The Weekend in Radio...

It certainly has been a lousy weekend for doing portable radio.  The weather was fine, the band conditions not so much!

On Saturday the propagation numbers were: SFI=149, SN=152, A Index=13, and the K Index=2.  The QSB on both 20m and 40m was very bad on both days, with S9 stations disappearing in seconds and coming back as S1 or S2 before fading away completely.  

The map below shows my contacts on both 20m and 40m.  The majority were on 40m, which is opposite to what was forecasted for that day.  20m should have been the "go-to" band, but it was nearly dead.

Then we come to today.  We have pretty much the same propagation numbers: SFI=140, SN=146, A Index=14, and the K Index=2.  The QSB was still there, but not nearly as bad.  And, as you can see from the map below, my contacts were in and around the same areas.  

Both park activations were done with the KX3 at 10w, and as usual the 20m or 40m hamstick on the roof of my van.  

It will be interesting next weekend, Field Day, to see what my contact plot looks like.  I will be operating about 115 km west of my home QTH, so we will see if a location change, and using wire antennas makes a difference.  My bet is that it will......let's be honest, using wire antennas instead of the hamsticks must make a difference.

Stay Safe Out There !!