The bands

After a few days with some sunspots and an elevated solar flux; I see the trend is heading back down. The sunspot number has returned to zero and the solar flux is waning.

There was some activity on the higher bands today, however. On 15 Meters I was listening around and heard Zambia, Aruba and Guyana. I also listened in on a conversation, where a station on St. Croix was describing the weather - sunny, 88 degrees F and a nice breeze. That's certainly enough to make one envious! He was running 100 Watts into a compact portable vertical (not sure which one) and was booming into NJ at 599.

On 17 Meters I worked Barbados and on 20 Meters I worked the Canadian Olympics Special Event Station VG7V. Nothing too new and exciting; but at least I got some on-air time in. Zambia would have been nice; but it seemed to be a private QSO and the two stations moved on in frequency.

There was also a VERY interesting post on the NJQRP reflector today. George N2APB brought up the possibility of an NJQRP Forum to be held one Saturday, very possibly in the near future. It would be a very abbreviated, one evening event (4:00 - 7:00 PM) at a hotel in or around Princeton, NJ.

The possible scenario would be an hour or so "Mini QRP Hamfest" with socializing and milling about, perusing the wares. This would be followed by a "family style" dinner - featuring whatever the restaurant's specialty might be. Then a QRP presentation or two similar to what has been held at Atlanticon in the past.

I'm excited about the possibility of this occurring; as the full blown Atlanticon was always something out of reach for me; due to work and my kids being in school. One evening, however, is certainly do-able.

73 de Larry W2LJ