[NFB-Hams] [blind-hams] 20-Meter Net Attempt Today

[Lloyd Rasmussen]

I had 11 check-ins on Sunday at 2000 UTC. Most were in the W4, W9 and W0 call areas. My brother Paul, operating from northwest Iowa, was able to work N8JEW. There was sporadic E propagation up through 10 meters and sometimes 6. So skip on 20 meters at that time was short and spotty. I don't think I would have heard you, and obviously you didn't hear me. I would advise waiting until September when the sporadic E is gone. I imagine that if we did the net 3 or 4 hours later we would have better results from coast to coast. We should have better results for the net in the fall and winter months, especially after we change from daylight to standard time. And if we get more sunspots, the skip in the winter months at that time won't be so long.
I haven't been on the air that much in recent months, mostly listening. One reason that people are saying that conditions are so good is that they are working each other on FT8 rather than phone and CW. Most of the good propagation seems to be short skip, although from here we have good signals from Europe on 20 meters in the late afternoon. I would think you would have decent propagation to Japan and the Far East in your evening, but you might have to stay up late to get it. 
For those who are judging 10 meters based only on FM repeaters, remember that FM requires a rather strong signal. QSB has sometimes been very deep and a little faster than normal. You will have a better idea about 10 meters by listening to SSB between 28.3 and 28.5 MHz, CW beacons between 28.2 and 28.3, and the pileup of FT8 stations on 28.074 MHz. Also the 27 MHz citizen's band is worth a look, at least for propagation purposes. 
To summarize all this, I plan to be on 14.258 MHz at 2000 UTC for the next several Sundays, but you might not hear me, depending on your location and band conditions.
73, Lloyd Rasmussen, W3IUU, Kensington, MD
-----Original Message-----
From: main at blind-hams.groups.io <main at blind-hams.groups.io> On Behalf Of David Basden
Sent: Sunday, July 11, 2021 11:08 PM
To: main at blind-hams.groups.io; 'National Federation of the Blind Amateur Radio Division List' <nfb-hams at nfbnet.org>
Cc: blind-hams at groups.io
Subject: Re: [blind-hams] 20-Meter Net Attempt Today

Hi Lloyd,


Since the weather warmed up, we've been jamming in a park in Ashland as we did last fall.  At first it conflicted with the net, but the last two weeks with this heat dome, we've been jamming at tenAM PDt for a couple of hours.Today I made to the Manor ham shack by 12:15, but 14.258 was absolutely quiet.  I'll keep trying when I can but a little more advance notice would be helpful.  I keep hearing aboutr the fantastic conditions on the bands recently, but so far it hasn't translated into a solid net.  Hope springs eternal though.


73,


Dave, W7OQ

On 7/11/2021 12:33 PM, Lloyd Rasmussen wrote:
> I know that I have skipped running this net for several weeks due to line noise and bad or spotty conditions.  And I’m not really giving enough notice. But if anyone wants to look for me on 14258 KHz at 4 PM EDT, 1 PM PDT this afternoon, stop by and see if somebody can hear you. Skip is short enough that even 6 meters is open  somewhere, based on FT8 signals I can hear.
>
> 73, Lloyd Rasmussen, W3IUU, Kensington, MD
>
>