And Marv K2VHW sent me this:
IPS FLARE ALERT - PART A
START OF FLARE EVENT
ISSUE TIME: Tue Apr 21 11:55:15 UTC 2015
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A Flare (Greater than C8 in X-ray Flux) Has Just Started At:
1153 UT on 21-04-2015
Further Information Will Be Issued At the End of the Event
Australian Space Forecast Centre
IPS Radio and Space Services
So today might not be too good of a QRP day at lunch. Just thinking out loud. But you never know, because sometimes when you assume things - even obvious things, you can look pretty darned foolish when all is said and done.
When I worked at Sinar Bron, for a lot of my years there, I had a boss who was an engineer in a previous career. And every now and then we would be working on a problem and he would offer a solution. And I'd say to him, "That's all well and good, but in real life .......". Inevitably, I would immediately get "that look". No offense to you engineer types out there, but sometimes what works out on paper doesn't always coincide with the real world. He had a hard time grasping that concept. So it just may be interesting to see if what appears on "paper" above, compares with what I actually find out on the bands in a few hours.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
My lunch time result was one QSO with Jim, K8CMX/4, who is on vacation in South Carolina. From Facebook, I was able to see his portable station, which was a KX1 to a Buddistick mounted on the third floor balcony where he is staying.
So how did you do? I got on the air a little and found a few KP4s on the air and made an effort to work a JY4 on RTTY. Found out after making a few domestic QSOs that I was under the big orange blackout zone (which was centered on Puerto Rico...). I guess the propagation does what it wants to do.
ReplyDeleteI made one contact and that was a struggle. I had a 2X QRP QSO with Jim K8CMX/4. Signals were weak (both ways) and QSB was deep. I heard a couple of DX signals on 17 and 15 Meters. These stations must have been using megaQRO, as I was able to hear them easily, but could not make myself heard.
ReplyDelete72 de Larry W2LJ