LA8AJA's homepage » Propagation

Big 6M aurora on September 27th

la8aja — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:28:55 +0000

After the recent activity on the sun, which shot the flux up to the highest point ever in solarcycle 24, we were bound to have an aurora. I checked 6M, but I couldn't really here too many stations on. I could hear Egil LA8AV working some stations. I took a break and came back later. G8BCG in IO70 was very strong on SSB, so I gave him a call. He is running 4 x 7el lfa's, so no wonder he was strong. But the aurora must also be good to work the IO70 square. It turned out that F6KHM heard my signal and wanted to try on CW. I gave him a call and we worked. He is in IN78. That's the first time I've worked F on aurora and a distance over 1600km.

I continued to work stations in G, PA, GM, GD, DL, SM, OZ, YL, SP, ON and LA. The aurora took a dip and came back later. I worked a few more stations until I started getting inband TV from the east. Turned out the aurora had turned to auroral-e and I worked OH, ES and LY with clean and shacky signals. I ended up working 39 qsoes this time.

What was even more fun, was that the aurora was visible outside. It was very weak, but I could see weak green waves in the sky. I tried to take a few pictures too, but it wasn't easy to catch it. Here are a few pictures from last night.

[Show as slideshow]

New 6M antenna, and finally some 6M openings

la8aja — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 13:58:43 +0000

Last weekend I finally put the final touches to my new antenna project. With big help from LA7HJA, we raised the tower in the evening on May 30th. I exchanged my old 4 element yagi on 6M for a much bigger 7 element M2 6M7JHV. It is now about 10-11M above ground. Conditions on the other hand, was worse. Local tests with antenna seemed to indicate that it is working good.

While waiting for 6M openings, I spent some time on HF. On June 4th, I worked TR8CA on 30M and 40M CW. 40M was a new one (#237). Thanks Alain. A few hours later, I managed to work 5H2WK on 40M CW (#238). Even later in the evening, I was listening around 6M. All the 3 JW beacons showed up, and the signals were quite good. Listen to the soundclip below.

On June 5th, things really started happening on 6M. In the evening the band opened to most of Europe. I didn’t really bother to work many stations, mostly looking for new or more exotic things. Many EA8 stations were heard, but only bother to work a few. I worked EA8YT and EA8BPX on SSB. EA8/HB9ZY called me when I called CQ on CW. He didn’t give grid, but gave qth as Lanzarote. Does anyone know his grid? EA8BLL also called with a nice signal. OH5LID was out on one of his many trips. This time qrv from KP54. I got him pretty quickly on JT6M for a new grid (#524 6M). Janne had a nice signal and was in for most of the periods.

On Saturday, June 6th, the band was slow to open, so I went gridhunting again. I managed to work SM2A in KP04 (#525 6M) and OH8UV in KP34 (#526 6M). I worked them both on MS CW. A few hours later, the band started to come alive. CT3HF was suddenly coming in on CW. After a few calls, he was worked for a new CW country on 6M. The band opened more in the direction to EA and CT. I worked a few of those, but nothing new. Then John ZB2EO was coming in, so I gave him a quick call. ZB is quite rare here on 6M, so always nice to hear them. I took a break for a few hours, only to find out the band opened to southeast. I heard JY4NE, but didn’t work him. He was pretty weak then. SV9CVY Mike were coming in with heavy qsb up and down all the time. I worked him on SSB. HV0A was in on SSB. I gave him a quick call when he had no takers. That pretty much sums it up so far.

Soundclips:

Working some old friends on aurora

la8aja — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 07:24:28 +0000

Yesterday we had some aurora up here in Northern Europe. I don’t recall when I last worked aurora, but it was probably some time last year. Since I have most of the square around me worked, I don’t bother that much for aurora, but I noticed Per LA7DFA had been on 6M. I still need JP33, so I turned the yagi and gave a few calls. I worked OH4EA, DJ9YE, OH3MF, SM4IVE, ES1CW, SM4DHF, SM4ARQ, SM1TDE and LA8NK. Nothing new, but it was fun to have a go again. Nothing from JP33 though, but that one will sooner or later get in my log.

No DX in the log down on HF, but did hear VK9DWX (Willis) and 9L1X on 40M. I tried a few calls, but the pile-up were too big. I’ll give it a go later this week when propagation pics up. Aurora does tend to give us bad propagation for a while.

Spaceweather – new sunspots in Sunspot Cycle 24

la8aja — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:50:16 +0000

LA7SL sent me a mail with some good news yesterday. Finally new sunspots appearing. This is certainly great news for all radioamateurs. The higher bands has been quite dead way too long. Read the news below.

Space Weather News for Sept. 22, 2008
http://spaceweather.com

NEW SUNSPOT: For the first time in months, a significant sunspot is emerging on the sun. It is a fast-growing active region with two dark cores, each larger than Earth. The magnetic polarity of the sunspot identifies it as a member of new Sunspot Cycle 24. Because the year 2008 has brought so many blank suns, some observers have wondered if we are ever going to climb out of the ongoing deep solar minimum. Today’s new sunspot is an encouraging sign that the 11-year solar cycle is indeed progressing, albeit slowly. Visit http://spaceweather.com for sunspot photos and updates.

SEPTEMBER EQUINOX: Seasons on Earth change much faster than they do on the sun. Today, autumn begins in the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern hemisphere when the sun crosses the celestial equator. The crossing, called the "equinox," takes place at 1544 UT (11:44 EDT) on Monday, Sept. 22nd. Happy equinox!

Sign up for free Space Weather News bulletins:
http://spaceweather.com/services/