On 9/9/2015 2:31 PM, Steve wrote:
Are there any real people still here? Should we have a roll call? So many of the old guard gone. I'm not sure what keeps bringing me back here unless it's the odd hope of reading about someone's latest DX catch, homebrewing exploit or DXpedition adventure.

I admit, my SWL activity has decreased since I went berzerk over ham radio, but recently I've started building regenerative receivers, Manhattan style, on copper clad circuit boards, and you can build a damn good receiver that way. I still have some excellent shortwave rigs (AOR 7030+, Lowe HF-150, etc.), but they aren't seeing much use these days. There are only so many hours in the day (24, I'm told, though that figure sounds exaggerated to me).

I'm thinking a good direct conversion receiver might be a good project for the future.

So what's up out there?


I still see an occasional post of interest, and I read through the
Google News everyday. Not much, but it doesn't take much effort, either.

On Wednesday, September 9, 2015 at 4:41:16 PM UTC-4, Travis McGee wrote:
On 9/9/2015 2:31 PM, Steve wrote:
Are there any real people still here? Should we have a roll call? So many of the old guard gone. I'm not sure what keeps bringing me back here unless it's the odd hope of reading about someone's latest DX catch, homebrewing exploit or DXpedition adventure.

I admit, my SWL activity has decreased since I went berzerk over ham radio, but recently I've started building regenerative receivers, Manhattan style, on copper clad circuit boards, and you can build a damn good receiver that way. I still have some excellent shortwave rigs (AOR 7030+, Lowe HF-150, etc.), but they aren't seeing much use these days. There are only so many hours in the day (24, I'm told, though that figure sounds exaggerated to me).

I'm thinking a good direct conversion receiver might be a good project for the future.

So what's up out there?


I still see an occasional post of interest, and I read through the
Google News everyday. Not much, but it doesn't take much effort, either.

Most of the diehards are still around. But (very long pause) the present solar cycle is really the worst according to the astronomers ... since 1750.

On 9/9/2015 7:35 PM, wrote:

Most of the diehards are still around. But (very long pause) the
present solar cycle is really the worst according to the astronomers
... since 1750.

Yes, poor conditions that got even worse yesterday (9 Sept). The K index
was 6, a G2 radio blackout, some classified this as a "major storm".

With the sun so quiet, no coronal mass ejections, no sunspots, how could
radio conditions be so bad?

The quote from spaceweather.com below seems to have the answer:

Powered by fusion, the sun is a 1027-ton nuclear explosion contained
in one place only by the awesome force of its own gravity. How quiet
can such a thing be? Very. According to NOAA, solar activity has
been very low all week long. No sunspots are flaring, and the sun's
X-ray output has flatlined. The chance of a strong solar flare on
Sept. 10th is no more than 1%.

How can such a display [referring to auroral displays in the article but obviously affecting radio propagation] occur while solar activity is so low? The
answer has to do with the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). On
Sept. 7th, the IMF tilted south, opening a crack in Earth's
magnetosphere. Solar wind (which exists even during times of quiet)
poured in to fuel the auroras [and mostly killed HF propagation].

The 20 meter ham band was marginally decent on the 7th and 8th (at least
for the digital modes, PSK and JT) but the bottom dropped out on the
9th. It was so quiet that my first thought was that the antenna fell
down. :-)