2310 UTC, hearing HS0ZEE at our combined gray line on 20 CW, weak but readable.  First time in a couple of months.  Methinks there is such a thing as summer doldrums.  Spring was awesome, July and August not so much

Mark Lunday
WD4ELG

heard EA8 yesterday.  That's not unusual on 10, but he was working W6 and W7 pileup.  That IS unusual, esp on 28 MHz.  Nice to see for a change

Mark Lunday
WD4ELG

Tony, as Jerry Seinfeld says...don't get me started!  Was looking at Romeo's antics on the web again last weekend.  Sounds like he's in the federal slammer for a long time into the future.

Midnight local time, and I am hearing ZL4KFT working ST2AR on 20 CW.  Must be long-path ZL coming directly over ST2 and into NE USA.  Things getting better every day

Mark Lunday
WD4ELG

For something new, decided to see "how low can I go."

4O3A was booming in here on 20 CW on my 20 meter hex beam at 42 feet, so I ratcheted the power down as low as I could on the Flex-3000.  My WN-2 wattmeter showed 0.6 watts.  Snagged him on the first call.  Atlas shows 4995 miles between us.  That's a new distance-per-watt record for me.  Now it helps that Ranko is a top-notch operator, so there is skill at the other end involved as well.

Never a dull moment.  QRP can really be exciting.

Mark Lunday
WD4ELG

Agreed with packet clusters, the internet, etc, it does seem somewhat easier to get rare DX than when I started in 1977.  And the gear is more lightweight so it's easier to get to those rare DX locations.  Can you imagine a Collins S line at Scarborough Reef in this day and age?

I remember faithfully copying the ARRL DX bulletin on CW every week, it was like gold pouring from the sky.   But I will say that the 1958 and 1979 solar peaks were way more impressive than our current one.  2001 was pretty good, but I remember running JA and UA0 stations (calling ME and creating a pileup) in the CQ WW SSB DX contest in 1979 at 2200 local on 15 meters with simple wire antennas and 100 watts from a seaside location in central CA.  I had a rate of 70 per hour for almost three hours, and my QSO rate was limited by my hand cramps from writing the calls down and trying to check the dupe sheet!  Oh, those were the days!  Guess my Honor Roll application will need another sunspot cycle...still only at 285.  Well, hopefully the Koreas will peacefully re-unite and P5 will be deleted. 

Mark Lunday
WD4ELG

Sam, don't take any of this too seriously.  The advice is correct, but it's meant to help you...not to chastise you.  There is THOUSANDS of years (combined) experience on this site.  Sometimes we come across bluntly, but keep asking the questions.  I can't tell you how many times in the past 7 years I found the answer I needed on this site.

Mark Lunday
WD4ELG

Hold on there.  Jimmy Carter was a naval officer on nuclear submarines, and he could not pronounce "nuclear" correctly.  Neither could Bush 43.  But how much of that is due to accent/dialect? (Notwithstanding the comments about Bush 43's intelligence). 

Consider "ain't" and "fixin' to" which are becoming (unfortunately, from my view) accepted idioms in our American-ized version of English.  My 3rd grade teacher is flipping over in her grave, no doubt.

When I was in grade school, I had a fear of not getting my grammar and spelling correct.  Pride in my work was something instilled in me from an early age.

T-shirts today like "Underachiever, and PROUD of it" used to annoy and scare me until I realized that it's actually a form of job security for me as I get older.  I was once worried that noone would hire me after age 50.  Not anymore!  With today's youth (most of them, anyway), I can rest easy knowing that there are very few twenty-somethings who do NOT have an entitlement attitude or a bad attitude or a chip on the shoulder.  Never mind the spelling/grammar issues. 

Hey, I am nothing to write home about...but I can say I try 100% in my work output.

OK, back to the rig.  I hear Vlad Boyko on 17 meter CW, SU9VB, and I need a QSL on that band for my DXCC credits.

Mark Lunday
WD4ELG

One additional comment: if an S unit on most rigs is (commonly accepted) to be 6 dB, why bother with only 3 dB improvement with the hex beam?  Or with some of the other larger yagis of 5 or 6 dB over the dipole over real ground?  (I have been asked this question quite often).

Because it's not just about gain.  It's about front-to-back ratio and not hearing stations that are not the desired station.  Also it's about the ability to point the hex versus the fixed dipole. 

I like to refer my simple mind to the flashlight versus the lightbulb analogy (mentioned lots of times on eHam), hex = flashlight versus light bulb = dipole (or more appropriately, vertical).

Plus, also consider that often 3 dB makes the difference between the stations communicating and not communicating when conditions are marginal.

Finally, take a look at G3TXQ's analysis when the 20 meter hex is at higher elevations above ground.  Yes, there is a null at mid-level angles that shows up, but there is a significant lobe at lower elevations (desired for longer distance DX).

The hex beam analysis is a great way to help others understand the physics behind antenna design and practical implementation.

Just my 2 cents.

Mark Lunday
WD4ELG

Dan/N3OX

That is one of the best technical evaluations I have ever read.  And it's in an explanation that engineer and non-engineer can understand.  You do a lot of good posting on eHam, OM, and you ought to consider writing and publishing books.  The first one would be a best-seller...Antennas: Separating the Magic from the Truth.

Well done, Dan.  Thanks for taking the time to net this out.  Some of us (me) understand what's going on but cannot articulate it as well as you have done.

Mark Lunday
WD4ELG

I ran my 5 band hex-beam yagi at 32 feet when I was at my last QTH, and it worked fantastic on 20-10.  For lower bands, dipoles and loaded verticals (MA8040B and MA160V).

Guy, keep us posted on your final results.  These restrictions drive me up the wall, esp a COUNTY-WIDE ordinance specifically targeted at hams.  Makes my blood boil.

<RANT ON>

For those reading this post, please don't flame me, I know what you are going to say...that every ham has free will to choose where he/she will live and therefore incurs the restrictions that go with the selection.  But it's just not that simple.  I am VERY lucky to have a wonderful XYL, but she's not going to live out in the boonies just to accomodate my hobby.  And I would not ask her to do that, either.  I consider CC&R to be a bigger threat to our hobby than BPL ever was.

<RANT OFF>

Mark Lunday
WD4ELG

I am able to get my Traffie 20 meter hex-beam lightweight model into a small package, no problem.   I use it in permanently fixed setup and it rocks.  If I was going on an extended road-trip I most certainly would disassemble it and take it along.  http://www.hexbeam.com

There are several manuf out there, but I don't know of DX Engineering, K4KIO, etc have the same lightweight model that packs into a small case.

Mark Lunday
WD4ELG

ANF 1.18 worked on CW, but not in 2.0+ 

Can someone confirm that ANF works on CW (not just SSB) in this beta release?

Mark Lunday
WD4ELG

DXing almost exclusively since October 1977.  Periods of inactivity from 83-89 and 92-96.  Until 2004 I was pretty casual and did not become obsessed with the count until I got my TS570S in April of that year.  Since then, I use every news sheet and operating tip I can so that my 4-5 hours per week on the air are solely focused on THE HUNT!  DX IS!

6500 QSO's

283/268. 

Enough for 9BDXCC except on 12 meters (9 countries to go) and 160 (just got started, 67/42 there).  Long way from Honor Roll, but I just turned 47 so I have some time.  Plus what happens when I get there?

Mark Lunday
WD4ELG

Some of mine are recent, some are 10 years old, a couple are 35 years ago.  Before I got my hex beam in 2006 for the higher bands, I only had dipoles.  So I frequented 40 and 80 using an MA4080V.  40 has always been my favorite band.

YB1A on 40 CW at my sunset with a Cushcraft MA8040V and 100 watts on 1 January at my sunset. S9 amazing signal with lots of stations calling, I busted through with luck.

VK9NS on 40 CW at his sunset.

KH3AB on 40 CW at his sunset.

KH8/DF2SS at his sunset.

My first 3B8CF QSO was on 40 CW at my sunset.

J20VB on 40 CW at his sunrise.

5W0JB on 40 CW at his sunset.


Worth mentioning:

4Z1UF at his sunrise on 160 using 100 watts and my inverted L at 0433 UTC (I was half asleep and thought I was dreaming when I heard his CQ).  I thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime fluke that I heard him and worked him with noone else answering his CQ...until it happend again ONE YEAR AND TWO DAYS LATER at almost the exact same time.  He called CQ, nobody answered but me, and I got a 559.

Give me goose bumps thinking about it!

Mark Lunday, WD4ELG