Sunspots - slow start to 2009

The expected upturn in solar flux and sunspots have been very slow to materialise yet this winter, as yet. I haven't seen a very recent prediction from people like the solar physicist Hathaway who was, a few years ago, predicting a very large cycle 24 peak. The bets must now be on a much more modest peak?

My own experience on bands like 15 and 10m is we are still very much in the doldrums. Even the brief sunspot minimum openings I used to hear to South America (when I could work LU and PY stations even with 10W SSB) seem to be absent.

G3XIZ's 15mW successes - updated

Chris G3XIZ has just sent me an updated list of his beacon reports and 2-way QSOs with his 15mW FETer transceiver. His best 2-way DX is now over 450kms and he has worked 3 countries already. Remember this is ordinary speed CW, not QRSS and sub-hertz digital signal processing stuff. Chris has "good ears" and is a very good operator. A lot of his success is down to his skills.

He told me, "The little TX is doing far better than I had ever imagined and as a result I must now re-appraise my perception of QRP operations - Hi !"

Stealth antennas

Some very sensible advice on stealth (hidden/disguised) antennas is at G4ILO's website, from where I found the useful propagation table code on the RHS of this blog. http://www.g4ilo.com/stealth.html

Snow

Today we had more snow at this QTH than I can remember in a very long time, certainly for at least 18 years. Here is a picture of the G3XBM back garden today. The 15m end-fed long-wire antenna slopes from the house guttering down to a post in front of the tree in the back left of the picture. You can just make out the antenna wire.

FETer airing today

Hearing all about the great success Chris G3XIZ has had with his FETer transceiver, I fired mine up this afternoon and put a few CQs out on 3560. No takers yet, but have heard a couple of 2W QRP stations over 100kms away (G4ARI and G4FQZ) on the 1 FET receiver.

Earlier, G3XIZ worked GM3OXX for his furtherest 2-way QSO with his 15mW transceiver. This is a remarkable distance for such QRPP and such a simple receiver.

HF Maritime radio and CW?

I thought HF marine stations had abandoned CW, yet I heard 3 sending CW IDs today: IAR on 8.418MHz , SVO on 8.424MHz and A9M on 8.428MHz.

Topo Lighthouse EU-175

Just worked CU5T on 18MHz CW in the Azores. He gave me 599 when I was running 5W. This was the S.Jorge DX'pediton 2009 station to Topo Lighthouse.

QRPP 80m QSOs with G3XIZ

Just completed a nice QSO with G3XIZ 45kms away when he was using the FETer 15mW 1 FET transceiver. I gave him RST529. After our contact finished Chris went on to work Richard G3CWI (Macclesfield) and then Pat G0GMA (East Lincolnshire). Great stuff for 15mW! BTW, I was running real QRO (5W). Claude HB9CGL, in Switzerland, copied Chris's 15mW TX some hours earlier - amazing.

Listening to G3XIZ's 15mW 80m beacon

G3XIZ's beacon running 15mW on 3.555MHz to his FETer transceiver was excellent copy this morning. At peaks it was running RST569 at a distance of around 45kms.

Here is the sound clip of his signal at 10.10am today, 30 Jan 2009.

RQ or CQR call for quick report only?

When using QRP there are times when all I want is a quick report in response to a CQ and not a long QSO with names. QTH, WX, power, antennas and general chit-chat. I wonder if we should have a different CQ format for this e.g. RQ or CQR (meaning CQ for report only).

Is this a good idea or a daft one? Let me know what you think.