6m Opening From OZ to ZD7.

Interesting time on 6m.

I still have my FT8 monitoring running on 50.313MHz. Today that kind of monitoring gave an interesting result. I did not make a QSO, but I made the following observation:

From about 1542 and 1809 I received ZD7BG, mostly at lower levels, but peaking at -1dB SNR. 

This happens with a sub-par system, running the 6m element of my R-6000 antenna  (feed point at 6m) with an old Tokyo Hy Power handheld radio. The R6000 has very poor performance on 6m, but is quite good on 10-12-15-17-20m.

I could see in my listings on WSJT that several local stations worked QSOs with the ZD7, but I saw this a few hours later.

To me this shows the value of monitoring 6m outside the sporadic E main season.

To be fair, there was some sporadic E on 6m with good signals from Southern Europe. This happens all year round, and the past few days there have been some openings.

Sporadic E alone cannot explain signals from St. Helena, though. The distance is just over 8000km. I suspect that this was sporadic E propagation feeding a signal into the TEP (Trans-Equatorial Propagation) zone. The Solar flux today was relatively low at 115, so F2 propagation is very unlikely. Also, the time of detecting the propagation makes F2 propagation even more likely, as in the North-South paths like this one F2 propagation would peak about local noon.

To me this shows the value of 24/7 monitoring of 6m, especially at times outside the peak of the solar cycle.

29.6 MHz FM Monitoring Now Included on Solar Power.

 Today I located an old CB transceiver for FM, modified for use on 29.310 - 29.600 MHz FM with 10kHz channel spacing.

I found this radio on a ham radio rally a while ago.

Current draw at receive is 200mA, and it will be running for several hours each day.

Why now? Yesterday I had a report of US stations and repeaters coming in on 10m FM, from someone on a local channel on 2m. As I want to join the fun on 10m I will have to improve my monitoring capability.

While on the subject of 10m monitoring, today I did get to hear Europe on 28.200. The OH2B beacon signal suddenly appeared.

As I want to be able to better detect 10m openings I will have to add two more frequencies to my monitor system:

- 28.074 MHz for FT8 reception

- 27.555 MHz. This frequency is used as an international calling frequency for CBers, and can be used as a slightly early warning for 10m propagation.

Initially I should probably locate my old HF3 receivers and some power connectors/cables. Even if they are not very sensitive, with a bit of preamplification they should serve as receivers on those two frequencies. With current draw of about 130mA the 10m monitor system is getting a bit power hungry. 

I may have to try building some very simple equipment for this. I have seen some good ideas. Building does take time, though.

10m Is Alive and Well. Worldwide Openings.

 My monitoring of the International Beacon Project on 10m has really paid off today.

As there is no beacon on the Antarctica continent that cannot count.

Today all the normally populated continents have been heard on 28MHz - yes just one frequency and CW.

Oceania: VK6RBP

Asia:       4X6TU (been there every day for weeks), VR2B

Africa:     CS3B (most days for weeks), ZS6DN

South America: YV5B, LU4AA

North America: 4U1UN

The only beacon in Europe is OH2B, and that is inside the skip distance, so it has not been heard. However, many signals from the Mediterranian  Sea have been heard, and in my 5W/365day challenge I worked EA5NI today. After the QSO I heard a Japanese station calling him. Not too bad with a vertical.

The challenge stands at 271 QSOs this year, so with some breaks some days I should work a few QSOs per day, one or two will likely do it. As I am not limited to any single band that should not be too difficult to do.

If the solar activity continues like it is now, with a solar flux about 140 or higher, I would expect this fall/autumn, winter and spring to be excellent on 10m, and the summer season should provide some excellent sporadic E. I think we will have a few golden years for 10m propagation.

As to 6m, IF the solar activity continues to be above the original prediction I would not be surprised to see F2, TEP and other propagation at the peak of the solar cycle 25. Right now it does look good, but we never know. A wise man once said "Prediction id hard, especially about the future." ;)

Small Update on Reducing Energy Consumption of the Ham Station.

 With the price for electricity going up I have decided to reduce power used by my ham station from the mains network.

The first stage was a small system for using solar power for a part of the station.

Stage 2 I have shut down more of the radios.

My current setup looks like this:

1. My old 7/21/50MHz hand held used as a receiver for 50MHz FT8, running on solar/battery (24/7)

2. The IC705 running HF operation, 5W and mostly CW, solar/battery (day and evening)

3. The IC703 for 10m beacon monitoring on 28.200MHz, solar/battery (day and evening)

4. IC910 2m and 70cm, mainly used for local FM traffic, running on mains power (day and evening)

5. Kenwood TM-D700 running stand-by on local 70cm and 2m RX, mains power

6. Occasional use of the IC7300 for low HF band or 50/70MHz operation

7. Occasional use of the IC7600 for 50MHz band operation

The multiband dipole and the R6000 vertical for 10-12-15-17-20m have been connected to the IC705 with a coaxial switch. This removes the IC7600 from quick use for the high HF bands, and makes the IC705 usable on almost all bands, 6-10-12-15-17-20-40-80m. I still miss 4, 30 and 60m here. Maybe adding an extra dipole for those bands to the multiband dipole will do the job, if there is not too much interaction?

With another coax switch the 30m "long wire" antenna can be connected to both the IC7300 and the HB-1B. The HB-1B can do 30m, but not 60, the iC7300 can do 160 - 4m.

As the IC910 draws more than 2A, just receiving, I need something different for daily stand-by operation for 2m/70cm FM.

At the moment the energy consumption from mains power is considerably lower than last year at the same time, but as I want more versatility and less power consumption I will have to develop the station further. I still have some low power receivers (scanners, HTs etc.) and that will have to be used with the solar power system for monitoring/scanning. More on that later.

The solar power system also has to be improved. More panels, bigger battery (batteries).

I also have to test the RF noise from more advanced solar charge controllers (MPPT types), and possible ways to reduce or fully eliminate RF noise from those.

Back to Monitoring 10m a Bit More.

 In the energy crisis (which is likely to continue for a while, I have reduced the number of radios used for monitoring.

The daily operation runs a 2m/70cm transceiver (the IC-910 at the moment) scanning FM frequencies and making the occasional local QSO. The drawback is the rather high power consumption, about 2A at 12V, so about 25W, just for reception. At the moment the 910 is running on mains power, as the only radio running daily. I may change this into another (FM only) transceiver consuming less power, and still running 2m and 70cm. I do have another (FM) transceiver monitoring a local frequency on each of the  2m and 70cm bands. A mobile rig using about 500mA.

Most of the remaining daily activity runs on my small solar power system:

24/7 monitoring of the FT8 frequency on 50MHz, running an old ("handheld" brick) transceiver with 120mA current consumption.

Day long monitoring of diverse HF frequencies, mostly CW, and a bit of QSOs with 5W, RX current consumption about 300mA

Day long monitoring of 28.200, the frequency on 10m for the International Beacon Project, at the moment using my old IC703 with 600mA current consumption. As soon as I set the 703 to 28.200 the 4X6TU beacon was received with good signal strength. Yes, 10m is open.

There is a possibility of reducing the power consumption of the monitoring system, but this requires some building and other activities. At the moment I am working on getting the heating for the house, so I am ready for the winter, because, as they say: "Winter is coming!"

5W/365/2022 Challenge, And a Surprise.

 Here is a small update on my personal 5W challenge, attempting to work at least 365 QSOs in 2022 with just 5W, and not using weak signal modes, i.e. CW,SSB,AM,FM only.

The status right now is 239 QSOs. 

Several of the QSOs have been on 29.6MHz FM in the last few weeks, so I am not complaining.

By far the most QSOs have been made with CW, and a few with SSB. All bands from 80m all the way to 6m have been in use.

Tonight I had a surprise. I was checking 30m, and heard a decent signal, about S6, from FY5FY He was not having a pile up, but stations calling most of the time. When I finally tried to call, I made it in just 3 attempts. Not bad for 5W in a low hanging wire in the garden.

Who knows, maybe this autumn I will make more, as I expect the F2 propagation on the HF bands to improve from now on, as we are already in the late summer season.

Taking into account that I have not been particularly active, I should fulfil the challenge this year.

If I do that, I will make up another challenge. Maybe a single band with an optimized antenna.

Since we are on the upward slope of solar cycle 25, I should probably get up a decent antenna for 6m, as I have not had much time in OZ to work on 6m with F2 propagation. Who knows, maybe already this year ?

10 FM QSOs, and the HB-1B CW Transceiver.

10m FM. 

Having a receiver running on 29.600 FM gave results today.

Twice this evening French stations were coming in with S9 signals, so QSOs were attempted calling them with just 5W, as a part of my 5W challenge this year. Both stations came back and I had two real QSOs, as I call them. exchanging more than just reports.

The sporadic E (Es) season is still going on, and 10m has been quite good today. Yes, it is up and down, but there is a reason we name it "sporadic".

HB-1B transceiver.

Also I did some listening with my small Chinese CW transceiver, the HB-1B transceiver for 80,40,30 and 20m. The sensitivity is absolutely sufficient, on 40 and 80 I usually have the attenuator switched in. As the TRX has only about 5W output the sensitivity is not all too critical. 

The variable crystal filter works nicely, but the AGC is not quite as good as I would like - it has a slow attack, but it does give some protection against signals that are very strong. Most of the time it actually works well enough to listen to (not all too strong) signals. I need to be able to extend my CW keyer "distributor", so this radio can be added to my CW system. 

This could be a nice addition to use in my 5W challenge on the 20-30-40-80m bands. I should probably make myself a diplexer, so my 10-15-20-40-80m dipole can be used on the lowest bands (40 and 80m) with the HB-1B, and another transceiver on 10-15-20m simultaneously. Long term I might make some more multiplexing, so the antenna can be used on all 5 bands (plus 4 and 6m) with different transceivers, or receivers .