Low Bands Are Alive and Well
With the upswing in 10 meter propagation conditions, I feared that this might not be good for low band DXing. Fortunately I was wrong. On Top Band for example, it is beginning to look pretty good. I worked my first JA this season this morning (JA7NI) on 1813 – his favorite frequency – at 6:15 AM local. His signal came up to 579 by 6:25 and faded out around 6:35. I also heard Will, K6ND, get him. The 4s have been working JAs for the last couple of weeks.
JA signals last about a half hour longer to somewhat after 7:00 AM on 80 meters with Takar, JA7BXS, the easiest to work. K6ND really gets around, as I heard Will work JA7BXS this morning. If you are up a bit earlier around 5:55 AM, listen for the outstanding signal of XU7ACY who is workable on 3513 KHz.
Just hearing JAs on 80 or 160 can be rather exciting, so get up early and turn on your radios. GL!
— John, W1XX
Wed. 11/16/2011
Thanks for the Head’s Up, John. I was down here at about 0445 listening on 80 and the atmospheric noise level was bouncing from S7 up to 20 db over S9. Right now (0630) the noise is still about the same and the only signals I can hear are the usual crowd on 80 CW at this hour… W1AAX, K6Xk, etc.
I’ll keep checking…
73
Ken K3IU
Thursday 11/17/2011
Hi Ken: This was not a good morning. The rain noise was about S8 here on both 80 and 160 but got better after SR. JA8ISU was spotted on 160 but I did not hear him. He generally has the best signal out of JA on Top Band. BU2AQ was spotted on 3515 around 7 AM but I never heard him either. Last year he would on occasion have a booming signal but no ears. I still haven’t worked him. I did not hear XU7ACY this morning. Based on previous year’s experience, low band conditions start to pick up mid-November…so we’ve got lots of time left. It won’t be good every day that’s for sure. Keep listening! 73! — John, W1XX
G’morning, John:
It’s about 0500 here on Friday. Noise level on 80 is about S7-S9. Heard a VE1, VE3 and Delaware on 160. Only DX I’m hearing on 80 is HC2/KF6WD, Tony, and the relatively local stations calling him. I hear a very weak carrier at 3500.8. There’s an occasional sweep of an Over-the horizon radar and that’s about it. Gonna go upstairs and take a walk through the morning fishwrap and check back here later.
73… Ken K3IU