Rare second post for the day:
Skywarn Recognition Day starts tonight night at 7:00 PM EST and runs all day Saturday until 7:00 PM EDT. That would be December 2, 2023 from 0000UTC to 2400 UTC.
Rare second post for the day:
Skywarn Recognition Day starts tonight night at 7:00 PM EST and runs all day Saturday until 7:00 PM EDT. That would be December 2, 2023 from 0000UTC to 2400 UTC.
Last night, during the event, the K Index was zero and the Geomagnetic Field was "Very Quiet". The CMEs had not had their effect .......yet. This morning is a different story with the K index up at 7 and the Geomagnetic Field is described as "Severe Storm". I can see why forecasters are saying band conditions may deteriorate throughout the day. As an aside, despite the claims being made on social media, I was not able to see any Aurora last night - I checked before hitting the sack at 10:30 PM, once during the night around 2:30 AM and then when I awoke at 5:00 AM. It may well be visible tonight, but par for the course, rain and clouds are forecast for later this afternoon through Sunday.
As I said, last night band condition were nice. I found Milt K4OSO pretty easily. He was the Upper Fox and had a very nice signal - truly 579. It took a while to work him as he seemed to be inundated with K4 stations, but once they thinned out, I was able to snag him at 0240 UTC. He was originally listening about 2 kHz up, but had to move his listening frequency down a bit when the 3rd Section CW Traffic Net started up.
Steve WD4CFN was a bit more of an elusive quarry for me. He was the Lower Fox and it turned out that he was parked on a frequency which had a lot of local QRN on it. If an observer were standing next to me and was listening on the outboard speaker, they would have never heard Steve. Thank you Elecraft for the APF function on the KX3. That was the only way I was able to pick out Steve from the background noise.
Let me back up a few minutes. Before finding Steve, I had to first locate his pack of howling Hounds. That was not an easy chore at first, even using the KX3's sub receiver and Dual Receive function. When I had that turned on, the idea was that the Fox would have been in my left ear and the pack in my right. However, my right ear is really bad .......REALLY BAD! I'll talk about that in a little bit. I had to flip the headphones, and once I did that, I was able to locate the baying Hounds with my left ear. It was like they came out of nowhere! Of course, they were there all along, my right ear just couldn't hear them, and that jolted me. I knew my right ear was bad, but that really brought home "how bad"!
That frequency plugged into VFO B, I flipped the headphones back and began the search for Steve, beginning around 1 kHz down. Nothing at first, but once I turned the APF on, he was a pretty easy find. It was just a matter of time and I finally worked Steve at 0305 UTC. Steve was 559 at best, so that's the report I gave him.
I really need hearing aids. My left ear is still not terrible, but the right one is. In situations like these Fox Hunts, I am either going to have to keep flipping headphones or go the old fashioned route and not using the Dual Receive feature on the KX3 until I remediate the right ear situation. I'm hoping to do that after Christmas. I want to make an appointment with the hearing lab at Costco. Marv K2VHW got his hearing aids there and he recommends them without hesitation and absolutely raves about them - and the prices are way better than the Miracle Ear office that I went to for my hearing evaluation. I could buy the high end Elecraft K4D for what they were asking for a pair of hearing aids - and those were their "less expensive" ones!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Today and tomorrow, December 1st, we will be feeling the effects of three CME's all headed our way. NOAA ,as well as a private meteorologist that I follow and trust (he is amazingly spot on when forecasting winter storms and how they will affect New Jersey) are both predicting that even New Jersey might be able to see the Aurora resulting from these ejections.
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/g3-strong-geomagnetic-storms-now-likely-01-dec-full-halo-cme
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/g1-and-g2-watches-30-nov-1-dec-2023
To which I say:
That seems to be always the way it is around here. I've never seen the Northern lights except in videos. Heck, I've only seen the Milky Way from up in Lake George. I'd sure like to see the Aurora, but ........
And tonight is the 80 Meter Fox Hunt. Should be interesting. As of this moment, in the early morning, the K Index is still 1 and the Geomagnetic Field is still very quiet. I expect that will change drastically, sooner than later.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least.
So what Ham Radio goodie are you asking from Santa this year?
It's been a long time since I've asked Santa (Marianne) for anything Amateur Radio related, but this year I have asked for one of these:
The Elecraft AX-1 and the 40 Meter coil extender (and the little base thingy that supports it on a table)For the last week, the CW portions of the bands have been occupied virtually, wall to wall, in preparation for CQ WW DX and for the duration of the contest itself. After the St. Max Net ended on 75 Meters at 0030 UTC last night, I went up to the higher bands for a quick listen.
Pffffffffft! Zilch, zero (well not totally zero, but compared to the contest period), nothing.
I understand that after putting in multi-hour efforts most contesters pull the plug for some much needed rest. But what of the rest of the week? People will say the bands are dead and blame propagation. I have a feeling it's not a lack of propagation, but more a lack of participation.
If the bands can be wall to wall for a contest, they can be much better than dead for the rest of the time. I, myself, used the contest just to cherry pick a few DXCC entities that I have worked before, but were never confirmed on LOTW. I'm hoping that maybe this time will be a charm.
And of course, there are the QRP Fox Hunts, POTA stations to be worked and rag chews to be had. The bands aren't dead because of bad band conditions, we just need some bodies on them making noise!
Oh, and by the way, now that the big contest is over, the K Index is back down to 1, and the Geomagnetic Field is "Very Quiet" ..........of course!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
CQ WW DX will be dominating the weekend. There are no other contests or even Special Event Stations scheduled for the weekend.
Personally, I'll be chasing 4W8X in Timore-Leste again. I worked him on 15 Meters a while back, but I checked in ClubLog and I'm not in their log. However, W2LO is in their log on 15 Meters twice - while all his other band spots occur only once per band. That leads me to think they didn't hear that first dit in "J" and logged me as W2LO. C'est la Vie - but if I can work them again this weekend, that will make C'est la Vie a bit easier to take.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
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I mentioned yesterday about a Thanksgiving Special Event Station that I used to enjoy working. I thumbed through my collection of certificates last night and found this one:
The Whitman Amateur Radio Club in Massachusetts used to put WA1NPO on the air from the Plimoth Plantation. This certificate is 39 years old!
I Googled the Whitman ARC and they are still doing this! Here's the details from their website:
Plimoth Patuxet Museums annual event returns Thanksgiving 2023 weekend.
Thank You to all Check-ins and those participated last year !!
Hours: Setup Friday Nov 24'th 10AM to 12PM
On the Air time Sat Nov 25'th 9AM to about 3PM
On the Air time Sun Nov 26'th 8:30AM to about 3PM
Take down about 3PM
We will be using special event callsign NI1X monitoring the WA1NPO repeater on 147.225 Mhz Tone 67.0.
Our HF station will cover 80 through 10 Meters.
It's nice to see they're still doing this so many years later! They also mentioned that they will be posting their HF activities to the DX Cluster. I think I'm going to keep an eye out for them and will try to work them again for old time's sake.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Before getting into weekend happenings - the NorCal 40 is back - this time offered by NM0S Electronics, with the express permission of Wayne Burdick N6KR. Details at:
Contests
SARL Field Day Contest - http://www.sarl.org.za/public/contests/contestrules.asp
LZ DX Contest - http://lzdx.bfra.org/rulesen.html
ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, SSB - http://www.arrl.org/sweepstakes
Special Event Stations
11/18/2023 | 1st Transatlantic Ham Radio QSO (1923)
Nov 18, 1400Z-2200Z, K3S, Baltimore, MD. Nuclear Ship Savannah ARC. 7 14 21 28. QSL. ULIS FLEMING, 980 PATUXENT ROAD, Odenton, MD 21113. Operating from the ship. Please check the spotting networks since we may be operating anywhere on 40, 20, 15, or 10m SSB or CW. qrz.com/db/k3s
11/18/2023 | Collins ARC 40th Anniversary
Nov 18, 1400Z-2000Z, W0CXX, Cedar Rapids, IA. Collins Amateur Radio Club. 7.180 MHz 14.263 MHz 21.380 MHz 28.380 MHz. QSL. Collins ARC 40th Anniversary SES, 1110 Lyndhurst Dr, Hiawatha, IA 52233. https://www.qrz.com/db/W0CXX
11/18/2023 | Liga Colombiana de Radioaficionados 90th Anniversary
Nov 18-Nov 19, 1700Z-2359Z, 5J3L*, Bogota, COLOMBIA. Liga de Radioaficionados de Bogota. 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10 meters; CW, FT8, and SSB. Certificate. See website, for , information, COLOMBIA. *And an additional 10 call signs: 5K0LR, 5K1LR, 5K2LR, 5K3LR, 5K4LR, 5K5LR, 5K6LR, 5K7LR, 5K8LR, and 5K9LR. This is an operating event. www.ligaradiobogota.org.co
11/18/2023 | November 2023 Bug Roundup
Nov 18-Nov 20, 0000Z-0000Z, W6SFM, Fair Oaks, CA. Samuel F. Morse Amateur Radio Club. 14.033 7.033 3.533. QSL. John E. Geyer, Samuel F. Morse Amateur Radio Club, 4901 Minnesota Ave, Fair Oaks, CA 95628. Grab that bug, clean those contacts, and let'er fly! Let's hear that "Banana Boat/Erie Swing" or that commercial KPH/WCC quality fist. Switch off that keyer! Fill the ionosphere with home grown digital music and have some fun! No exchange for the event, just a relaxed QSO talking about whatever you want. https://w6sfm.org/bug-roundup
Hmmmmmmmmm - I remember every year (when I wore a younger man's clothes) there was a club that held a special event from Plymouth Plantation in Massachusetts to celebrate Thanksgiving. It doesn't appear on the ARRL Special Event schedule. I used to enjoy trying to work them every year.
And my Fox Hunt streak did come to an end last night, with my getting only one Fox pelt - that of Jim N0UR in Minnesota. Jim heard me relatively early at 0213 UTC, and the exchange went like a breeze. Jim's signal was not overpowering, (and I'm sure mine wasn't either), it was a true 559, and that was enough to get a "mission accomplished".
Wayne N4FP was another matter. He was barely audible at my QTH. I had to turn on the KX3's APF (Automatic Peak Frequency) feature to even hear him. Switching between the W3EDP and the Butternut did not help in any shape, way or form. I threw my callsign out several times when I felt he was decently audible, and that I might hear a reply. I did get admonished with an "UP" after I called him on his frequency once thinking that he had switched operating from split to simplex. No - that was a goof on my part and I apologize if I QRM'ed anyone. I have no idea why Wayne was so weak at my end, when all the other NJ Hounds managed to work him. I truly believe that sometimes South Plainfield is an RF black hole.
I listened intently and tried until about 0320 UTC and hung it up with only the solitary Fox pelt with 10 minutes to go. It was a long day at work, and after, I went for a hearing evaluation. It was determined that I have minor hearing loss in my left ear and significant hearing loss in my right ear. I will need hearing aids, but I need to save up some $$$ and check out my options. I can't afford to spend 5K on hearing aids right now.
Have a good weekend, everyone!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
QRP Image of the Day
A couple of iterations of the Four State QRP Group Bayou Jumper - photo by Gary Chambers, Jr.
So the question for the day is, will my newly found QRP Fox Hunt streak come to an end tonight? Will my luck finally run out?
Tonight's Foxes for the 80 Meter Hunt are Jim N0UR in Minnesota and Wayne N4FP in Florida. Just wondering if either or both of those two states are too long of a haul for a QSO from New Jersey on 80 Meters. Jim has always had a decent signal to New Jersey, but I have my reservations. I don't have my AC Log on this computer. I'd like to open it up and look up the previous contacts I've had with both of these Foxes to see if any have ever been on 80 Meters. Tonight will tell, I'll just have to be patient (not one of my strong suits). And if I do work either Fox tonight, which will be the hero - the W3EDP or the Butternut?
No radio last night except for a brief check-in to K2VHW's Middlesex County Chat Group Net on 70cm on the way home from the Middlesex County Fire Academy last night. We had our monthly CERT training and last night was a review of basic firefighting using fire extinguishers for small trashcan type fires. Each one of us got the chance to extinguish a small controlled burn set by the Chief of Firefighting Education at the Academy.
The keyword in those situations is PASS
P - Pull the pin
A - Approach (staying as low as possible) the fire and aim the nozzle at the base of the fire
S - Squeeze the handle of the extinguisher.
S - Sweep the nozzle from side to side.
Two other important points:
NEVER turn your back on a fire - while approaching or leaving, even if you think you've extinguished the fire. Always back away. Secondly, always have a "buddy" go with you if at all possible. This second person is there to guide you as you back away as well as to help you should something unexpected happen.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!