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Another month had past by. We are well into the time of shorter days and longer nights here in Norway. That is good regarding lowband dx-ing. But for everyday life, I’m not too happy about it. Anyway, the conditons has been up and down, but they are generally quite good I must say.

On October 3rd, I worked C21GC on 40M CW. The signal was quite good, and he had a small pile-up. Thanks to that, he was quickly logged for a new one on 40M.

On October 4th, I worked YB9/HA3JB on 17M CW from OC-150 for a new iota. 5Z4/DJ4EL was worked on 17M SSB from AF-040 for a new iota.

On October 5th, I worked YB4IR/8 on 20M and 30M CW from OC-076 for a new iota.

On October 6th, I worked 3D2YA on 20M CW from OC-121 for a new iota.

On October 8th, I worked VP5/G3SWH on 12M CW from NA-003. 5Z4/DJ4EL was worked on 12M SSB from AF-040.

On October 10th, I worked W4/SP5APW on 12M SSB from NA-079 for a new iota. He was only on the island for a few hours.

On October 11th, I worked 4W/G3ZEM on 40M CW for a new one on 40M.

On October 12th, I worked W5GIX on 17M CW from NA-168 for a new iota.

On October 14th, we had a 6M aurora. I worked a few contacts with G, GM, EI, DL and LA.

On October 17th, I worked VK9DLX on 15M CW for a new one on 15M.

On October 18th, I worked VK9DLX on 17M, 20M and 30M CW. 20M and 17M were new ones. 4W/G3ZEM was worked on 12M CW for a new one on 12M.

On October 19th, I worked HH2/PY3SB on 20M CW.

On October 20th, I worked VK9XSP on 12M CW for a new one on 12M.

On October 27th, I worked VK9XSP on 10M SSB, 15M CW and 17M CW. 10M and 15M were new ones. PJ7/K5WE was worked on 10M CW for a new one on 10M.

On October 29th, I worked 4U1ITU on 10M CW for a new one on 10M. 5R8M was worked on 12M CW for a new one on 12M.

On October 30th, I worked PJ7/K5WE on 17M CW.

On October 31st, I worked PJ7/K5WE on 20M CW for a new one on 20M. On 15M, I worked 5R8M on CW for a new one on 15. E21EJC was worked on 12M CW for a new one on 12M.

I did hear VK9DLX on 80M several evenings, but I did not work them. I did try now and then, but no luck. I think this recording from October 18th was the best I heard them. I did also copy 4W/G3ZEM on 80M, but just as I was about to call, he went to 40M. I guess it would have been difficult to work him, but it was fun to hear him at all.

Soundclips:

• C21GC 40M CW – Solid signal, and a new one on 40M
• VK9DLX 80M CW – Good copy, but not worked
• VK9DLX 20M CW – Multipath and qrq, difficult to read at times

As we head into the fall season, conditions are picking up. And there are several expeditions active. September has been quite a good month when it comes to radio. Here is my report.

On September 9th, YB4IR/8 was worked on 30M CW from OC-222 for a new iota.

On September 14th, I worked LA/DM3ZF on 40M CW from EU-056. I activated this iota back in 2005, but this was the first time I worked it myself.

On September 15th, I worked VK6ISL on 30M CW from OC-294 for a new iota.

On September 17th, I worked P29NI on 17M CW from OC-258 for a new iota. I tried to work BO0D on 30M CW from AS-113, but I didn’t have the luck with me at that time. First time I got an answer, a LID started tuning. The second time I got answered, my pc froze, and the third time I thought he logged me, but I am not in the log. Oh well, I can’t get them all. VK6ISL was worked on 20M SSB.

On September 18th, I worked ZD9XF on 12M CW. Nigel G3TXF is travelling again. Great work as always! VK9NT was worked on 12M CW. P29NI was worked on 15M CW. VK6ISL was worked on 12M SSB and 20M CW. TY1AA was worked on 12M/17M SSB and 10M CW.

On September 19th, I worked  TY1AA on 12M CW and 15M SSB. P29NI was worked on 30M. VK6ISL was worked on 15M SSB.

On September 20th, I worked YW5RYL on 40M SSB from SA-035 for a new iota. EG2INT was worked on 15M CW from EU-134. I also participated in the SAC CW contest this weekend. I posted a report in my last post.

On September 21st, I worked P29VCX on 17M CW from OC-115 for a new iota. ZD9XF was worked on 17M CW for a new one on 17m.

On September 24th, I worked PZ5AA on 80M CW. He was quite strang and he was easy to work with my low dipole. ZD9XF was worked a few minutes later. Nigel was surprisingly easy to work. My dipole is only about 8M high in the feedpoint. Both were new on 80M. TY1AA was worked on 20M CW for a new one on 20M.

On September 26th, I worked PJ5/OL8R on 30M CW for a new one on 30M. P29NI was worked on 15M CW from OC-240 for a new iota. In the afternoon, I noticed that VK9AN was spotted on 80M CW. I tuned in just for fun, and to my surprise, I heard him quite good. While I was making a recording, I was calling at the same time. Suddenly he came back with my call. Another new one worked on 80M.

On September 27th, I woke up early. I checked the cluster for anything interesting. PJ5/OL8R was on 80M CW and he had a good signal here. He came back to my call, and a new one was logged on 80M. He didn’t have a big pile-up this morning. I guess people either were sleeping, or more occupied with 8R1AE a few KHz up the band. ZD9XF was on 40M CW, and after a little while in the pile-up, I managed to work him for a new one on 40M. I went back to 80M to have a go at 8R1AE. After a few minutes, I got lucky and logged him for my second new one on 80M. HC2AO was also calling with few takers. I got him logged after a few calls. The qso showed up on LoTW a few hours later.

On September 29th, conditions were quite good. The SFI was 181, and that helped the higher bands too. ZD9XF was on 10M with a HUGE pile-up. I tried for a while, but I could not make it. PJ5/OL8R was also on, but I could not break the pile-up. One pile-up I could break, was YB8RW/p on 20M SSB. He was operating from OC-213 and gave me a new iota. C21GC was on 30M CW with quite a nice signal. However, the european zoo was on the frequency. EAHSYL was also cq’ing on the frequency. This kind of behaviour is not good for our hobby. I almost turned off the radio. Luckily, C2 was a bit stronger than EAHSYL. Thanks to the jamming, the pile-up was not big. I got an answer after a few tries, and I think he got my call correct. A few hours later, he was still going on 30M, this time with a bigger pile-up. I duped him, just to be sure. My last C2 was back in 2005 on 20M CW. Sorry about the dupe. C2 was of course a new one on 30M for me.

Soundclips:

• E30FB 15M SSB
• ZD9XF 80M CW – Thanks new on 80M
• PZ5AA 80M CW – Thanks new on 80M
• P29NI 17M CW
• VK9AN 80M CW – Thanks new on 80M
• PJ5/OL8R 80M CW – Thanks new on 80M
• 8R1AE 80M CW – Thanks new on 80M
• C21GC 30M CW – Thanks new on 30M

Call: LA8AJA
Operator(s): LA8AJA
Station: LA8AJA

Class: SOAB (A) HP
QTH: Eina
Operating Time (hrs): ~15
Location: Scandinavia

Band   QSOs Mults
80:      91    24
40:     261    37
20:     356    43
15:     339    47
10:      62    27
Total: 1109   178 Total Score 465,292

 
I didn’t have the opportunity last year to work the SAC contest. This year however, I did make all the arrangements. On Friday, I put up my low-hanging 80m dipole and fixed the radials on my vertical Biggir antenna. All was set and ready to go. I got on and started running, but I felt like I couldn’t get a descent run going. That was a feeling I had through most of the contest. I do have a small station, so I guess that is one of the reasons. On the other hand, I also felt like the activity wasn’t quite there.

Ok, the rules this year was changed so that you could be SO(A) without being in the multi-class. That was very good. I also feel that something should be done to increase the activity. Why not change it to something like the Russian DX Contest? That way, everyone can work everyone. And you would get extra points for working Scandinavian stations.

It was fun while it lasted. Thanks to all stations for calling in. Log is on LoTW!

In the past few month, radio activity has been low. I've only been making a few contacts, mostly with new iota's. 6M has not been that good either. Anyway, here is a report from the past few months.

On July 11th, I worked TA0/DF8DX on 20M CW from iota AS-201. This was a new iota for me, and everyone else. Since 11 new iota's was added to the list in July, it didn't take long for one of them to be activated. Read about the additions here.

On July 19th, I worked LA4YGA on 6M jt6m from JO37 for a new grid. I have missed this grid several times during the years. It is not an easy grid to work, since an expedition is needed. The right propagation must be present at the same time, and I believe this contact was done via tropo.

On August 6th, I worked F/GM0GAV/p on 20M CW from iota EU-156. This was a new iota for me.

On August 8th, I worked EA5MON on 20M SSB from iota EU-069. This was yet another new iota for me.

On August 10th, I worked EI9E on 6M jt6m from IO41. This was a new grid for me.

On August 13th, I was lucky to work another of the newly added iota's. JA6TBE/5 was worked on 20M CW from AS-200.

On August 14th, I worked LI6OP (LA6OP) on 20M SSB from iota EU-062. I visited Sindre back in 2005, so it was nice to finally meet him on the air.

On August 16th, I worked HL1VAU/2 from AS-105 and DS2GWM/3 from AS-080 on 17M CW. Both were new iota's for me.

On August 19th, I worked RI1O on 20M CW and R7AL/1 on 30M CW from iota EU-119 for a new iota. GN0GRC was worked on 40M SSB from iota EU-122.

On August 22nd, I worked RK3DZJ/1 on 30M CW from iota EU-082. He had a nice and strong signal, but very few takers. Perhaps he had bad propagation up north. YP0F was worked on 20M CW from EU-191. This was a new iota for me, and the third one I worked of the eleven added back in July.

On August 27th, I worked VK5CE/8 on 20M SSB from OC-173. This was a new iota, and the third new iota Craig has given me. Read about his trip here. Thank you very much for the activation, and good luck with the VK6ISL OC-294 expedition. I hope I'll work you from that island too.

I did try to work Craig on August 26th, but he just could not hear me. He had very few takers at the time. In the afternoon, his signal had picked up a lot, but so had the callers. I had no chance getting through that mess.

On August 29th, I worked RI0X on 40M CW from AS-064. I had been looking for them several days, but not having much luck. They were mostly on the low bands, where we didn't have propagation. The conditions didn't play along either, with the GMF being active. I did hear them weak on 20M CW at one point, but no chance for qso.

Because of this, I was quite surprised to hear them with a good signal on 40M. It was still daylight here at 1659z, and I think they were starting to enter twilight at their side. What surprised me even more, was that they called alot with very few takers. Listen to the signal below.

On August 30th, RI0X were on 20M CW in the morning with quite a nice signal. You could clearly hear the polarflutter when the signal passed through the aurora oval. If you look at the screenshot taken on August 29th, I have tried to mark the path from RI0X to me.

Read more about the RI0X expedition here.

Soundclips:

• RI0X 40M CW – AS-064
• RI0X 20M CW – AS-064

First qso in June came on the 4th. I worked FS/W6IZT on 20M CW. JY9FC was worked on 6M CW. ZA/PA2CHR was worked on 6M SSB. R7AL/5 was worked on 20M CW from iota EU-180. I’m not sure this one is valid though, according to some cluster spots, it is not.

On the 8th, I worked a small 6m opening. I worked I, LZ, HB9, DL and YO.

On the 9th, I worked F4FET/p on 20M SSB from EU-107. In the afternoon, I was lucky to catch 9K2MU on 6M CW for a new one on 6M. At the time of this writing, the qso was also confirmed on LoTW. Thank you Murtada!

On June 10th, I worked SA6G/7 on 20M CW from EU-137 for a new iota. RZ9DX/9/p was worked on 20M CW from AS-005 for a new iota.

On June 15th, I worked MS0WRC on 40M SSB from EU-092 for a new iota.

On July 1st, I worked 8P6SH on 6M SSB for a new one on 6M. I did hear FG and 9Y, but I didn’t call them, as I had worked them before.

On July 2nd, I did copy DU7/PA0HIP on 6M CW. I heard his cq in and out for several minutes, and I gave him a call. He responded, but I did not copy him when giving me a report. The signal had much qsb with some qrm on the side. That would have been a new one for me. Anyway, it was nice to hear DU on 6M.

On July 3rd, I had an opening to North-America late in the evening. I worked 19 qsoes with Alabama as a new state. YV4NN was copied for a few minutes after the opening to North-America, but he faded before I could work him. Earlier in the day, I did hear T6DD on 6M CW for a few minutes, but it was not enough for a qso. Pity, as it would have been a new one for me.

On July 4th, I worked EX9T on 6M CW in MN82 for a new grid. UN3GX was also worked on 6M CW.