Saturday Morning on 17m...

Not a very nice day here in Kingston this morning, it was 7C in heavy rain.  As soon as you stepped out of the front door the damp cold hit you.  But there was no  time to complain, I was off to do a POTA activation at Parrott's Bay, VE-5142, not very far from my home.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much today after the X1 flare and CME warnings that we have had over the past two days.  However, the bands seemed to be in good shape, except for the million and a half rabid contesters all screaming "CQ Contest" on 20m and 40m.  

I knew I wouldn't stand a chance of being heard on either 20m or 40m, so I chose to activate on 17m, something I haven't done before.  

Today's propagation numbers were: SFI=112, SN=82, A Index=3, and the K Index=1.  Those numbers are down from yesterday, but not by much.

Even with the pouring rain it didn't take me very long to set up.  This was the first time I had used my 17m Hamstick so I was off in unchartered territory.  I was a bit worried as there was only two POTA stations on 17m when I started, so I didn't think my chances of being successful were too good.  

It worked great with my KX3 set at 10w.  First in the log was KP4RK in Puerto Rico, he was operating with 5w SSB, and we were 53 both ways.  Later I worked VE5XU, Clarence, in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, and it was 53 both ways as well.  

Tomorrow will be a day off from Radio, well, until at least the evening when the worse of the CME hit has blown through.  

Parrott's Bay from the air.

Today's contact map.