[RSM] ARRL DX Recap

[ed_richardson at shaw.ca]

So how did everyone do?  I heard VE4 DL and VE4GV, but that was it from the
group.

 

Propagation was very similar to the CW contest a few weeks back.  

 

10m - No 10m again

 

15m - Opened North and south. Did work EA8 and ZM/KH6 stations but that was
the extent of the E/W propagation. 

 

20m - as expected was the usual workhorse. It opened around sunrise to the
Caribbean and central America followed shortly by Europe. The strongest
openings occurred around 15:30z both mornings. By 17:00 all that was left
was western Europe EA signals.  The JA opening started around  21:30z with
pretty decent signals and not a lot of flutter. Speaking of flutter,
something space wise must have happened around 1600z Sunday as the stations
from Germany and France all became very fluttery from what appeared auroral
influence.

 

40m - was open to Europe starting 20:30 z. Signals were pretty good and
declined after sunset local. No real Europe sunrise peak was noted.  The
Asia opening did occur both mornings after sunrise but it was not strong.
Only JA's were worked.  ZL/VK were very strong around our sunrise.

 

80m - was a pleasant surprise. Very noisy as usual for me but following on
my CW test observations, I was able to work several Europe stations right at
our evening grayline. Friday evening was better than Saturday  Europe
stations were easier to copy than the Caribbean and south America. This is
contrary to normal patterns I have seen. General wisdom is that n/s
propagation is favored as we approach the spring and fall equinoxes. 

 

160 - Very disappointing.  Only managed 3 contacts. High noise , poor
antennas.not sure what happened (Hi)!

 

Speaking of noise.normally I have very quiet bands from 20m and up. This
weekend I discovered a new noise that gave an S8-9 signal across 20m. The
noise peaked  from NE to the North. It was there day and nigh.  I was
planning on trying to track it down today but go figure, it was now
gone.everything back to normal.   Hopefully it doesn't return.

 

Hope everyone gets on for the Commonwealth CW contest this coming weekend.

 

73

Ed Richardson