Saturday 20 October 2012

Unpredictable Magic Band delivers again....



Just as I was starting to believe that the 6m TEP season was over…..

Yesterday 19 October 2012 the 6m band opened up nicely and a few new DXCC entities EA8-Canary Islands, CT3- Madeira Island and CU- the Azores were worked.  In all three cases the opening was far more west than usual.

My 6m DXCC now stands at 51 worked with 44 confirmed.

Some observations:

SFI=141, A=4 and K=0

Opening started late 15:34Z  and continued until 21:00Z

I managed to make 44 QSOs. I suspect the number of QSOs is not a true reflection of the conditions. Many 6m operators will only call if they have not worked a station before.

Signals were mostly weak with an echo, making the decoding of CW very difficult.

The TV video signals from Iran, Syria, UAE as well as the 49.739/750/760 signals from the Ukraine were very strong, up to S9+  at times, yet very little (no) activity from this area.

The TR0A beacon in Gabon was copied for the first time. I hoped to catch the TJ3AY station, but unfortunately he was not active.

6m History 19 October 2012


ZS6A 6M 19 October 2012

2 comments:

  1. time to get a decent beam up.

    But first a tower .

    But a tower needs a hole.

    One day i will be able to join u guys
    ZS6AF

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  2. Johan,

    Don’t procrastinate.

    A small, 3 or more element beam will work just great. You don’t need a tower. A 6 meter high mast or pole will do just fine.

    The solar cycle is predicted to max next year. We need to be active now; alternatively we will have to wait another 11 years…..

    73, Pierre ZS6A

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