaviors I have noted for several decades while operating from SW British Columbia ... particularly when it comes to the MF NDB band (200 - 530kHz). Time and time again while propagation on these frequencies has been severely degraded, stations just a few hundred miles (often less) to my south or south-east enjoy almost normal propagation. I've long-suspected that the AU zone has temporarily slipped this far south while my not too far away neighbours have escaped its unwelcome reach.

I have ALWAYS associated these poor conditions with signal absorption by a heavily-ionized D layer that has not dissipated after darkness but it seems a second factor may also be in play, that being from the E-layer as explained by Frank (highlighted in BLUE).

Although CMEs and flares can cause a lot of disruption, the big culprit for the past few years has been an almost continual barrage of high speed coronal hole streams that have regularly killed nightime propagation on 80 and 40m as well.

With Solar Cycle 25 really starting to ramp up (three X-flares in the past two days!) it's very likely we will see poor propagation on topband as well as on the lower HF bands for the next few years. Some relief may be in store during the downslope ride as there is generally less flare and streaming activity during this period than on the ride up.

None of this eliminates periods of quiet geomagnetic conditions at any time, producing worthwhile propagation, particularly on the non-polar paths ... so don't turn off your radios!

Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

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Bonehead move on my part

7 January 2023 | by Mike VE9KK | Leave a Comment (6)

With SPLIT on and not just DUAL

This afternoon I spent some time on the radio and I noticed on the DX Heat Cluster the DXpedition TK8N was being spotted in the CW portion of 15m. So over I went and there was a large pileup I thought it would be interesting to polish my skill in finding out how they were working the pileup.

I set my Icom to dual receive which allows me to hear VFO A (the DXpedition station) in my left ear. In my right ear, it's VFO B ( the pileup). I wanted to see if I could figure out how he was working the pileup. Was TN8K moving up or down the band as he made contacts and was he moving in large or small increments?

In time I figured out what TN8K was up to and I found myself on a segment of the band to which I was sure he was listening so I threw my call out and on the second time a very loud "VE9KK UP UP!!. I thought WHAT and I realized I was still in dual receive which is fine BUT I did not put my radio in SPLIT!!!

I was transmitting my call right over the top of TN8K on his transmit frequency!! What a bonehead move.

Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

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Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 269

7 January 2023 | by Cale K4HCK | Leave a Comment (0)

It’s finally dead! Yaesu FT-818 discontinued
Yaesu says parts availability is the reason for discontinuing the radio.
OH8STN

U.S. begins installing ‘Mighty’ over-the-horizon radar
The sensor station, known as the Tactical Mobile Over-the-Horizon Radar, or TACMOR, will be set up on the highly strategic island of Palau.
The EurAsian Times

More Amateur Radio Astronauts head for the space station
Three of the four new astronauts on February’s planned launch of the SpaceX Crew-6 mission to the ISS are Amateur radio Operators.
ARRL

Survey results: Ham Radio Nets
This survey was an attempt to understand how people seek out information about nets and how they discover new ones.
K4HCK

How to win a Ham Radio contest with low power
Remember, the most important thing is to enjoy the experience.
PE4BAS

PI9CAM bounces Slow Scan TV signals off the moon
PI9CAM used the 25-metre dish at the site which was originally built in 1956.
EI7GL

QRPp: Activate a park with ⅒ of a watt
Let’s face it, I was drunk with a lack of power.
QRPer

All-in-one cable for audio and APRS
The AIOC enumerates as a sound card as well as a virtual serial device.
Hackaday

Radio stations power down at night, because of the laws of physics
If your favorite station shuts down at night, blame the laws of physics.
IFLScience

Encoding NTSC
NTSC-CRT is a video signal encoding/decoding simulator with no hardware acceleration, floating point math, or third-party libraries. Just basic C.
Hackaday

Exploring a 10 MHz OCXO (Oven-controlled Crystal Oscillator)
It’s been used for a few projects requiring good frequency stability.
KA7OEI

Video

AT&T Archives: Stepping along with television
In 1949, this film was part of the very first hour of broadcasting following the linkup of the East Coast television networks to the Midwestern states.
AT&T

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Amateur Radio Weekly is curated by Cale Mooth K4HCK. Sign up free to receive ham radio's most relevant news, projects, technology and events by e-mail each week at http://www.hamweekly.com.

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CQ Magazine Article on Sherwood Tools

5 January 2023 | by Frank K4FMH | Leave a Comment (0)

In the January 2023 issue of CQ Magazine, there is an article I wrote introducing my Sherwood Tools page over at FoxMikeHotel.com. Didn’t make the cover but it is on page 50! It will introduce the reader to these new tools to further utilize Rob Sherwood NC0B’s test suite of bench measurements on over 50 years of radios. I appreciate Rich Moseson (CQ Editor) for wanting to further publicize these online tools that I’ve created with the significant assistance of Rob Sherwood NC0B. He is an international treasure to the amateur radio community!

I update this webpage as I’m able to digest and process new data from Rob’s Table. It does take some time for me to reanalyze these data segments, as even one new entry alters the patterns and analysis from the previous dataset. If I am in the midst of other matters, it can take me a month or more to get to this update. (Amateur radio is a hobby, not a lifestyle, for me, lol.)

This work on price, performance and satisfaction with HF radios has been very popular over the past couple of years as I’ve given many talks to groups via Zoom on the studies and results. The first results from this line of research was published by (then) Editor Scott Wright K0MD at the National Contesting Journal. I’ll be adding the latest Yaesu HF radios (FTDX10 and FT-710) to the mix soon.

Stay tuned because I’m completing the analysis of a subset of these modern transceivers that includes composite transmit noise base upon data from a group of European amateurs complemented with measurements by Rob Sherwood NC0B. I’m completing that work and associated manuscript in the coming weeks.

Frank Howell, K4FMH, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Mississippi, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

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Day one of 2023!!

1 January 2023 | by Mike VE9KK | Leave a Comment (4)

Well, it's day one of 2023 and I am relaxing with my mid-morning coffee. I say mid-morning as for us retired folks who usually hit the sack around 10 pm venturing into midnight is a once-a-year endeavour. So a bit of sleeping in was in order. No hangover here as we just enjoyed a bottle of champagne to help welcome in the New Year. As for overindulging never did it. I never wanted to waste the next day with the booze flu.

As for 2023, I want to keep on my CW adventure as 2022 was a great learning curve for the art of CW. I find it kept my mind sharp, kept me occupied and always a new skill levels to master.

In 2023 I would like to master....or let's be more realistic and say get a grip on CW head coping for QSOs as I have always wanted to do this.
One thing in 2022 that lacked was my reading.

I want to put more time toward reading both technical, fiction and the magazines I subscribe to. All related to ham radio and to mix it up with some not!

One dream of mine has been vinyl records, a turn table and Jazz music all mixed together!

Finally just to continue with my CW contesting and learn more about technique, how to effectively handle a pileup and continue to have fun.

Happy New Year to my readers and all the best to your health and ham radio adventures.

Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

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ICQ Podcast Episode 393 – Radio Tips to Start 2023

1 January 2023 | by Colin M6BOY | Leave a Comment (0)

In this episode, we join Martin Butler M1MRB, Dan Romanchik KB6NU, Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT, Edmund Spicer M0MNG and Ed Durrant DD5LP to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin Butler (M6BOY) rounds up the news in brief and in the episode's feature is Radio Tips to Start 2023.

We would like to thank Kelvin Crocker (G1ZSE) and our monthly and annual subscription donors for keeping the podcast advert free. To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate

70MHz, 4 m band released in Switzerland
German Hams - Temporary Band Access Extended
An Award for Hams who Help Others Reach DXCC
Bill to Replace Symbol Rate Limit with Bandwidth Limit
Bill to Eliminate Private Land Use Restrictions on Amateur Radio
Yaesu Discontinue Models
Who says CW ops don’t have a sense of humour?→
Malta Operation 2023
Coronation of King Charles III
UK Direct to Full Amateur Radio Exam Bookings Open
ARRL Straight Key Night 2023

Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at [email protected].

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Ham College 96

31 December 2022 | by George W5JDX | Leave a Comment (0)

Ham College episode 96 is now available for download.

Extra Class Exam Questions – Part 34
E7D Power supplies and voltage regulators, Solar array charge controllers.

Download
YouTube

George Thomas, W5JDX, is co-host of AmateurLogic.TV, an original amateur radio video program hosted by George Thomas (W5JDX), Tommy Martin (N5ZNO), Peter Berrett (VK3PB), and Emile Diodene (KE5QKR). Contact him at [email protected].

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