Tell me...what is different about today's sunspot report? Yes. you got it. There is actually a sunspot number listed that is not ZERO. With that in mind, let's just muse a little on DX conditions.
I am hearing quite a bit about how bad conditions are, and I must admit that if you are looking to work some rare DX on 10m, 12m, 15m...well..as they say in NY, "fuggedaboudit." That is pretty much how it is on the high side of HF. Although there is the occasional opening on 15m, you can expect that to be rare.
That leaves 17m and down. So here is the good news. I just worked A35EU...Tonga on 40m CW for a new one. They are very light, but the truth is that 40m is actually become a pretty HOT band not that sunspots are routinely ZERO. In fact, I am hearing and working a decent amount of DX on 40m, and that is promising for everyone out there because my 40m antenna is not the biggest kid on the block. I'm using an Alpha-Delta 40/80 dipole as an inverted vee, and it is not extraordinarily high up. However, it is working well...at least on 40m. 80 meters is a different story as the antenna is a little finicky on 80m. For that reason I've been toying with the idea of replacing the Alpha Delta (for the time-being) with an inverted vee cut just of 80m. On 40m I will use the sad but true Cushcraft R7000 which has undergone major trap surgery to get it back to functional...that's a tale for another time.
Alpha Delta DX-DD 80/40 dipole
So we agree that the DX-DD is not the King Kong of the neighborhood, and of course, I would love to be using a 2 element quad on 40 and 80...the stuff that dreams are made of....but alas, we have to go with the space we got. Still, there is a lot that can be worked with tiny sunspot numbers and less than ideal antennas.
For that reason, now is the best time to really go after what you can hear on 40 and 80. That also means calling CQ.
The truth is that if you knew SHE was calling CQ on 40, then you'd be listening, right?
The other day, one of my ham friends said that his other ham friend makes a point of calling CQ when the bands appear dead. How many of us will turn on the radio and then listen for a couple of minutes and make the assumption that the band is dead. I used to do that a lot. Now I have a different attitude because one of the many tools out there to use is an amazing site called www.reversebeacon.net
Here is a screenshot of reversebeacon.net. From left to right you have:
The station that reported me as heard
My call
the frequency
CW and that I am on LOTW
The Signal to Noise Ratio
Keying speed
Time / date
This is important, because you can see that in some faraway places I have a pretty good signal. That means that if we all start calling a bit more, then there may be stations that will hear your signal pretty well. If your SNR is over 15dB, then you should definitely be able to work any stations in that area that have a similar antenna...or less.
In this dull and dreary sunspot cycle, there is still plenty to work. In the last few months I have worked on 40m: A35EU, JA9PPC, 5H3MB, JD1BNA, VP6D, and others. I am especially happy with Ducie VP6D, because the ONLY band that I could hear them on was 40m.
As far as 80m, well there I am on the verge of completing 5BDXCC. I came to 4X in 1998, and I was off the air from 2008 to 2014...that left a lot of catching up to do. So now there is this thing called FT8.
Ah yes, FT8. Some people despise FT8, however, like I said in a previous blog, FT8, and computer-based ham radio could be a blessing in disguise because it attracts young folks to our amazing hobby. On 80m, FT8 appears to be king right now. It is also a way to fill out those lower bands and give you a shot at DXCC or 5BDXCC if you have a limited antenna. So I say embrace it as long as it doesn't drift down into CW territory!!
This is the metaphor for an FT8 kid creeping into CW land....JUST DON'T DO IT !!!
So the bottom line is that the lower bands are our way to go when we are in the low numbers. Go ahead and make those calls, and if I hear you then I will definitely answer! 73 for now Mark 4x1ks
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