May 27, 2008 07:10 by
W4INF
According to "predictions", this is a good day for prop up to 10mhz, but... in reality I hear 1 CW QSO and 1 Net with people asking for a relay on 40. 30m, nothing. Should we check 80m? Maybe, it can be used in the daytime but mostly it is open at night. So, today is a good day for other activities... like, cutting grass or taking a nap because I dont think calling CQ is going to be very productive.
May 25, 2008 13:05 by
W4INF
Well, today was yet another very sad day for HF, only 1 loud 59 station on the air, he said he was working a full KW so... that was pathetic. Not for him, just saying... the condx was pathetic. He heard me, I was logging into an SE station which was nice, I got a 56, 57... but I was 100w with the "W4INF Hamstick Doublet" (which will be detailed later on this site). Im thinking to myself... "Self... If conditions are not much better next month, Field Day 2008 will really suck". Well, I WAS planning on running battery & QRP for FD, but... Looks like Ill be running 600w and be praying Ill get a contact in my logbook!
May 23, 2008 11:50 by
W4INF
May 22, 2008 10:16 by
W4INF
May 22, 2008 04:08 by
W4INF
Well, today's SSN is ZERO and Ive heard it better on another ZERO day. I could not buy a contact today, even if one had a Buy it Now on Ebay. Sometimes I wonder why I even got into this hobby. I do hope things get better, soon. I really would like to work a contact. I may have to resort to calling a local op to do groundwave just to keep my skills up. I tuned several bands, not above 14mhz and mostly was dead. I did hear some activity on CW on 40m and a few good sounding stations on SSB 40m but I knew they were running LL, no way my 100w was going to be heard there. I dont even like SSB.
May 19, 2008 12:46 by
W4INF
Just a neat image I found, does not take us up to current day but you still get the idea.
May 19, 2008 12:30 by
W4INF
May 19, 2008 12:20 by
W4INF
OMG! Condx are terrible! Sunspot is 30, but Ive had better contacts
with ZERO just last week. Ive been waiting for days for the SSN to
come up for better prop but it didnt seam to help a bit. All the bands
I tune up are for the most part, DEAD. Ive hear 2 SSB QSOs on 40m but
QSB was so bad, they faded into nothing where they were a Q5. At the
bottom where the best mode works with the least power... CW QSOs are
not heard at all. Well, maybe in a day or two.... or a week or two...
or month.... At this stage of Cycle 24, I think were still at the
bottom and trying to come up... As slow as the cycles move Im sure it will take about a year to see really GOOD conditions.