Solar Storm Inbound...(Updated)

The current geomagnetic storm watch has been upgraded to include the possibility of a strong (G3) level geomagnetic storm within the next 24 to 48 hours. This is in response to the possible combined effects of two CMEs that occurred on Friday and Saturday that will be sweeping past Earth.

This is the first time I have ever seen the K7 and G3 warning posted. I think it will be a rough few days on the bands.

UPDATE:

The G3 Solar storm continues, and will continue for the next 24 hrs. They expect it to degrade to a G2 storm on Wednesday. Here are the updated predictions:

Sunday on 10m...

Today was one of those rare winter days here when the temperature goes above zero, in fact when I left home this morning it was +3C...a heatwave here for this time of year!! The ground is still frozen solid, and there are lots of places still covered in ice which makes setting up antennas interesting.

The propagation report for today was pretty good, in fact it was probably the second best day this cycle so far. Todays numbers were: SFI=210, SN=203, A Index=11, and the K Index=1.  

Once I reached a park that had a clear parking lot that you could actually park in, I set up my KX3 and a 10m Hamstick, and got to work.  Within minutes I had the UK, Italy, Spain, and the Czech Republic in the log.  It was just a great morning on the band.  

The other noticeable thing today was the S1 noise floor.  There was no straining to hear the weaker stations, I don't think I worked anyone who was less than S5 today.

I'll be back out tomorrow and see what I can work then, maybe I'll try 15m as well.

Here's todays contact map:

Stay Safe Out There!

A New Antenna...

A package arrived at the VE3FI Shack today, a brand new JPC-12 portable antenna.  It's a great piece of kit, and I'm looking forward to using at soon as the ground in Eastern Canada has thawed out.

It is, here in Eastern Canada anyway, a three season antenna.  I doubt the ground spike would last very long being banged into the frozen ground at -30C around here.

The antenna is supposed to work on 40, 20, 17, 15, and 10m.  While I have not been able to test it yet myself, there are plenty of Youtube videos out there showing how it is used and its good performance.  It comes in a very nice case, and is built very solidly and looks and feels to be of a high quality.  My only issue is that it does not use the now standard 3/8x24 thread.  Instead it uses whatever thread the hams in China use - so I can not use my Buddipole parts and coils to "experiment" with it.

I will be the first to admit that the so-called "manual" is an absolute joke.  It's written in a form of quasi-English used by nobody in particular, on a deserted island, in the West Pacific.  It also has a few pages written in Chinese.  The first time I use it will be spent with my analyzer trying to figure out the coil and whip setting for the various bands....I have looked on line to see if anyone has already done this, but have found nothing.

Given the weather we are currently having here ( -35C here today ), it will be a while before I can get it out into the field and test it.

Here are some pictures of it in the case:

Until next time, Stay safe out there!!