Well, it's certainly the 13th as far as the weather, and my health go. 0 degrees F outside, blowing wind, and ice under snow. Scruffy is going outside for about 30 seconds max. #2 is freezing in seconds after it hits the ground.
Every locale has its bragging rights about how wimpy the locals are about cold and snow. My guideline is that if it is cold enough to kill you, and the dog does not want to go out, it is too cold/snowy. Yesterday and today meet those no-go conditions.
Good thing I have lots of toilet paper. And my antenna farm held up well.
This weekend, there was a band opening on 10 meters (28 MHZ). From being without contacts, now the contesters took over, and breaking into a pileup (one station being worked by many) was near-impossible. And if you were not in a contest, they ignored you. I did get an SSB contact on 6 meters (50.110 USB). The other station immediately got my call, acknowledged, and left, leaving me breathless. The 10 meter madness must have driven someone else frustrated with 10 to seek 6, and discovering I was just a plain US 2x3 call in the Midwest left them with no interest in a QSO.
Many hams are like that. If you are not the DX they want, they'll dump you. It's high school. You learn to deal with it. 10 meters was worse. All they want is new record. Contesters are simply loonies, like furries in fandom.
2 meters was more fruitful, locally. Some old timers helped me out with antenna questions. That is what ham radio is supposed to be.
Obama is triangulating. He's no choice. It's going to be a bad two years for divided government. And, perhaps, to 2016 as well. The economy, for most in the world, is no better. All I can do is pray to be lucky. I really can't change more in the outside world. It's just like ACA- you have to heal yourself first. The world is a giant, dysfunctional, alcoholic family. The US, state, and local governments are starting to get into a more severe stage of dysfunction. They have yet not gotten to Step One yet.
Stuck inside today by my guts. Scruffy is wisely napping. It's the radio, internet, and UVerse today.
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4 comments:
Park it on 28.400 and call CQ. You can also look for the 10-10 calling freq, that should give you some nice contacts on 10. Pounded TX, FL, and some points east that way a couple of years back. Grabbed my one and only Aeronautical Mobile call that way too.
28.38 and 28.425 were both within 3 KHZ of pileups, so both 10/10 calling freqs were not useable. 28.4 got me nothing, as usual. Why work the US calling freq, when there is overseas DX to chase?
And 10 was just about the only band in town: band conditions were hash elsewhere. 15 meters is a wonderful band (with it's cousin 40 meters), but all the cool kids want to be on 160, or 80 if they're drunk, or can't tune up. :)
At night, activity on 10/12/15/17 goes away. These are great bands, very low noise for HF, but just like 6, nobody plays on them because all the cool kids have split for 160/80/40/20. Nobody likes to think of playing regional contacts, when they have the chance to chase DX. 30 meters looks lovely for PSK-31 contacts. 20 is crammed, and jealously guarded by nets. 40 is the best for me of these, as it tunes up nicely. But, I'm stuck with CW until I pass my General (hopefully in about two months). 15/17 are wonderful for me during daylight hours (although I'm locked out of 17, until I get my General).
On 6 meters, I have my vertical at 30' AGL base, and have a better chance at reaching some regional contacts. I'm shocked at how few of the ops on 10/6 are using horizontally polarized antennas. It seems that surplus 11 meter antennas are the choice for many 10 meter ops, and the 6/2/70 antennas are very easy to use for a main vertical.
I have no room at the Doghouse for a beam of any kind. Rats. Only so many square feet on the roof...
Additional: 2 M FM is around for a reason. It's easier to operate, cheaper, requires less antenna, and you can get some fair regional coverage normally, and DX during tropo. The old timers I've talked to have a simplex DX spotting freq of 147.6 locally for just that reason. Due to HF propagation problems for local reception, 2 meter FM works so much better for distances of less than 100 km, than HF.
No wonder 6 is so deserted. Too much expense to get on, for too few contacts. I' trying PSK-31 on 50.385, as it has potential. But the number of contacts on 6 is very low.
50.125 and 50.4 are usually dead, here in STL, except for the odd net. Same story for 10 meters. 28.12015 for PSK-31 is also being tried by me.
I've also had some luck on 446.0 FM. UHF ops are rarer than VHF ops, but they are happy to respond if somebody comes up on the calling freq. Nobody has a problem with 446.0 being used for QSO's, as with 146.52. Lots of Illinois ops on 446.0.
Chasing DX on 10m is going to take a lot better band conditions than what we have seen recently. A year or two out maybe. The boys on the coast have a better op for working Europe or Asia than we do in the middle of the country. South and Central America are definitely doable even when conditions are not that good. Keep an ear for the beacons around 28.280. That will give you a good idea of which way the band is best.
Most of my contacts on 10 have been off of 28.400. I have less luck on 28.425. Then again most of my good 10 contacts have been in the evening when conditions availed themselves due to the atmosphere being wacky.
I'm definitely aware of the boys on .6. Bunch of guys I know are always up there (K0HHB, WB0SND, K0GSV etc). Would have been nice if the lids with a bug in their bonnets hadn't made the complaints about them crossbanding to a repeater for better use.
I'll also note that this really isn't the greatest time of year for 6 IMHO. Spring is a lot better and you'll find that the tropo for 6 really gets active as you approach summer. Oh, try a dipole or a loop on 6. Horizontal polarization does a whole lot better on 50 mhz than a vertical.
I'm not a fan of the Antron 99 and their ilk on 10. Verticals might work well for FM and the boys that can heist one on top of a tower or have acres of field for ground radials. On the lower bands they work out quite well but you will get better performance for 10 and 6 if you go horizontal with a loop or dipole.
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