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Ten Meters was busy after I got home from work – plenty of signals.  I heard TX6G but they were kind of weak, so I decided to check 15 Meters.  They were louder there and their pileup wasn’t quite as busy as on 10 Meters.  So, I started sending my call, with no luck. After a bit, I noticed their signal was starting to fade. Not wanting to lose them, I decided to go QRO and bumped up the power to 75 Watts. Bingo on the first call at higher power – TX6G is in the log for a new DXCC Entity. The group is there until April 1st, which is a week from tomorrow – so I will try throughout the week to try and get them via QRP. That’s a tall order, but do-able if the pileups get smaller as the DXpedition draws to a close.

From there I went back to 10 Meters and listened more than anything.  I heard quite the few JAs and tried calling a few, but 5 Watts just wasn’t cutting it.  Then, I heard a fierce pileup for VP2V/SP6CIK.  I managed to bust that pileup with 5 Watts.

I was amazed at the ferocity of that pileup.  While the British Virgin Islands are an easy hop from the US, I guess they are a rarer entity from Europe and Asia.  I heard quite the few JAs being answered as well as a lot of European stations. Whoever was behind the key was handling the pileup methodically and precisely. Very good pileup management and very good pileup discipline.  I only heard a few “UP”s from the Pileup Police.  All in all, it was a well behaved group.

I didn’t go out to the car at lunchtime today, as winter has returned for a brief visit. It was 27F (-3C) and I just wasn’t in the mood to freeze.  Tomorrow we’re supposed to get anywhere from a dusting to 3 inches (7.5 cm) of snow.  BUT, by Friday and Saturday, it’s supposed to be back up near 60F (16C). That’s the only good thing about late March snows in New Jersey – they tend to disappear fast.

I guess the old Mark Twain quote about the weather in New England holds true for New Jersey, too. If you don’t like the weather in New Jersey, just wait a few hours. It will change – especially this time of year.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

Amateur Radio is lot like other areas in life. There highs and there are lows – there are valleys and there are peaks.  Often, the journey from one extreme to the other takes places within minutes of each other.

This evening, I was tooling around 10 Meters late. It was after 7:00 PM local time. The sun was already down, but sometimes – just sometimes, this is when the good ones can be heard.  Twiddling the dial, I heard a very weak BY5WJ. China!  So I turned up the power, as I’ve never worked China and started tapping out my call,  Woo hoo!  Success!  “W2LJ UR 579 TNX LARRY DE JOSH”.

Josh? In China?  Me, 579? Can’t be! Then I realized it was 6Y5WJ – not BY5WJ. It was Josh in Jamaica, and we have worked a few times before.  Obviously, being in his log, my info popped up and that’s why he answered me by name. After a few minutes, the band changed, and he became “normally loud” for what I would have expected a Jamaican station to sound like in New Jersey. So in a few seconds, I raced around the globe from the exotic Far East to the warm shores of the Caribbean.  A bit of a disappointment, to say the least (no offense, Josh!).

At that point I started switching bands. 12 Meters – not much. 15 Meters – W1AW/5 in New Mexico is coming in strong. 17 Meters – not much.  20 Meters – OK, a lot more signals than the other bands (as we all know, 20 Meters is usually open to somewhere). What’s that? VU2what?  A few more seconds of listening – it was VU2PHD, Mat in India.  Wow!  I very rarely ever hear India on the air. Still set at 75 Watts from my failed China QSO, I tapped out my call.  Holy crow – I hear “W2?” coming back. I sent out my call a few more times, following up with my suffix twice, “W2LJ W2LJ LJ LJ”.  I got a “W2LJ UR 559 QSB. UR CALL AGN?”  I immediately sent back “DE W2LJ W2LJ UR 579 579 IN NJ NJ. OP LARRY LARRY”. Or something like that, I’m so exhilarated right now, I can’t even remember the exact exchange. All I know is that this was my first QSO with the Indian sub-continent, and is only about the second or third time I have even heard them on the air! And I’m in his log!

I immediately ran over to my e-mail program to send a quick note to my buddy Bob W3BBO in Erie, PA. Bob is my friend, my DX Guru, and is the only person I actually know who is on the DXCC Honor Roll.  To my surprise he had already written me, “Did I hear what I think I heard on 20 Meters?”

I was able to answer in the affirmative and asked him how he happened to be listening. He had worked Mat earlier in the week and was going to make another attempt, as he wasn’t sure that Mat got his call correctly the first time. He had heard Mat come back to me and sent a quick e-mail to confirm. Whatever the reason, one of my best friends was on the scene to hear me work a new one. It just doesn’t get much better than that!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

Last night was my last stint as a Fox in the QRP Fox hunts for the 2013/2014 season. I served as the 80 Meter Fox last night, and I was chomping at the bit, all ready to have a fantastic night handing out pelts. I’ve been having very good success nabbing the 80 Meter Foxes this season as a Hound, so I was expecting reciprocity last night as Fox. When I turned the radio on at about 0045 UTC and heard a very low noise floor, I was happy. I was also a bit surprised as we’re now officially in Spring and I was expecting it to be way noisier. I should have know something would be “off”.

I started right on the mark and was off to a running start, but then about 0120 UTC, it seemed like the bottom of the band fell out. I went from a decent pileup to calling CQ over and over. Switching between the vertical and the wire seemed to not make much of a difference. I was surprised that the QSB was so deep and sharp. My buddy, Bob W3BBO joined the fray last night, and using him as an example – when he called me, the W3 was a good and honest 579 – the BBO was ESP!

And so it went for the last hour – calling CQ over and over with takers here and there. A very short mini pileup at about 0150 UTC for a few minutes and back to calling CQ. In all, I handed out 41 pelts. While I had a ton of fun, it was also a huge disappointment to me as I had set a personal goal of handing out 60. After the hunt, I took a look at my spots on RBN. I was heard by skimmers up and down the East coast and out as far as Illinois. My best DX for the night was working Dale WC7S in Wyoming and Tim KR0U in Colorado.

Afterwards, I was reading e-mails on the Q-FOX reflector, where most of the Hounds were reporting very high noise levels on 80 Meters last night. I guess that added to the misery for the night. My fellow Fox, Jim KG0PP handed out only two more pelts than I did, so it’s obvious that he had to face the same obstacles in Colorado that I faced in New Jersey.

It’s funny how perspective can change. Last month, when I was serving as 40 Meter Fox and band conditions were excellent, it seemed that 90 minutes for the hunt was nowhere long enough. Last night, with lousy band conditions, that same 90 minutes was interminable.

Ending the season as a Fox on a low note was not what I had in mind, but as the Brooklyn Dodger fans used to say – “Wait ’til next year!”

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

And that seems to be my story regarding FT5ZM, and I’m sticking to it. Last night, I heard them well and couldn’t work them. Tonight, I’ve gone back to not being able to hear them. According to the DXCluster, they are active on 14.023 MHz. They might as well be on the other side of Jupiter, for all that I can hear. I’m not hearing any activity on 30 Meters, either.

Ironically, tomorrow is their last full day of activity before going QRT. And tomorrow is the day my KXPA100 kit is due to arrive from Elecraft. What a coincidence, eh?

I am fairly confident that if I had 100 Watts last night, I would have been able to break through the pileup. There’s no way that I can be 100% certain of that, but you can’t be in this hobby for 35 years without building up an innate sense of these things.

No use crying over spilled milk. Keep your ears open on the bands every day this coming week, QRPers. Next weekend is the big ARRL DX Contest, CW portion. I am already hearing some familiar calls in some familiar places as folks set up and gear up for the big event. Working these stations as they get ready, and then working the contest itself is a great way to earn yourself a QRP DXCC Certificate.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

Addendum: I went back to the basement to find that FT5ZM came up nicely on 20 Meters. I heard them work my buddy, Bob W3BBO, and fellow blogger and QRPer, Chris KQ2RP. Still no joy for W2LJ, though. I guess tomorrow night will be my last shot, if they’re even on the air at that point.

As with most of the USA, this Winter of 2013/2014 sure has been a rough one! The cold snaps have been harsh and long lasting. And this has been causing the snow that we have gotten to stick around longer than usual for this area. Pardon the pun, but this Winter has been about 180 degrees different from last year, when we had only one minor snowfall. And for the most part, last Winter was downright balmy!

The extra cold weather has been kind of keeping me out of my basement shack. Thanks to our efficient gas furnace, all the heat goes to the upper floors, while the basement remains chilly. When the outside temperatures approach the single digits, my shack thermometer registers about 55F (13C), definitely not the most comfortable.  Even with wearing a long sleeved T-shirt, a polo, AND a sweatshirt, I get to the point where my hands get cold and sending without errors becomes a chore.

Thanks to all of you who have been sending comments and emails with regard to my quest for a single lever paddle. I am still leading towards the Begali, but looking at some other manufacturers has been fun. It seems I always hesitate before making a purchase like this, as I am not used to spending money on myself. Plus the fact that I’m concerned about the cost of all the natural gas I’m burning this heating season, I have to double and triple think purchases like this.

The QRP Fox Hunt season enters the second half tonight. With the two pelts I nabbed on 40 Meters tonight, I have 16 pelts in 22 hunts for a .727 batting average. In the 80 Meter hunts, I have snared 13 out of 16 possible pelts for a .8125 batting average. Thanks to good propagation and the excellent ears of our Foxes, I am having one of the best seasons I have had in a while.

The last good news that I have for the night is that Jim W4QO posted on the North Georgia QRP Group email reflector that he has successfully worked Amsterdam Island FT5ZM with QRP, not once – but twice! Since Jim is a fellow Eastern Seaborder, that gives me hope. Amsterdam Island is close to 10,000 miles away from New Jersey, so that’s a long haul by any standard. Right there, that puts you close to 2,000 miles per Watt. With my dinky antenna farm, I am sure that if I work them at all, it will be during the second half of their stay on the Island. I read somewhere that if all goes well, the DXpedition will remain in place until about February 20th. So that gives me some time, and I will do my best to get them in the log.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

Some random thoughts before turning in.

Just when you think you have a handle on this propagation thing. The 80 Meter Fox Hunt was especially and  surprisingly tough tonight. The Fox that I thought was going to be easy pickings was a lot tougher to nab than expected, Ray K9XE in Illinois.

Usually, Illinois is a cakewalk from NJ. Signals between the two states are usually decent and reliable. Not so tonight! I tried nabbing Ray for most of the first hour without success. At that point, I figured I’d better try the other Fox, John N4KV before time ran out. I didn’t want to flip the big switch with no pelts in the bag. Luckily, I was able to work John in TN after only a few calls, so I was “going home” with at least one fur.

I then switched back to Ray’s frequency to find that he had QSYed a bit up to try and end run some QRM, and he went simplex. After a few calls, I got a W2?J.  So I put out my call a few times more. Finally, Ray got my call and sent my exchange. And as I was sending mine …… wouldn’t you just know it? A net barged on frequency without checking to see if anyone was there. Ray eventually copied my exchange despite the net QRM, but it took us about a good two or three minutes to get it done. Usually, a two way exchange occurs in well under a minute. In spite of it all, I brought two pelts home, but the one I thought would be easy was painful, while the one I expected to be trouble was far easier. So much for expectations and conventional wisdom.

The other thing going through my mind concerns this year’s Skeeter Hunt. Yes, it’s still seven months away, but the wheels are already turning. I am toying with the idea of changing the exchange this year. Up until now, I have gone with the conventional RST, S/P/C, Skeeter # or power output. I am thinking of ditching the RST and using the op’s first name instead. I am also thinking of seeing if I can get plaques donated for the top CW and SSB finishers.

Oh well, time to hit the sack. I am looking at a potential 12+ hour work day tomorrow. Ugh!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

As seen on QRP-L this morning, by Paul NA5N:

Solar flares and a heads up

Gang,
Ole Sol has awoken with three large flares in the past 18 hours, an M3, M6 and an X1.  There may be more to come.  The active solar region is in the center of the sun, looking right at us, meaning any CMEs (and future flares/CMEs) will most likely deliver a shock wave to planet Earth on Friday and/or Saturday with some geomagnetic storming.

But more exciting is how these flares have gushed waves of ionizing radiation into our ionosphere. The average solar flux for the past 90 days has been a count of 150.  Today’s flares increased the solar flux to *237*, though short lived as local sunset occurred not long after in North America with EU already in the dark.

However, the prediction for the next two days is a solar flux of 195.  This is about the highest it has been this solar cycle and sufficient for 10M openings in local daylight hours.  So for those of you snow bound, freezing your coax off and otherwise bored Wednesday in the Eastern U.S., turn on that rig during daylight hours and enjoy some very likely good conditions from 20-10M.  Daytime conditions should be very favorable until late Friday, when the shock wave from the X1 flare is expected to arrive.  The CME left the sun at about 1,100 km/sec – a pretty decent shock wave.  NOAA is predicting a moderate geomagnetic storm, but it could get worse, though short lived.

These favorable conditions apply to all areas, Europe, the Americas, Asia, Australia, etc. during daylight hours.  The proton count is also fairly high, meaning signals may be very attenuated in the polar latitudes and causing some fading (QSB) in the middle latitudes.  If the proton count remains high and the CMEs hit Friday night, it could mean some impressive northern lights, perhaps extending into the northern tier of U.S. states or northern EU (depending on when it hits).

If you’re new to ham radio or QRP, check out 15M and 10M next couple of days.  If those bands are open and the solar flux indeed comes in around 190-200, you should be able to easily work some nice DX with your 5 watts.  This is the first such opportunity I have seen in a long time.  Unfortunately, I will be at work tomorrow, installing some experimental 74 and 300 MHz receivers onto some VLA antennas.  Maybe I can sneak my 817 into one of the tool bags?

Let us know if you snag any good catches, or how conditions sound at your QTH. The way I figure it for right now … turning on your 100W coffee pot and 500W shack heater to get your 5W on the air will be worth it -hi.

GL to all.
72, Paul

Current solar and geophysical conditions are always here:
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/today.html
or … http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/SWN/index.html

Alerts and warning here:
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/alerts/warnings_timeline.html

And, current solar flux values here:
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/ftpdir/latest/curind.txt
-1 means no data or the station is currently “in the dark”

Good news! Too bad I am stuck here at work!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!