To those who are considering an SS-expedition to NT section or Northern
AK....
Yes, you understood correctly. The C O M B I N E D total Q count for high
power operations at both VY1MB and VY1JA was only less than 460 QSOs .
These are poor showings by southern standards, but are the best that we
could do under the circumstances.
May I suggest that the cost of a trip up here when weighed against the poor
results you are likely to obtain do not merit such an expenditure. Bob and
I are working hard to get more operators going in The Yukon Territory part
of this "NT" section, which means the section will have operators familiar
with its propagation qwerks. For hams that are already here it is
discouraging, but to have paid for the trip I imagine that it would be an
awful letdown.
Realize that there are for the average year, 255 days of Aurora in The Yukon
and Northern Alaska, so the chances are 255/365 that you will have Auroral
effects which make your signal weak or missing on the other end of the
intended communications path and loose east-west propagation at least in
some measure. In addition, we are at approximately 61 degrees north and the
MUF is lower as you move farther north, so our MUF puts us one and sometimes
two bands lower than the rest of the contesters. Southern ops have beams in
general at or near right angles to us for most of the contest. The overall
result of these combine and it is almost like being QRP all the time and
having to be in the High Power category!
I spoke to two operators in AK this year and both experienced the same
things to some extent that we did. Les, KL7J mentioned that southern AK is
not as far under the Auroral cloud and has somewhat better propagation. I
am sure that Les would still not recommend traveling to AK on an SS trip,
but feel free to ask him.
It is currently 2 degrees Fahrenheit and was -22 last night. I have seen
the temperature which many times has been at -22 during SS, run as low
as -40 during SS. If you travel here in the cold weather season, your
vehicle needs to be equipped with an engine-block heater that plugs in so
that your car will start reliably and most Yukoners travel with a cold
weather safety kit that includes warm cloths, blankets and a candle.
I have had four operations with VERY lucky visitors to my shack, that all
saw reasonably good propagation and weather... The law of averages has to
work... I think the chances are going to catch up somewhere in the next few
operations.
Please think traveling to the north for an SS operation through VERY
carefully, If you really want a good operation consider going to some nice
warm section in the far south, possibly on a vacation island.... Your family
and your log-book will love you for it. :o)
On the other side of this, the coffee pot is quickly on and I love having
visitors so please stop by if you ever do visit The Yukon.
J.,
VY1JA
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