Not Looking Good...Updated - 1245 UTC, August 20th...

The latest solar weather report sure isn't a good one....looks like a couple of rough radio days ahead of us.

 

Update:  It may be the weekend before we see some reasonable levels...

Update No. 2:  It looks like things will be starting to get back to normal on Saturday, barring 

any further earthbound CME's coming at us...

Update No. 3:  Let's hope this is the last update from this round of the Sun playing games with us.

Well, apparently our dear old Sun hasn't finished with her huge tantrum at the moment.  

Here's the latest update:

Stay tuned for more updates!!

Buddipole Parts, Part 2...

Yesterday morning, Don VE3MNE, and John VE3WTN, and I, drove down to Lake Ontario Park here in Kingston, and did a bit of antenna experimenting.

I took the opportunity to have another look at the Buddipole VersaHub I recently acquired.  This time, instead of using a 17' MFJ collapsible whip, I used my Wolf River Coil Silver Bullet Mini, with a 9.5' sectional whip from an old Canadian Army PRC-25 radio, that works great with it.

I also used two 17' semi-elevated radials....most of them where on the ground, not in the air.

Once we got it tuned with an analyzer, we had it down to 1.2:1 across both 20m and 40m.  So I now have a good option for a second antenna during POTA activations....which is what started this quest in the first place.

To give this set-up a good test I managed to make four quick 20m QRP contacts using the antenna.  First up was Keith, KD5JGD in San Antonio, Texas, 2550 Km away.  Next up was Dan, W0DAN in Marietta, Georgia, 1347 Km away.  Third was Ben, K0BJJ, in Newton, Iowa, 1366 Km away, and lastly was John, KE0VPA, in Collins, Iowa, 1381 km away.  Not too bad for 10w with the KX3.

Propagation was: SFI=124, SN=119, A Index=10, and the K Index=2.

I'm interested in seeing what I can do with just the VersaHub and Hamsticks, so that will be the next experiment I do....stay tuned!

John VE3WTN, with his Xiegu X6100 Radio

Don VE3MNE, contemplating life with his Analyzer

Stay Safe Out There!!

Buddipole Parts...

I haven't used my Buddipole system, except for the telescopic whips, for about 6 years now.  Most of the parts are scattered in various boxes around my garage.  This is because I found that it is easier to use my Wolf River Coil than set up the Buddipole system.

However, I was looking over the Buddipole website the other day and came across one of their new products, the "Versahub".  Immediately, I knew that this was the piece I needed to set up my second antenna for POTA activations.  It's so simple!  Along with the Versahub I also bought the collapsible legs that go with it.

My initial testing has been with my 17' telescopic whip antenna, set for 20m, and a single 17' elevated counterpoise.  So far so good, it definitely shows promise.  Next I plan to try my Hamsticks with it and see how they make out on it.  

Below are some pictures of myself, and Don VE3MNE, testing it out by comparing his 20m Hamstick to the 20m vertical.  I'm going to make more of the elevated counterpoise wires, and see what difference it makes if more than one is used at the same time.  

More to follow as testing continues...

2022 Island QSO Party...

Coming up on the weekend of August 27/28, is this years edition of the W / VE Island QSO Party.   This will be the first time in two years the QSO Party will have been held....all because of Covid.

Those regular readers of my Blog will know that over the last two years POTA has become my "go-to" activity.  So doing the Island QSO Party will be a nice break from what has become my usual daily activity.

All islands in North America, both fresh and salt water, qualify for the QSO Party, so you should have no trouble finding one to activate.

Rules can be found HERE.

Frequencies I'll be using, +/- a few kc are:

7.250,  14.250 - 14.260,  and 50. 130.

Of course, the International Lighthouse Weekend is the weekend before this event, and I'm planning on activating a lighthouse as well this year...now if I could just find an island with a Lighthouse and a POTA number, life would be perfect!!

Stay safe out there!

Radio need Cooling?...

With the heat we have been having over the past few weeks I have noticed that my KX3 tends to get a bit warm at times, and of course the radio has no internal fan to aid in cooling...so I needed a solution.

I went looking for 4" or 2" computer cooling fans that I could rig up to help keep things cool, but nobody around my location stocks them.  

Just by chance I was in a Dollar Store two days ago and came across what was listed as a "personal fan", and it had possibilities.  So, ever the big spender, I coughed up the $3 and bought one.  It's turned out to be  absolutely perfect for the job, keeps the radio cool and I'm no longer worried about over-heating the KX3.

This item runs on two AA batteries:

So if you're looking for a cheap way of keeping your radio cool, have a look for one in your local Dollar Store.  They do the job.

Stay safe out there!

Saturday on the Bands...

After a week of lousy propagation we finally had a not-so-bad day today, and I managed to make contacts on both the west and east coasts.

Propagation this morning was: SFI=114, SN=73, A Index=6, and the K Index=1.

The main problem today was not making contacts, it was suffering through the high temperatures and humidity.  At 1500 UTC it was 32C (88F) with the humidity feeling like 42C (108F).  Not the most comfortable operating conditions, even with the wind coming in off Lake Ontario.

Radio was the KX3 at 10w, and my antenna was 17m, 40m, and 20m Hamsticks.  Yep, three bands, and 33 minutes to get 14 contacts.  

Here's todays contact map from Lemoine Point, VE-5141, Parks on the Air:

Stay safe out there!

2022 IOTA Contest...

Coming up this weekend is the Islands on the Air contest.  It's always interesting working the various islands that pop-up on the air, and I'm sure this weekend will be no different.

This year the dates and times are: 1200 UTC July 30th to 1200 UTC July 31st.

Rules can be found HERE.

Have fun, and stay safe!

Great Day on the Bands...

I decided to finally get out and do a POTA activation today.  The bands have not been the best over the last couple of weeks so I have not been up to too much.  I read today that the experts are calling what has been going on a "Propagation Tsunami" of back-to-back CME's and Solar Storms.

Todays propagation numbers while I was activating were: SFI=111, SN=83, A Index=17, and the K Index=2.

I drove down to Lemoine Point, VE-5141, and in 26 minutes had 24 contacts in my log.  Contacts were made on both 20m and 40m.  

Here's todays QSO map:

Radio in use today was my KX3, set at 10 watts.  Antenna was either a 20m or 40m hamstick, both worked very well.

Hopefully the bands will now start to behave and settle down.

A Tale of Two Hamsticks...

Over the past year I have mainly, for convenience, used Hamsticks for my portable activations, and I have been very happy with them.  The problem I have is switching between the various bands....especially in the winter!  That means getting out of the warm van and changing whips, it's a real pain and takes time, especially when it's -25C.

My hope was that I could set up Hamsticks for two different bands, and just use a coax switch to change bands, it would also speed things up in the long run.

So with this in mind, last week I decided to conduct an experiment with two 20m Hamsticks.  One would be mounted on the roof of my van with a 6" single mag-mount.  The other would be mounted on a camera tripod, and would have five 17 foot ground radials set out.

I set up my KX3 and went searching for a very loud 20m CW signal, and there were lots to chose from that day.

The coax for both antennas was connected to a two-position switch, with a RF isolator placed in line between the switch and the radio.  

Wow, what a difference!!  The hamstick mounted on the van roof was 4 db louder than the one mounted on the tripod.  I knew there would be a difference, but not that much.  Obviously this is not going to work for me.

Hopefully I'll come up with another idea before the snow flies again this year.

The set-up in the back of the van.

Come on Canada!!...

Coming up next month, 0001 UTC August 20 to 2359 UTC August 21, is the International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend.   This year, 2022, is the 25th Anniversary of this event.  The International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend is an annual 48 hour amateur radio event held on the third full weekend in August.

Over the past few years the event has seen very few Canadian Lighthouses on the air.  We have lights on our three coasts and the Great Lakes, surely we can get a few more lights on the air this year?

The website with the Rules and Registration page is HERE.

Let's see if we Canadians can support this event better!

Solar Storm...

This doesn't look too good!!   This is the forecast for Monday to Wednesday.  Wednesday does not look to be a good day for chasing DX or POTA stations.

Updated 1550 UTC 5 July:

2022 IARU HF Championship...

Coming up next weekend, is what should be one of the best DX contests of the year, the IARU HF Championships.  

Hopefully the propagation will improve from the garbage we have been having, the bands will work as they are supposed to, and we will actually make some contacts.  

The idea of the contest is to contact as many other amateurs, especially IARU member society HQ stations, around the world as possible using the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meter bands......I doubt 10m will have much action over the weekend, but you never know, stranger things have happened.

Dates for the event are from 1200 UTC 9th July to 1200 UTC on 10th July.

Rules for the event can be found HERE.

Good luck to everyone taking part!!

Antenna Comparisons...

On June 19th I wrote on this blog that I would like to see what the QSO pattern difference was between my operating using 10w and hamsticks versus my using 5w and a 40m EFHW up at 33 feet.

The EFHW was set up as a sloper along the East to West axis.

One difference in this experiment is that I changed operating locations by 115 km (71 miles) to the west of my home QTH. Another difference is that I dropped the power from 10w to 5w so I was legal under the Field Day rules.

So was there a difference?  Well, not really.  If you look at the QSO maps I have published over the past few months in the articles below this one, and then have a look at my Field Day contact map shown below, you will see virtually no difference in the area my contacts are made in.

Here's my stations Field Day map:

To me this shows that the difference between a 40m EFHW and a properly tuned and set-up 40m hamstick is negligible.  

Stay Safe Out There!

Field Day - the aftermath...

What a weekend!!   After the last two years worth of Field Days with the hundreds of high power 1D stations taking part, this year was very different.

It was a 90 minute drive to our field day location and the weather was just perfect.  It took us no time to set up the two screen tents we would operate from, and the rest. of the camp.  I managed to get one antenna up by late Friday afternoon, which allowed me to chase some POTA stations that evening.  it was a good test of the system.

In the end I ended up with two antennas in the air, a 40m EFHW, which was set up as a Sloper, pointing west, and a 20m vertical (shown to the left).  Both worked very well, especially the sloper.

The propagation on Saturday was: SFI=115, SN=60, A Index=8, and the K Index=3.  Not the best, but better than we were advertised to get.  It was as 28C and we had a good breeze blowing on Saturday to keep the bugs away as they were just horrendous.

At 1800 UTC the bands exploded as Field Day kicked off, and it was only seconds before I had my first contact in the log.  I found that going after the very loud signals to start with really increased my QSO count, I saved the weak stations for Sunday morning when they were getting desperate for contacts and were listening for any new one they could hear.  40m was my go-to band, and I worked the majority of my contacts there.  However, early Saturday evening the propagation went to hell and as a result 40m dried up.

I decided to try 15m, which was a good idea as I made a dozen contacts there, including a solid contact to the southern part of Argentina.  Not too shabby for 5w!!

The propagation numbers for Saturday evening into Sunday were:  SFI=108, SN=60, A Index=16, and the K Index=5.  Not too good at all.

Over the course of Field Day I logged 77 contacts, all 5w SSB QRP.  The interesting part is that after my complaints about the huge number of 1D stations over the past two years, I only worked three 1D stations all weekend, I just didn't hear them.  I did manage to work a large number of club stations with multiple operators...just like the pre-covid days!  And that's a good thing. Maybe we've turned a corner and are slowly getting back to normal?

All-in-all it was great weekend, and all of us there had no problems at all operating at QRP levels.  

I'm hoping it will improve some more before next Field Day!

My station, with the KX3

Don, VE3MNE, not believing the
propagation numbers Saturday evening!

Field Day Preparations Continue...

The preparations continue for Field Day.  This year we are travelling 90 minutes west to Grafton, Ontario, to a site we have used before, when our normal site was underwater a few years ago.

The back of my van currently looks like a cross between a Radio Shack Warehouse and a Camping Store.  There is gear everywhere!!  I didn't realize that I owned so much equipment.  

The weather forecast so far is calling for no rain, and hopefully the propagation Gods smile upon us both days, although it looks like we may have a rough start on Saturday according to Space Weather. 

Don VE3MNE, and I are heading out Friday afternoon to get the camp set up and to try and figure out where we can site and hang our antennas.  This year we plan on operating as a 3A station, made up of a SSB station, a CW, and a digital Station.

The antenna line-up, so far, is a 20m/40m linked dipole dipole, and several EFHW verticals for different bands.  Friday evening and Saturday morning will be spent getting these antennas in the air and checked out....and perhaps making a few POTA contacts.  

Stay Safe Out There!!