Posted: 4/5/2017 10:04:31 AM EDT
| Anyone of you guys got a crystal ball? |
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Of course I get into radio at the bottom of the cycle , take a 5 year hiatus during the peak do to family health issues and get back in half way back down the slope  |
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I'm on a WX net at 0530 eastern 3905 KHz
For the past few months it's been rather bleak. Occasionally we'll get a break of good propagation. The time change pooched things as well.. I get to play net control this Sat (8th) here's to hoping for some decent signals. Drop on by if'n yer so inclined.. |
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From what i'm reading, it may be around 2030 before we get a high sunspot cycle.
But there are still DX opportunities to be found. Last month, I worked the Carribean, South and Central America on 10M with a 1/2 wave dipole. I also have had a lot of contacts on 20M to Europe and South America last month will all of them 59- sent and received. There was also a good bit of activity on 17M last weekend when the band opened. You can work DX, but it takes work and you have to have a good antenna and good conditions. |
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Great...That's well past my expected expiration date. 
Oh well, I putter around on the workbench more than I TX these days! Cheers... Jim That said, I've been doing quite well on digital - except last weekend which sucked badly - even with my antenna limitations. "Just doing what I can with what I've got" includes crappy propagation. My next big project is to pump up my output to 250-300 watts. I may not be able to put up giant antennas but I can certainly crank up the power! Right now I have lots of times I can hear the other side clearly but I can't get into them well. |
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Last couple of weeks with the 2 meter band opening up been able to hit the repeaters in Mobil AL and New Orleans LA from MS.
Had some nice contacts on Simplex 146.520 using 75 watts. Yaesu 2900 and a 5/8 wave ground plane in the attic. This site is for 2 meter Propagation. http://aprs.mountainlake.k12.mn.us |
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I've read of guys just getting out of the hobby and selling their rigs while they have value. That said, I've been doing quite well on digital - except last weekend which sucked badly - even with my antenna limitations. "Just doing what I can with what I've got" includes crappy propagation. My next big project is to pump up my output to 250-300 watts. I may not be able to put up giant antennas but I can certainly crank up the power! Right now I have lots of times I can hear the other side clearly but I can't get into them well. I'm still waiting to get the nerve to put up a low hanging 160m loop 
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When I first got on the air in june 2015 ssb I was very excited. I made a fool out of myself calling cq on 20,17,and 40 but after a month started to understand. I was helped by people on the air to answer many of my questions. I really did not know about the cycles but was making contacts on a sub par vertical. It is what it is... Propagation is there just not as many people out there. Thats why when contest weekend rolls around its knee deep in dx. Only thing I will recomend is if you think you like ssb and are willing to learn cw you will be amazed.. 10 times more efficient in my opinion. I do see less people on 17m, if you have the time just call cq and see what surfaces.. Working your own pileup is something you will never forget.....
Prosise |
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I came into the hobby just exactly at the bottom of the last minimum in 2007. I had no idea that was what was going on, or that it was the bottom of a cycle. I just figured it was normal!
I quickly gravitated to digital modes, and even worked on the alpha test team for WINMOR. Of course in those days people actually had lengthy QSOs using digital modes, there were no JT modes. I used to remote my station to my laptop and sit in front of the TV, on the couch with the XYL, and type at people all over the world, using only the waterfall display and listening to no audio at all. Sadly, people don't seem to rag chew over digital modes anymore (stupid JT modes!  )
As conditions improved, and a lot more phone signals became accessible to me, I bought a used Flex 3000 for short money. And the rest, as they say, is history. Now, with a really good radio (Apache Labs 100D) and a much better antenna, I can make contacts on 20, 40, 60, 80 and 160 pretty much every day. Everything above 20 seems dead most days, and 20 is in and out. But lots of action on the lower freq's. The plan for this summer is to put up a full size 160M dipole or inverted L. That'll make these ionospheric doldrums much less so! |
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Last couple of weeks with the 2 meter band opening up been able to hit the repeaters in Mobil AL and New Orleans LA from MS. Had some nice contacts on Simplex 146.520 using 75 watts. Yaesu 2900 and a 5/8 wave ground plane in the attic. This site is for 2 meter Propagation. http://aprs.mountainlake.k12.mn.us If you can hit Mobile and NOLA, point your antenna toward Jackson, LA on Wednesdays at 2100 local, 146.52 FM for our simplex net. Some of the checkins lately have been at around 100 miles away. After that net is several more. 6m USB, 2m USB, 70cm USB and a couple more I can't remember. All the info is on the 2m FM net. Contact Bruce KB5WNU for more info. |
| Another propagation site: http://dx.qsl.net/propagation/propagation.html |
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Most think 10 meters is dead but I got on the other day and talked to a guy in Trinidad and Tobago. Sometimes I find the band is open but nobody is calling because they think it is dead :) Jim Everyone thinks 10M can't be used, so no one goes there. Even when you can use it, its hard to find any stations on 10M because everyone thinks its dead and doesn't even try it. |
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Most think 10 meters is dead but I got on the other day and talked to a guy in Trinidad and Tobago. Sometimes I find the band is open but nobody is calling because they think it is dead :) Jim 
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I put up a new antenna, and heard a couple of 10M beacons very clearly yesterday. Everyone thinks 10M can't be used, so no one goes there. Even when you can use it, its hard to find any stations on 10M because everyone thinks its dead and doesn't even try it. Last two solar cycles were lousy, especially the last one. Back in the late 80's you'd work the whole world with 10 Watts and a wet noodle. |