Wow! Activity Levels Rising

[K0RGR]

Did you hear 80 meters last night?

There was CW everywhere - it was hard to find a place to call CQ. But even more incredibly, there was SSB from 3.600 to 4.000.

My guess is that everybody dropped by to see what the new band was like, and after dabbling their toes in the water, they started to make contacts. Aided by very good propagation, the band sounded like 20 meters many years ago.

This bodes very well for the future.

Now, I wonder how long it will be before folks figure out that most of the broadcast stations have already left the 7.1 to 7.2 segment on 40.

[WA3KYY]

Quote[/b] (K0RGR @ Dec. 21 2006,10:16)]Did you hear 80 meters last night?

There was CW everywhere - it was hard to find a place to call CQ. But even more incredibly, there was SSB from 3.600 to 4.000.

My guess is that everybody dropped by to see what the new band was like, and after dabbling their toes in the water, they started to make contacts. Aided by very good propagation, the band sounded like 20 meters many years ago.

This bodes very well for the future.

Now, I wonder how long it will be before folks figure out that most of the broadcast stations have already left the 7.1 to 7.2 segment on 40.
Rangoon and Mayamar have been causing problems around 7.185, sure hope they move out soon. #The 25KHz of General space is going to get awfully crowded once the FB is located every 5 KHz from 7.2-7.3 and beyond.

I bet a lot of the CW activity were the NTS nets displaced from the 3.65-3.75 segment they used to occupy. A look at the chart of the various nets now on 80M shows very few openings for casual operations from 2200-0500Z in the 3.525-3.80 segment.

As a 10m enthusiest I think the upcoming changes will be very good for 10m.

10m is usually open somewhere every day even now at the bottom of the cycle, there just are not enough users listening or calling CQ. Giving techs access to 28.3-28.5 will ensure that many more folks are there, and also give them a place to learn.... those of us who don't mind teaching can hang out there and talk to them, the OF's can just stay away from that segment.

We just need to teach them that most of the '10m radios" out there are not very well suited for ham use. As much of a dog as the HTX-10 was, if a manufacturer came out with one like it again in the $100-150 range it would be a very good thing. My old one just got passed to an eager tech.

[AG3Y]

I'm not trying to throw a wet blanket on the fire, but I do want to remind you that one or two examples do NOT indicate a trend. It will be interesting to see how things progress over the next several months, after the initial surge of interest moderates. After all the nets get settled in to new frequencies, and operators pick out their favorite modes, etc. etc. the bands may be somewhat different than they are at the moment. As I have said on other threads, "time will tell! "

73, Jim

[W0LC]

Quote[/b] (K0RGR @ Dec. 21 2006,08:16)]Did you hear 80 meters last night?

There was CW everywhere - it was hard to find a place to call CQ. But even more incredibly, there was SSB from 3.600 to 4.000.

My guess is that everybody dropped by to see what the new band was like, and after dabbling their toes in the water, they started to make contacts. Aided by very good propagation, the band sounded like 20 meters many years ago.

This bodes very well for the future.

Now, I wonder how long it will be before folks figure out that most of the broadcast stations have already left the 7.1 to 7.2 segment on 40.
More the result of some DX being on after the solar storms subsided...I too was in there hunting around...

[N2RJ]

Huh, I could have sworn that 80m was always busy around this time of year.

[KM5FL]

I wouldn't call the group I hang with on 75 meters a "net" but we have had a lot of new checkins the last few nights... Every one of them a pleasure to work.. We welcome them and invite them to return This is how new friends are made.. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif


KM5FL

[w8znx]

Quote[/b] (AB2MH @ Dec. 21 2006,10:29)]Huh, I could have sworn that 80m was always busy around this time of year.
right
summer is over
the static crashes are down

for a few nights
a solar flair blanked out the band

it stands to reason
now that the band is back
would be lots more action

late fall to early spring
is when 80 meters
realy comes in to its own

Mac

[W3MIV]

One swallow does not a summer make.

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[G8ADD]

Quote[/b] (K0RGR @ Dec. 21 2006,08:16)]Now, I wonder how long it will be before folks figure out that most of the broadcast stations have already left the 7.1 to 7.2 segment on 40.
I wish!

I just tuned 7.1 to 7.2 and found very little space between the BC stations, quite a few more will have to QSY before that segment is suitable for phone operation except for a few hours around local noon.

73

Brian G8ADD

[N4AUD]

I am a 10 meter enthusiast as well, and the tech to tech plus privileges will be good for that band, and hopefully help to keep some of the illegal operators off that band. Maybe some of the ops with new privileges will see why some of us have been complaining for so long about the unlicensed folks operating there.
75/80 has been HORRIBLE from this location this fall/winter, at least for local contacts. The band has been quite stretched out, which makes for great DX but if you have a regional net or ragchew you often find you can easily talk to guys a thousand miles away but the people 100 miles away that you normally talk to can't be heard.
I do hope that some manufacturer will come out with a GOOD 10m mobile transceiver. I'd buy one for my truck.
I wonder how many of the people getting into HF for the first time will be put off by current band conditions? Activity on 10m is pretty dead right now except for the hit-or-miss opening that pops up now and then. I'm sure some will be disappointed with HF in general- static crashes, signal fading and of course some won't know how much the bands change throughout a 24 hour period. It won't be like 2m FM at all.

[K0RGR]

Sorry fellas - I've been on the air for 40+ years and this is the best I've heard 80 in a long, long time. Yes, it always gets better in the winter time. And, my noise level is bit higher than usual, too, so I'm probably not hearing the weak ones.

40 was 'puky' last night, so people probably went down to 80 as a result. I did hear some DXing going on, but in between the nets and the pileup, there was a lot of ragchewing happening, too.

But on so many nights in recent years, you'd hear one or two QSO's on the low end of the band and SSB signals 10 khz. apart on the high end. It sounded more like it's supposed to the other night. I know that 80 sounds completely different at more southerly latitudes and closer to civilization. But out here in Baja Manitoba, where there is very little population aside from loons and polar bears to our north, and not that many in the first-hop range to our south, it's not common to hear this much on that band.

I had to hunt for a mike last night, but I even called CQ on 80 meter SSB. Other than in a contest, I can't remember doing that before. I observed no cussing or rude discussions in a couple hours of casual listening.

[cu2jt]

Quote[/b] (G8ADD @ Dec. 21 2006,12:54)]..... quite a few more will have to QSY before that segment is suitable for phone operation except for a few hours around local noon.
We are trying to run a net on 7185 KHz. It is great for me and the US guys - we don't have to work split. However, on 7185 is Myanmar Broadcasting Service pumping out 50 kW from 0030 - 0230 UTC and on 7190 is Radio Hong Kong.

I wonder if those stations ever will move.

[N4AUD]

Quote[/b] (K0RGR @ Dec. 21 2006,16:45)]Sorry fellas - I've been on the air for 40+ years and this is the best I've heard 80 in a long, long time. Yes, it always gets better in the winter time. And, my noise level is bit higher than usual, too, so I'm probably not hearing the weak ones.

40 was 'puky' last night, so people probably went down to 80 as a result. I did hear some DXing going on, but in between the nets and the pileup, there was a lot of ragchewing happening, too.

But on so many nights in recent years, you'd hear one or two QSO's on the low end of the band and SSB signals 10 khz. apart on the high end. It sounded more like it's supposed to the other night. I know that 80 sounds completely different at more southerly latitudes and closer to civilization. But out here in Baja Manitoba, where there is very little population aside from loons and polar bears to our north, and not that many in the first-hop range to our south, it's not common to hear this much on that band.

I had to hunt for a mike last night, but I even called CQ on 80 meter SSB. Other than in a contest, I can't remember doing that before. I observed no cussing or rude discussions in a couple hours of casual listening.
I participate in a ragchew net prior to a state net on the same frequency, and most of the guys in the ragchew net live are in SW Virginia, with a couple in parts of Tennesse and farther east in Virginia. One guy is near Chatanooga. I could BARELY hear hams 20 miles away, and it got worse as the evening wore on. Local propagation tonight was just lousy, but I could talk to the guys 400 miles away in the eastern part of the state with ease.
I guess it just depends on who you want to talk to.

[K0RGR]

I imagine you're really trying to use NVIS techniques at those distances. I suspect the 'critical frequency' - that is, the frequency where signals are reflected straight up and down - may have fallen below 3.6 Mhz..

This site shows a graphical depiction of the 'critical F'. Critical F (http://www.spacew.com/www/fof2.html)

It's midafternoon here in Minnesota, and the chart shows that the critical F is already too low for 40 meters here. It's between 5 and 6 Mhz, so 60 meters ought to be working on most parths. But, if you look at Asia, where it is darkness, the critical F is below 2 Mhz. in many places! This means that 80 won't work for the short distances you're describing, and even 160 might be dicey!

You will normally not see numbers like this except at the extreme bottom of the sunspot cycle, in winter, at night. That just happens to describe where we are now. I bet the MUF - the F where long distance communciation is supported - has been dropping below 7 Mhz. lately, which explains why 40 is so 'pukey'.

MUF (http://www.spacew.com/www/realtime.php)

Notice that MUF right now at high latitudes at night is closer to 4 MHz.! That would really explain why 80 is the place to be for DX right now! That close to the MUF, the normal absorption from the D layer must be greatly reduced, so 80 acts more like 20 or 15 meters.

[N4AUD]

Yep. At 4pm the prop statewide was awesome! At 7:30pm, it will be horrible, but the DX potential will be good. Unfortunately, I enjoy talking to old friends AND working DX.

[ka5s]

Quote[/b] (W3MIV @ Dec. 21 2006,14:14)]One swallow does not a summer make.

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif
One swallow does not a banquet make,
It takes a lot, all flocking;
One sock upon the fireplace hearth
Is not a Christmas stocking.

One night of code brasspounding
Is not CW's rise,
But Oh! how nice it's sounding!
And sad how fast time flies.





Cortland
KA5S

[n0jaa]

I guess it's about time to dust off my straight key and use it! http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[w8cbc]

In the year or so that I've been playing around in 160 metres I've been hearing more and more guys "trying it out for the first time". In part I think it was due to crowding in 80-metre 'phone and, lately, due to 80 getting skippy. Some of the 80-metre GOB nets have moved in and it's been getting congested. Just a year has made quite a difference.

As with various comments above, 80 can be next to useless for local-regional communication at night. Backscatter works but any interference will wipe those weak signals out. For that I welcome the expansion. There's actually been a little bit of clear space in there recently.

That 80-metre DX window sure has been happening of late. I would never have imagined I could get out to South Africa with my haywired mess.

I've heard AM all over the band. I like it. I stay near 3885 kc due to laziness (three things to re-tune) but may start venturing downward.

As for CW - I still haven't operated below 3600 kc. There's usually someone calling higher up in what's now the 'phone band. I'll happily have at it there.

[K0RGR]

Well, I have observed now that the activity level on 80 follows the time zones. Until 8 or 9 Central time, we have all the east coast and southern players on board. Then, the band gets pretty quiet until the westerners show up a bit later.

I'm a little amazed at the signal strengths. I've heard/worked several southern stations who at times were at least 20 over S9 up here, running 100 watts or less.

I guess I should have put some kind of 160 meter skyhook up this year. I may be able to kluge something before it gets too cold to even think about going outside.

[w8cbc]

If you have a full-sized 80-metre dipole, you might consider end-feeding it as a 1/4-wave wire for 160 metres. 160 isn't as difficult to work as many seem to think. Hell, even I can manage it. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[K0RGR]

Quote[/b] (w8cbc @ Dec. 28 2006,13:13)]If you have a full-sized 80-metre dipole, you might consider end-feeding it as a 1/4-wave wire for 160 metres. #160 isn't as difficult to work as many seem to think. #Hell, even I can manage it. #http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
Unfortunately, my little yard is fast reaching the point where I need to cut down three antennas so one of the others can work.

My 80 meter dipole is shaped more like a broad letter 'u', and it's only 30 feet off the ground at the center.

[ky5u]

Quote[/b] (W3MIV @ Dec. 21 2006,11:14)]One swallow does not a summer make.

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif
Nor does it make the ARRL a silk purse on the code issues.

[w8cbc]

Quote[/b] (K0RGR @ Dec. 28 2006,22:26)]Unfortunately, my little yard is fast reaching the point where I need to cut down three antennas so one of the others can work.

My 80 meter dipole is shaped more like a broad letter 'u', and it's only 30 feet off the ground at the center.
I had fair results in 160 metres with 90 ft. end-fed from the apartment, 20 ft. up at best. Length seems to mean more than height. The 320-ft. wire averages about 15 ft. up and does lots better. So I'd just try it. You may be pleasantly surprised.