I have been operating for 50 years this month. So seen several sun spot cycles.
I have been operating 50 years this month, so I have lived through several sun spot cycles. One has to move with the cycle. Now is the time to begin experimenting and working out how to best get on 160, 80, 60, and 40 meters. You will not work a VK or JA in the middle of the night on 20 meters for the next couple of years, but it is possible to work one early in the morning on 80 meters. 10 meters will come back, just not for micro watt DX for a few years. Good antenna, good operating skills and a good receiver will let you communicate at present anyway with a low sun spot number, now if BPL comes about then that is a different story. But today is the time to figure out how you are going to do it. I worked all states on 75 SSB the last low number and had fun doing it. No the antenna was not something super, it was just a simple dipole about 18 ft off the ground. KL7 and KH6 were tough but I got both of them confirmed. Many of today's operating problems are no one wants to be first to call CQ. Tune your antenna, find out where the gang is hiding out, there are several hot spots on 80 CW. You can work 200 to 400 miles any night on 80 and often with the minimum you can hook up with Europe or a VK. PSK31 works great on 3580 with just a watt to a warbler. Really cheap radio, fun to build, fun to operate. I never did put mine in a case, Just put some standoffs on the boards and let it sit in front of the computer, I thought it look cute. Now sun flares are bad news, not sure what to do when they are destroying our reflective layer, maybe that is when we have to work the locals on VHF. But the flares only last a day or so. AGAIN I REPEAT - NOW IS THE TIME to tune up some wire for 80 meters, sharpen your operating skills and make sure you have a good receiver, if you have a K2 you are third of the way there already. De Stan ak0b _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
