So far zero success on HF. What should I expect?

[W7EJT]

Jim, One more thought. What Power Supply are you using? I had almost that exact same problem, and my cheapo switching power supply was causing so much "hash" I couldn't hear hardly any stations. I verified by taking the xceiver out to the car and hooking up directly to the battery (and just used a 10' piece of wire for an antenna) - worked great in the garage! No hash...

[WB2WIK]

20M has been completely (totally) dead after nightfall the last few days.  I wondered if I had a problem.  So don't feel alone.

It may sound that way to some, but in reality 20m hasn't been closed or dead after nightfall; however the propagation is really closely following the sun for the past few days, and when night falls, you have to aim "west" to get propagation.

Here in CA where I am, around sundown propagation to the east collapses; I swing the antenna west, and the band's still fine looking towards Hawaii, the Pacific Islands, VK/ZL, etc.

This can change at any time, of course.  But these past few days have been like that.

[K4EZD]

The Kentucky QSO party is this coming weekend and this would be a good time to see what is working since there will be numerous QSO calls going out with adequate opportunities to check out your signal.  20 meters should be saturated with KY hams looking for quick contacts.

[K0ZN]

 Get on in the daytime over the weekend..... 20 and 40 should be quite active.

The earlier advice to check WWV and CHU frequencies is a good one.  You *should* hear WWV on 2.5 and 5 Mhz quite well at night. 10 Mhz may or may not
be good depending upon the time of night. CHU is on 3.33 and 7.850.  It will not be as strong as WWV, but you should hear the time signals.

You never said how strong the noise on 40 and 30 was or what it sounded like...... if it is over S-9 you have a local problem source. Power Line noise??

73,  K0ZN

[WD0BMS]

Maybe antenna is connected to 6 meter antenna jack?