[Elecraft] Band Conditions

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

The 'bottom of the sunspot cycle' can be downright frustrating if one wants
to work DXCC in a weekend using a dipole, but it can be a very interesting
time to be 'spooking the aether'. 

I work most of my DX when the bands are 'dead'. I don't band-hop much. I'll
pick a band - may favorite DX band is 20 meters - and spend an hour
listening to static if that's what's there while tuning across the band.
That's where I find a lot of interesting contacts. Much like 6 or 2 meters
when an opening hits, suddenly there will be a signal or two standing well
above the noise, and they're often long DX - sometimes long-path DX as well.
Sometimes we chew the rag for a while because he was listening to a 'dead'
band too. Maybe that happens more now because the guys looking for a
30-second QSO before jumping off to another station are punching the
band-buttons like crazy looking for a pileup or they've given up entirely. 

I exaggerated. On 20 I don't think I've ever listened to static for a full
hour. Long before then I've scared up a QSO somewhere <G>. 

The other night I was listening to a very quiet 40 meter CW band. I'm
currently on a temporary antenna. It's what most would call a NVIS antenna
on 40. It's an end-fed dipole less than 20 feet up. Virtually all of my
contacts are along the west coast from my QTH near the Oregon coast. I
normally don't expect to work anything east of the Rocky Mountains. 

I called a brief CQ, and there was a reply just above the noise. Cool, I
thought; I always enjoy working a weak signal. It turned out to be N9DFM,
Dave in Minnesota, running 5 watts! So I cranked down my power from 100 to 5
watts and he copied me QRP as well. Not fantastic DX, I know, but a FB QSO
and over a 1,700+ mile hop I don't normally expect to work even when the
band is very active. And all on low-slung temporary antenna.

The bands aren't "out". They're just different than they were a couple of
years ago.  

Ron AC7AC