View Full Version : Maunder Minimum
The bands have sucked for the last couple of days. If it continues like this, at the low point of this solar Cycle, I'm going to find a new hobby.
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PA5COR
06-01-2015, 01:09 PM
After working Brazil in phone on 160 last year that band sucks big time as well, just Europe, Russia and UK that was it, no USA, not even Canada, even while the Russian stations 5000 miles away were quite good this "winter" .
Getting some stations on 40/20, had a small opening on 10 this week, the rest is yuck.
WØTKX
06-01-2015, 01:42 PM
40 has been pretty good, and even with the low"numbers" 20 has had DX well past sunset.
Alas, 6 meters is now a locals band.
Finally got back on the air on 40m and it's been decent after sundown. Not a lot of DX, but good conditions for transcontinental QSOs. Now might be the time for that HamisLand Net we always talk about but never actually do.
w2amr
06-02-2015, 05:24 AM
We are entering the sporatic E season. 6 and 10 will be opening.
Of all the times to buy a QRP rig and put it on the air. :rant:
Managed to find a TS-130V a month or so back and finally picked it up from the seller last Sunday. Methinks that pea-whistle isn't going to cut the mustard with current propagation conditions.
Even 40M was dead here yesterday. I'm talking silent-as-a-tomb-at-midnight dead.
Hopefully you're right about some good Es openings, George - I haven't gotten around to getting a 6M amp installed in the shack so 10w PEP will have to do.
w2amr
06-02-2015, 08:55 AM
Of all the times to buy a QRP rig and put it on the air. :rant:
Managed to find a TS-130V a month or so back and finally picked it up from the seller last Sunday. Methinks that pea-whistle isn't going to cut the mustard with current propagation conditions.
Even 40M was dead here yesterday. I'm talking silent-as-a-tomb-at-midnight dead.
Hopefully you're right about some good Es openings, George - I haven't gotten around to getting a 6M amp installed in the shack so 10w PEP will have to do. I checked the SWR on my Saturn 6 halo recently, and it was way high. I looked out and there were about 7 pigeons sitting on it. After I chased them the swr was back to where is was supposed to be. Damn birds.
20m seemed fairly active between 04:00z and 05:00z last night. I was tuning through the SSB portion of the band and found more than a few signals from 14.170 to 14.300.
Now, the higher bands have been anywhere from passable (17m) to abysmal (10m & 12m). I'm still waiting for a big Es opening on 6m. :pray:
w2amr
06-02-2015, 11:12 AM
6 just popped open for a while this morning. Heard some stations down south coming through.
w2amr
06-02-2015, 11:34 AM
Just worked WB5JJJ in Arkansas. And N0IGZ in Kansas. The band is hopping.
The opening lasted about an hour, now it's dead again.
The bands have sucked for the last couple of days. If it continues like this, at the low point of this solar Cycle, I'm going to find a new hobby.
OK, then. If you really feel that strongly about it, then just send me your radios and I'll make sure that they have a good home to go to.
The bands have sucked for the last couple of days. If it continues like this, at the low point of this solar Cycle, I'm going to find a new hobby.
.
Your new hobby could be coming here and bitching about how bad the bands are!
https://salescatcher.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/laugh-out-loud-eliminate-pain2.jpg
Just worked WB5JJJ in Arkansas. And N0IGZ in Kansas. The band is hopping.
The opening lasted about an hour, now it's dead again.
One of the shack's 11M rigs is kept on Ch38 LSB as a spotting station and I caught the same opening you did - lots of southern stations. Cloud looks to have been over eastern Tennessee and Kentucky, gauging from what both of us heard. And it faded away quickly here too.
I am glad I am also an amateur astronomer if the bands are quiet..
Oh wait, I live in Ohio.
I am glad I also drink.
Jason N8XE
OK, then. If you really feel that strongly about it, then just send me your radios and I'll make sure that they have a good home to go to.
I'm not planning on going anywhere soon but, I'm gonna put it all in a box and when I go, in my final will and testament I'm gonna leave all my stuff to Fred and Charles.
.
ETA:Recently, I tried to give away some test equipment; didn't have any luck.
KG4NEL
06-03-2015, 10:17 AM
I am glad I am also an amateur astronomer if the bands are quiet..
Oh wait, I live in Ohio.
I am glad I also drink.
Jason N8XE
I just drink.
w2amr
06-03-2015, 05:31 PM
Another nice opening on 6 today. Heard a station in puerto rico working a pileup. I worked a couple of 4's and 5's. I forgot how much fun 6 can be.
K7SGJ
06-03-2015, 07:26 PM
It's almost like.........magic.
WØTKX
06-03-2015, 08:31 PM
The openings didn't quite make it here, yet.
I'm checking for beacons more often now.
w2amr
06-04-2015, 03:41 AM
It's almost like.........magic.Yep, pretty much. I was looking through my old logs yesterday. November of 89 I was on 6 during an F2 opening into Europe . It was amazing.
Yep, pretty much. I was looking through my old logs yesterday. November of 89 I was on 6 during an F2 opening into Europe . It was amazing.
Did you get a chance to work the well-publicized Es event in summer of '88? I had a friend in the shack and was explaining ham radio to him when the band opened to the plains states. 10w from a TV-506 into 3 el at 30ft netted me a surprising amount of DX that night.
w2amr
06-04-2015, 03:39 PM
I worked a lot of openings the summer of 88, most of it stateside. The big f2 opening in 89 was during the SMIRK contest. I'll bet I must have picked up around 30 new grids in 2 days.
n2ize
06-04-2015, 11:40 PM
I just drink.
I just... never mind....
w2amr
06-11-2015, 12:23 PM
Nice opening on 6 yesterday afternoon. Worked a couple of stations in Georgia and Alabama .
I think i need to get a little 6 meter antenna up and try this stuff out. I have never made a single contact on 6 meters in all my years as a ham. In fact, the only thing i have heard on 6 is our local beacon. I never even had 6 meter gear before...now i have no excuse since i have a rig that goes there. I am an HF whore.
Best I ever did on 6m was eastern Oregon from here—700 miles or so. I had a 3-element beam at the time but it got so little use that when a fellow club member said he was looking for one, I sold it to him.
w2amr
06-12-2015, 06:52 PM
I think i need to get a little 6 meter antenna up and try this stuff out. I have never made a single contact on 6 meters in all my years as a ham. In fact, the only thing i have heard on 6 is our local beacon. I never even had 6 meter gear before...now i have no excuse since i have a rig that goes there. I am an HF whore.Here is a quick and dirty way to get on 6.
http://www.gigaparts.com/Product-Lines/HF-Tuners/MFJ-906.html?gclid=Cj0KEQjwhuqrBRCFuPz4ipOx5JIBEiQAZJ7 F-gGkehfKFe7WAVo4Te_jFC8AxL1dZX7ZwuqkxG3MdZIaAlRR8P8 HAQ
I bought one a few weeks ago. My halo was a bit out of tune, but I didn't want to go through the hassle of dropping the tower. Now I get a flat match. It will even load up low band antennas on 6.
K7SGJ
06-12-2015, 07:10 PM
I think i need to get a little 6 meter antenna up and try this stuff out. I have never made a single contact on 6 meters in all my years as a ham. In fact, the only thing i have heard on 6 is our local beacon. I never even had 6 meter gear before...now i have no excuse since i have a rig that goes there. I am an HF whore.
You're half right.........:stickpoke:
Best I ever did on 6m was eastern Oregon from here—700 miles or so. I had a 3-element beam at the time but it got so little use that when a fellow club member said he was looking for one, I sold it to him.
Too bad you weren't around for Cycle 23. Incredible double peak that got me some great EU contacts. Got Alaska (3,350 miles) and Poland (4,288 miles), along with a slew of CA stations.
Cycle 24 has been a major disappointment here.
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