[SixClub] [VHF] Summer 2010 in review

[Les Rayburn]

The Worldwide TV and FM DXing Association (WTFDA) has a poll and discussion 
on this same topic running on their website now.

The majority of DX'ers seem to favor John's assessment of the 2011 E-Skip 
Season. June was one of the best months that anyone can recall on 2 Meters. 
The ARRL June Contest here provided nearly non-stop e-skip openings, and 
more importantly they shifted several times during the contest. This allowed 
for more and more grids to be worked. I even completed 126 grids with very 
limited operating time. VUCC in one weekend, using indoor antennas is 
certainly worth noting.

July has been very poor. Horrible conditions for the CQ July Contest, which 
seemed more like a January ARRL VHF event, and only brief openings during 
the rest of the month. Hoping that it will improve in the waning days, and 
into August, but I have doubts.

6 was also noted to open here much earlier in the year, with openings noted 
in both March and April. These were solid events, with big signals and long 
lasting E's. Very unusual.

Overall, I'd have to give it mixed reviews. As they used to say on 
Bandstand...it's got a good beat, but the lyrics don't make sense.

Hoping 2011 has similar surprises for us, especially on 2 Meters.

73,

Les Rayburn, N1LF
EM63


Les Rayburn, Director
High Noon Film
130 1st Avenue West
Alabaster, AL  35007-8536
205.621.7500
205.621.7505 FAX
205.253.4867 CELL
http://www.highnoonfilm.com


--------------------------------------------------
From: "John Geiger" <aa5jg at yahoo.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 9:42 AM
To: <sixclub at mailman.qth.net>; <50mhz at mailman.qth.net>; 
<ffma at yahoogroups.com>; <vhf at w6yx.stanford.edu>; <6meter at yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [VHF] Summer 2010 in review

> So now that the 6 meter Es season is about over (I usually end it after 
> the peak of the Perseids) what has it been like in different parts of the 
> country?  And how has it compared with other years?  I have been on 6m 
> since 1992 so have about 19 Es seasons to compare it to.  Some 
> observations from Oklahoma are:
>
> 1. April and May were far above average.  Probably the best April/May I 
> have seen.  The band was open almost every day during that the last week 
> of April and through May, which is ususual.
>
> 2. June was a little below average.  We had a fantastic opening on June 
> 2nd (I worked Costa Rica while running 25 watts mobile) but then the band 
> really took a dip.  There was a great opening for the June VHF contest, 
> and I broke my previous 6 meter grid total for that contest.  The weekend 
> after the contest saw our only really good opening to EU on that Sunday 
> AM-I worked Sweden and Germany, not usually countries you think of working 
> on 6m.  Other than that, June did not see as many openings as usual-this 
> is the month that the band is usually open every day.
>
> 3. July was far below average.  Probably the worst July I have ever seen 
> on 6m.  The 2nd and 3rd had very nice openings-I worked Spain for a new 
> country on the 3rd-but that was about it for the month.  The rest of the 
> openings were pretty spotty and short lived. Usually the first 10 days or 
> so of July are really hopping, but not this year. There was a nice opening 
> Saturday night during the July CQVHF contest, but it was pretty short 
> lived as well.
>
> I am not expecting much the rest of July and into August as those are 
> usually slowing down times on 6m-you get some short openings but nothing 
> like June and early July usually are.  It will be interesting to see what 
> the Perseids are like.
>
> One other interesting observation is that we didn't get any openings to 
> speak of into the Carribean Sea. That is very rare here.  Usually we have 
> several openings to the Islands but never heard them here.  Got openings 
> to Costa Rica twice but that was about it for southern openings.
>
> June was probably the best I have seen it for 2 meters, though.  Two long 
> 2 hour Es openings, but another, short, limited Es opening results in 5 
> new grids on 2m, putting me at 158 grids worked.
>
> 73s John AA5JG
> Grid EM04-Lawton, OK
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