More Propagation Woes...

So far this month I have not done a single outdoor activation, in fact I've hardly been on the radio at all. Between the very high heat and humidity, and the lousy propagation, I just haven't felt the "love"....and that's OK, sometimes a nice break is a good thing.

Another reason for my lack of radio activity is that I have sold my van and bought a new truck. Before I can get the truck set up for operating I need to wait for the new canopy to arrive, hopefully that will be in a few more weeks.

While I enjoyed working from the van it was getting old and starting to show its age.  I'm looking forward to many new adventures in the new vehicle, including a cross-country POTA trip next year. Details to follow.

And my last excuse for the lack of operating and posts here is this.....what seems to have become a typical day around here propagation wise:

Stay Safe Out There.......and try and stay cool!!

IARU HF World Championships...

Coming up this weekend is the IARU HF World Championships.  One of the premier contests of the year...if you run power...it's not a particularly good contest for QRPers, but there's always good DX to be found.

The contest runs from 1200 UTC July 8th to 1159 UTC 9th July.

The rules can be found HERE.

Best Day in Weeks...

Today was my best day on the air in many weeks.  It seems the bands and the propagation Gods got their act together and gave us a decent day to play radio!

At 1430 UTC today the propagation numbers were: SFI=158, SN=119, A Index=8, and the K Index=2.  The bad news was that there was still some very deep QSB happening.  After seeing the propagation forecast for the next few days, I'm glad I got out today and operated portable.  Hopefully it will improve considerably in time for Field Day next weekend.

In 50 minutes I managed to get 39 contacts in my log, including a good contact with Mike, CU3HY, in the Azores.  That was my first QSO with Mike since December of last year.  Todays breakdown was 5 contacts on 40m, and 34 contacts on 20m.

Radio was my KX3, the antenna was a 20m or 40m Hamstick, and I was transmitting a whopping 10w.  

Here's todays contact map:

Stay Safe Out There!

Field Day is Coming!! ...

Get ready....coming up on June 24th & 25th is this years edition of Summer Field Day.  

I'm not a huge fan of the new rule changes that the ARRL has made over the past two (3?) years, in fact I think they are really ridiculous. So this year I'm taking part more on a social basis than a serious contesting basis.  And, as I did last year, I'll be operating QRP.

Don, VE3MNE, and myself have been invited down again by the Northumberland County QRP Club.  This is our second year taking part with them.  

We have plans this weekend to refurbish our collection of notch filters that we haven't used in the past 3 years.  I think they probably need a good looking over after sitting in my garage for that long.  The rest of the equipment I'll be taking, masts, antennas, and the camping gear, will also need a good inspection to make sure it is all serviceable for the weekend.

Rule for Field Day 2023 can be found HERE.

Stay Safe Out There!!

Messing with Antennas...

With the Ottawa - Kingston Bike Tour cancelled last weekend, and having a lot of spare time, I took the time to dig out some of my antenna parts and try an experiment.

The one band I have issues with operating portable is 80m. Most of the spots in and around Kingston are not large enough to string up an 80m dipole.  And those that are large enough are normally far too busy with dog walkers, or kids running around to safely use one.  So what is the answer? Well, I threw some Buddipole parts in the van and headed out to the local park to find out.

I took my Buddipole Versahub and tripod legs, the large Buddipole coil, a 17' MFJ collapsible whip, and two 66' radials.  Using these parts I guessed would allow me to get on both 40m and 80m.  Not that I needed another 40m vertical, but this version does have more metal in the air, so that must be a good thing.

Don, VE3MNE brought out his analyzer and had a look at the 40m variant.  We used two 17' ground radials for this antenna. It looked great right from the start, we but tweaked it a little more and got it closer to a 50 ohm match.  The reactance was sitting at +4 when we finished, so I didn't think we could get any better, so on the air we went.

Bob, VA3RCS, told us it sounded very good on air and to leave it alone, he gave us an S9+ report, so we decided to take his advice and not change things, and then we moved to the 80m version.

The 80m version with two 66' ground radials is not so good.  While the analyzer certainly gave us good numbers, and everything looked really good, our quick QSO with Bob didn't go so well.  After giving us S9+ on 40m, he gave us a S3 on 80m, and told us we were right in his noise floor.  Pretty disappointing, and the bottom line is I'm still searching for a solution to get on 80m in the parks.

Here's a few more pics:

Don VE3MNE in action with the analyzer.

A close up of the large coil and the band clips.

More experiments to come......Stay Safe Out There!

A New Day...

Yesterday the band conditions were not very good, and I struggled to get the POTA site activated.  Today, operating at exactly the same time as yesterday, it was a bit different.

It took 42 minutes to put 23 contacts in my log, nine on 40m, four on 15m, and ten on 20m. I was really surprised when Charles, VA6CHK, answered my CQ on 15m.  It's been a long time since I worked any station from Alberta, that's almost as rare as Europe.  Charles was 2774 Km from me, not bad for 10w and a Hamstick!

Todays propagation numbers were:  SFI=164, SN=148, A Index=4, and the K Index=1.  The very deep QSB was a lot worse than yesterday, and I had a number of reports of my signal completely fading away in the middle of a QSO.

Here's todays contact map:

Hopefully band conditions will start to improve soon.

Stay Safe Out There!

Rotten Band Conditions...

Yet another mediocre day on the bands today.  I started on 40m and managed to get two contacts in 10 minutes before I decided to switch to 15m.  That band wasn't too bad as I could hear many European stations calling CQ, as well as being already in a QSO.  But it was not a good day to be calling, or answering, CQ's with QRP power....no contacts on 15m.

After another 20 minutes I decided to give 20m a try, and in the next 12 minutes managed to put ten contacts in the logbook.  Obviously I should have started on 20m and saved the anxiety I had on 40m and 15m.

Propagation numbers this morning were: SFI=169, SN=146, A Index=5 and the K Index=0. There was also a lot of deep QSB on the bands as well.  

I know it's summer and 40m is always flakey, so I think for the next few weeks I'll stick to 20m, 17m, and 15m, at least they seem to work some days.

Radio, as usual, was my KX3.  Antenna used was my Wolf River Mini on my Buddipole versahub, and a Canadian Army 9'5" collapsible whip.

Here's today's map showing my meager contact count:

Stay Safe Out There!!

Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour...UPDATED

This event is cancelled and has been rescheduled for the end of July.

Next weekend, June 10th & 11th, is the 50th running of the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour, and the 15th year the Frontenac Radio Group has provided communications support for the event.  

We do have the threat of rain on us this weekend.  It's only a 40% chance, but it's not a thing we need or want.  The last time we got hit with cold rain was 11 years ago, that year 60% of the riders went down with hypothermia with the tour being abandoned half way, and riders evacuated by bus back to Ottawa.

There are only 1300 riders registered this year, the numbers being reduced from the more normal 2100 due to covid concerns.

For those hams who regularly use the VE3FRG C4FM repeater here in Kingston, please note it will be out of service next weekend and reserved for the Bike Tour traffic only.  If you need a repeater please use the VE3KBR repeater on 146.940- with a 151.4 tone.

As of yesterday, June 6th we are under an air quality watch due to forest fires in Ontario and Quebec.  We, here in Kingston, are in the worst of the smoke and as a result our air quality is the worst.  I'm actually hoping they cancel the tour as I don't think it's safe....but the decision to go / no go, will be made tomorrow.

Here's the air quality map:

Stay Safe Out There !!