[Elecraft] Elecraft CW Net Report for December 20th & 21st, 2009

[Kevin Rock]

Good evening,
   Twenty meters was noisier than usual.  The large coronal mass ejection must have struck the magnetosphere recently.  This bodes well for propagation though.  When the Heaviside layer equilibrates it should support higher frequency communications.  I read fifteen meters has been opening up.  Maybe this will help ten meters too.  Rather late for last week's contest but you don't need a competition to use the band.  
   Forty meters was noisy too but for this band there is nothing unusual about a little QRN.  I worked as many stations as I could until I could dig no deeper into the noise.  I was able to drag out a serial number and rig type.  Once I looked that up in my database I realized I had been hearing CQR rather subliminally :)  Thanks for the patience Dan!  He lives near the Willamette River so the West Hills and the first hills of the Coast Range are between us.  Any propagation between us must be going straight up and then back down again.  
   
   On to the lists =>

  On 14050 kHz at 2300z:
W0CZ - Ken - ND - K3 - 457
N0SS - Tom - MO - K3 - 008    *** QNI #325 ***
K6PJV - Dale - CA - K3 - 1183
K6DGW - Fred - CA - K3 - 642    * QNI # 155 *
KL7CW - Rick - AK - KX1 - 798
N7HTS - Gary - WY - K2 - 6113 
W0RSR - Mike - CO - K2 - 5767
WB5BKL - Nick - TX - K3 - 231

  On 7045.5 kHz at 0000z:
NO8V - John - MI - K3 - 820
AB9V - Mike - IN - K3 - 398    ** QNI # 265 **
KL7CW - Rick - AK - KX1 - 798
W8OV - Dave - TX - K3 - 3139      QNI # 20!!
WC7S - Dale - WY - K2 - 4360
K6PJV - Dale - CA - K3 - 1183
K1THP - Dave - CT - K3 - 686
K6DGW - Fred - CA - K3 - 642
W0CZ - Ken - ND - K3 - 457    *** QNI # 310 ***
W6GLP - Jerry - CA
W0RSR - Mike - CO - K2 - 5767
N7CQR - Dan - OR - K2 - 1010

   If there are any errors in the above lists please send me an email with the correction.  I went for a walk earlier today during a break in the rain.  It was so quiet you could hear the moss grow (in the haploid phase however).  The other bryophytes and the local fern population are undergoing their off season growth processes.  During this part of their cycle they look so much different than their more easily recognized diploid phase it is hard to identify them.  Botany is an interesting field, if only I had more time to study.  Oh well, a thousand years of schooling would not be enough to learn all I would like to know :(  But the upside is I won't ever get bored with nothing to learn!  Now if I could only read ten books simultaneously ;)  
   Hopefully you are snug in your houses, especially those of you enjoying the snowfall in the eastern part of the US.  There should be some snow here tomorrow and Tuesday but it won't last since the forecast bookends it with rain and warmer temperatures.  My tree is lit and trimmed and the fire feels pretty nice.  Now to finish this up so I can work on a project at the bench for the rest of the evening.  Monday will come soon enough followed by a few more days of work before Christmas day.  Enjoy gathering with your friends and family for our holiday.
   Until next week stay well, stay warm and dry,
      73,
         Kevin.  KD5ONS  (Net Control Operator 5th Class)

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