[50mhz] Re: 50mhz Digest, Vol 30, Issue 7

[Dan Schaaf]

Here are some indicators of band openings:

Whenever you begin to hear some good activity, like Europe or Carribean or a 
needed grid square or a double hop to California, it will happen when your 
wife wants you to run an errand, or when the dog is crying to go for a long 
walk. If you manage to escape those tasks, and are trying to work some weak 
DX, you can count on numerous interuptions in the household which will make 
your DX difficult. If you still manage to overcome these obstacles, the dog 
will bark, the baby will scream, the 42 inch Plasma TV will hash on the DX 
frequency when your wife wants to watch Lifetime. Lightning will cause you 
to shut down, and the telephone pole somewhere in the neighborhood will 
develop an S-9 +10 noisy connection. Any or all at the same time. And trust 
me, there are other good indicators of DX lurking out there, such as dinner 
company arriving just when you start to hear something good. And, the MAGIC 
BAND takes no prisoners and has no mercy on your plight. Just when you 
return from your errand, the band will close down on your QTH but still be 
open to hams 100 miles from you, as seen on the DX reflectors.

Under these kinds of circumstances, I have still managed to log in 45 
countries and 47 states and well over 100 USA grids since December. Isn't 
this called FUN ???

Best Regards
Dan Schaaf
K3ZXL   www.k3zxl.com

> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2006 08:03:08 EDT
> From: Greenacres113 at aol.com
> Subject: [50mhz] rookie question
> To: 50mhz at mailman.qth.net
> Message-ID: <573.1696698.31e4ed7c at aol.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
>
> i am an absolute rookie on 6m. i need help in figuring band  openings.
>
> i have always been an HF dxer. i am Honor Roll with 353 but 6m  is a
> different animal. how do u gauge potential openings? on HF i watch the SFI 
> on WWV
> with  attention to the A & K numbers. i know about 'grayline' 
> sunrise/sunset
> propagation plus over 47 yrs on air experience.
> on 6m i use the DX packet but that only gives current  propagation and
> stations heard. is there  a way to use the WWV NOAA numbers  to plan for 
> openings?
> i'm learning to look for beacons but that's still current  prop. is there 
> a way
> to learn when there are 'good' days coming in a week or  weeks ?i know 
> very
> little about 'tropo' where wx fronts generate openings.
> lots of questions.
>
> k9il
>