February 1 Update on DX and Lowband Activity

DX

January was interesting - the Palmyra and VP8 dxpeditions generated a lot of interest and a lot of contacts.  the VP8 crew were certainly braving the elements to keep the island on the air.  I was not able to work either group, but now that VP8 is on Thule as VP8 I’ve been able to hear them faintly on 40m so I’m confident I will get them in the log this week.  Another VP8 will be up and running later this month, so lots of activity from the Southern Ocean.  Speaking of that, got my card from St. Helena for 12m and 15m, ATNO for me. 

Please keep the DX Code of Conduct in mind as you work the DX  www.dx-code.org

Low Bands

My vertical continues to work well with the loading coil on 80m.  This weekend, I built a similar coil for 160m, and it tunes up well, I hope to put it on the air this week.  I bought some weather proof DC connectors to use in swapping the coils out.  Basically, I have a plug on each coil, plus a plug on the open ends of the feed wire to the antenna, so that I can easily change them out.  I made a stub connector with another plug, basically just soldered the ends together, that allows me to use the antenna without the coils on 40-6 meters.  The LDG autotuner at the base of the antenna continues to work well.  Pictures of the coils and the connectors are below.  

This weekend I spent some time on 40m, and I found it to be in great shape around 0300z on the 31st.  I worked Ukraine, Kuwait, Slovenia, and Bulgaria with great signal reports.  I’m only running 100w from the Kenwood TS-590s.

6 Meters

 I noticed several good openings on 6 meters during January - none during the ARRL VHF contest, however.  As I’ve said before, I remain convinced there is more opportunity than we know on 6 meters, we just aren’t on there enough.  Listen and call and see what happens, and watch the DXMaps site for openings.

Finally, remember the meteor scatter crowd most mornings on 50.145 around 0700z 

Please send along any reports you have and I will include them here as they come in.

Volume Two Number One - More Low Band Activities

DX

I had been watching two Dxpeditions carefully, the Willis Is, and Seychelles.  No luck hearing the Willis Is team, but  better luck with Seychelles, after 20 minutes of calling I managed to get through on 20 meters about 2030z on November 19th. They had a steady signal, and the op, whom I believe to be EI9FBB was handling a huge pileup well.   Of note was a group of US hams who thought it would be fun, I suppose to set up on 14.261 (the dx was on 14.262) and run high power and speech processors.  I was pleased that the DSP on my Kenwood TS-590s allowed me to notch them out and still hear the DX.  I will never understand the mindset of interfering with other transmissions.  Shall we all review the DX Code of Conduct again? www.dx-code.org

Looking ahead, January will present a number of rare and semi-rare entities for DX.  Make sure that your equipment is ready, perhaps by spending some time listening at times and frequencies that you expect the DX to be active and workable in your area.  Dxsummit.fi and dxwatch are both good sites to use.  Review the DX web site for more specific guidelines on times and frequencies and modes.  Please remember: the good Lord gave you two ears and one mouth.  That’s a great ratio for success in DXing.

Low Bands

As you know, I’ve been working to optimize my 43’ vertical (an S943v) for 80m.  I built a loading coil for the base, and added two more 65’ radials.  I’m pleased to report a 1:1.2 SWR focused on the 3.790 - 3.800 DX Window.  Even better, I’ve made good contacts both stateside (the Arkansas RazorBack Phone net is very reliable at 1230z and 1830z on 3.987.50) and across the pond . . . just in the last week Wales, England, Belgium, and Spain for example.  Around midnight my local time 0600z there is usually a group of hams on 3.799.9 in Europe, and they will all want to work you if you make contact with any of them.  A really good group of folks.

Not much time on 40 or 160 so far.  Hearing good things about 30m from 0200z to 0400z, especially into Asia from the central US.

My next project is a 160 coil for the vertical, to provide better SWR and performance on that band.

6 Meters

On two days the week of November 16th, there have been fairly large openings in the middle of the country on 6, but on both occasions the cloud seemed to be right over me in EM55 and I only heard snatches of conversation, never  clear call to respond to.  Business and family travel kept me off the air before Christmas, but the week after Christmas I spent quite a lot of time with the radio on, periodically scanning the band.  Doing so has helped me to add 3 new grids and one new state on 6m since Christmas Day.  Pretty good for a winter opening.  The band continues to be active, with some west coast openings to VK and ZL.

 

I remain convinced there is more opportunity than we know on 6 meters, we just aren’t on there enough.  Listen and call and see what happens, and watch the DXMaps site for openings.

Finally, remember the meteor scatter crowd most mornings on 50.145 around 0700z 

Please send along any reports you have and I will include them here as they come in.