On the Doorstep
CQ WW SSB, the biggest phone contest of the year, is a little under two months away. Solar conditions have not been kind to us this year, and there’s little chance for a big improvement in the next few weeks, but there’s still DX to be found. Now is a good time to familiarize yourself with websites that can help you gauge propagation during the nadir of the cycle.
spaceweather.com provides current solar conditions and forecasts, especially for geomagnetic storms. One interesting thing on this site is the “Spotless Days” tally. As of this writing, we’ve had 23 days without a sunspot. As we all know, no sunspots, no big fun on the high bands! But there might be _some_ fun, maybe a little, so always check 10m and 15m when you operate. You might be rewarded. And when not in a contest always give 17m a look. Often when 20m is open you’ll find 17m has some activity, too.
Maybe your logging program already has an interface to the DX spotting network (mine, MacLoggerDX does, for example) but several websites also offer views and it is worth giving these resources a look. DXHeat.com claims to have 43 million DX spots in their database. They’ve been at it a while, so it sounds plausible. Check out the “Band Activity” display by selecting “N. America” as your continent. The display aggregates the DX spots into a by-band, by-continent intensity display.
Click the DX Cluster button and then play with the filters. You can select one or many bands, one or more modes, even which continents you are interested in hearing from and which continent posted the spot. To cut down on all the chatter click the NA button under De to see only North American spots of DX.
There are a number of online DX spotting network websites, all of which offer something unique. I suggest looking at one band and one mode at a time at different times during the day. This will give you a very good idea of what is possible during your next on-air adventure.
September Highlights
Tennessee QSO Party [1800Z Sep 1 to 0300Z Sep 2]
Exchange: TN stations give RS(T) + county, others RS(T) + state/province/country
For those of us in New England, Tennessee is in that sweet spot that’s not too close, and not too far away. If you put some effort into this contest you could probably do a clean sweep of all 95 counties. That would put you well on your way to a County Hunters award.
All Asian DX Contest [0000Z Sep 7 to 2400Z Sep 8]
Exchange: RS + 2-digit age
I know my log is a little light when it comes to Asia, so this would be a good chance for me to put more callsigns and prefixes into my log. It is also a great way to see how propagation to Asia might be during CQ WW. It is worth a look.
National Contest Journal Sprints
CW [0000Z-0400Z Sep 8]
RTTY [0000Z-0400Z Sep 15]
Exchange: [other station’s call] + [your call] + [serial no.] + [your name] + [your state/province/country]
Sprints are fun, especially if you’re a little nervous calling CQ. You work somebody calling CQ, then they clear off and it is your frequency to call CQ and make a QSO. Everybody takes turns.
As always, check out www.contesting.com and the linked calendar for a complete list of on-air contest.
New Hampshire QSO Party [1600Z Sep 21 to 0400Z Sep 22 and 1600Z-2200Z Sep 22]
Exchange:
NH: RS(T) + county
others RS(T) + state/province
DX: RST(T) + “DX”
This is our time to shine! It is fun to be the one sought after. And, this is a great way to warm-up to the big contesting season.
The End of Summer
Get those last-minute antenna projects done, check out all your equipment, maybe even make that last-minute run to Ham Radio Outlet! Summer might be ending but contesting season is in the wings. Get ready!
Scott, NE1RD