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Click for previous years 1999 - 2014
Jan
Not QRV for Quadrantids this year but they
seemed to be working
well
7th amazing afternoon opening to NA and Carib / YV followed by strong Es
across to southern EU. similar openings next 2 days!
In EA8 11th - 23rd - but not QRV much.
17th evening opening to S America
21st mid day opening to S Africa - only weak fluttery sigs in IL39
Not QRV in rest of Jan.
Feb
Great conditions for EME 3-5 Feb - sadly only echoes
- no activity on my moon rise
12 Feb 13:40 ZS6JON/B creeping out of the noise and also ZS4TX/6 559 F2
- only lasted 5 mins or so:-( The NAC yielded some nice results - 15
contacts into the NAC area on JT6M plus my "regular" with Clive GM4VVX
and two IONOscatter QSOs: S57RR CW and I6WJB JT6M
21 Feb 14:50 ZS4TX/6 in on 108 519-539 also ZS6JON/B - unfortunately I
had to lower tower due to gales.
24 Feb 13:35 ZS6TWB/B 519 13:40 TJ3SN/B 539 16:05 zs4tx/6 weak working
ON4IQ (hrd BS)
March
3 Mar ATEP ZS6NK and ZS4TX/6 (Bernie heard me also) also V51PJ weak but no QSOs.
Evening TEP PY1RO and CE2AWW heard but no QSOs. The
ON4KST map for the day says it all.
4 Mar ATEP worked ZS4TX/6 and ZS6NK. ZS6JON/B in for almost 1 hr
5 Mar best ever EME echoes on moonrise -3db!!
Worked JR1LZK with difficulty - Faraday stuck it seems.
7 Mar Excellent afternoon F2: 6V7SIX/B beacon 599 for over 1 hour and my
CQs heard 539 by 3XY5M (no licence yet). Came back on site at 19:55 with
PY2OC 599+ - worked him with 25w before my PA warmed. Heard many PYs on
110 SSB (mainly deaf) and worked PY1RO, PY2XB and LU5FF on CW for a nice
start to the season:-)
8 Mar 18:00 open to FD grid - but I didn't get to site quickly enough:-(
9 Mar not much - but ZS4TX/6 in briefly @ 18:50
10 Mar 9Q0HQ day 1: in from 1910z working split.
video recording here. I stayed glued to their
frequency and finally at 21:30
9Q0HQ 5NN DXCC #
232 - managed to break the pile.
11 Mar 16:00 Nice
SSB QSO with D4C on F2 - managed to break the EU
pile [Nice X-flare] . On the edge of good evening TEP worked PY1RO and
heard LU1FF PY2XB on CW heard several PYs on 110 SSB but not a good
frequency:-)
15 Mar 13:30 a short burst from 3B9FR but a further 3 hours of monitoring
only yielded 1 further short burst. Nice signals from
ZS4TX/6 as
usual. A quick QSO with Paul
ZS6NK . Spent
a long time calling
ZS6GJG on SSB but "the wall" and QSB beat me:-(
17 Mar Nice EME QSO with W7GJ on my moonset at 14:30 with K=8.
AURORA! Amazing radio (and later visual)
Aurora from 14:15 until way after I went QRT at 22:00. 140 QSOs on SSB
for the "fun" of it plus about 25 on CW. OY and OX beacons on AuE, TF3ML
loud. All the usual northern countries very loud plus many locals worked via Au and also QSOs with GJ, F, ON, OE, I, S5,
9A and UW showing just how far south the Aurora extended.
G8BCG as recorded by Chris G4IFX switching from Horiz to vert. (See
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13Cs4nB1TjI for interesting
presentation)
19 Mar F04BM heard -21 on EME. A few PYs and LU5FF in but not strong on
E-TEP
21 Mar CW traces of A25GF around 16:00z but not enough to have a chance.
9Q0HQ in on CW around 19:45z
22 Mar DF9OX for a new initial on EME. A25GF in briefly around 20:00z -
last day:-( 9Q0HQ also in but too weak for SSB
23 Mar 17:20 D4C/B 599 but did not develop into TEP from here.
24 Mar UK Activity Contest EI, GI, GM on tropo SSB plos a large number
of stations keen to get the IO70 multiplier. 6 QSOs into IO93.
26 Mar SM and a few others on JT6M
27 - 29 not QRV due to high winds.
30th Mar nice A-TEP to ZS plus at 1303z J28NC in briefly up to 43.
April
4 Apr Nice early opening from 11:30z to ZS and V5.
3B9 also on - but not here. 13:00 EA8DBM working KG6DX and JAs!!
13th Apr The "usual" A-TEP to S Africa and FR4 / 3B9
into the med but not making it here despite some Es - IG9/I2ADN worked
59+. Evening TEP to S America: PY1RO and ZP5SNA in at low level around
19:30z
16th ON4IQ worked 3B9 at 15:00 - I was working:-(
17th Apr Nice easy EME QSO with Bob N7IP for initial #136. Also copied
ZS4TX working various NA stations - hope to catch Bernie when he is less
busy:-) 3B9 in briefly at 15:50 - can't wait 'til he gets his LFA:-).
Open to FD field from 15:30z CE8EOI heard on SSB - wall!
 24th Nice ATEP and ETEP to S Africa but on the edge
with 3B9 again - copied but only briefly. Evening TEP to S America many
PY LU CE CX heard. LU5FF worked on JT6M for an ODX on that mode:-) New
EME initial # 137 with K4PI
25th Another day on the edge with 3B9 - two 30sec periods of brief copy
but 599 sigs from EU
EA8/G8BCG
29th Apr - in EA8/IL39 another world. 17:15 onwards band full of
TEP LU and PY beacons plus D4C/b on tropo. 21:10 TJ3SN/9 JJ42 for a new
square. ZD8VHF beacon loud.
30th 02:30 - 04:30EME my moonset: 3 new initials KB8RQ, K4PI and KG7H
plus incomplete QSO with ZL3NW - ran out of moon.
May
EA8/G8BCG
1st 18:30 onwards loud beacons YV1AB,FM1ZAC, YV5LIX.
Then YV4NN 59++ SSB and 599++ CW. Also V44KAI/B loud for about 1 hour.
Not much TEP - early night.
2nd - 14th band pretty much dead apart from bits of weak TEP and
usual tropo to EA/CT DX was elsewhere!
12th at least the moon still works - two new initials W5ADD and N8JX
15th First day back in IO70 - all day EU wide Es but
mainly single hop. No trace of 3B9 etc:-( Strong and early TEP to S
America. PY, LU,
CE loud with Jack OA4TT in for 30mins or so but never
above 439.
16th Widespread Es across EU but no TEP
17th Very poor day for Es in EU and beyond - no trace of 3B9. Excellent
evening TEP with many PYs, ZP and LU5FF. And an interesting CQ just as
the band was closing at 21:25z
?VK3DF? <Nice
recording of what is almost certainly a pirate. After the fake HL and
PY0 last year (which I suspect were both in IO80) I’m was a little
suspicious – but there is what sounds like F2 type QSB;-)
18th Poor day - nothing much!
19th Dead band:-(
20th Mainly single hop Es around EU plus an intense N/S Es and evening TEP opening to PY / ZP with very localized footprints.
21st Afternoon Es and 3B9 briefly into the Med around 15:00z but
insufficient linkage:-( No evening TEP linkage this far North.
22nd Afternoon Es and 3B9 briefly into the Med around 15:00z but
insufficient linkage:-( New EME Initial # 138 W5ADD now worked
from EA8 and G - TNX Parker. Spotty but loud TEP to PY / ZP and LU5FF
all alone for 20mins @ 579. Late opening to NP4A weak here but loud into
Med.
23rd Mainly single hop Es around EU plus 5Z0L in briefly around 16:30z.
24th Mainly single hop Es around EU. A good evening of EME with many big
signals and two new EME initials: #139 ZS4TX and
#140 LA9DFA
25th 08:30z First SSSP of the season - JE1BMJ - OZ1DJJ Otherwise dead
band all day - no significant Es.
26th 07:00z SSSP into DL - signs here but no QSO. On the edge with 5Z0L
again small signal-big wall. In from 15:30z then, just as they were
building, the went to SSB. Came back to CW about 15mins late but never
really peaked again. In again at 19:15z possible skew over EA.
27th 2 Hop Es across Eu at 06:15 - looking good! Nice JA to S Eu opening
08:30 - 11:00z. 5Z0L into EU as far as PA 10:00z!!! Just pings here.
LOTS OF EARLY EVENING EXCITEMENT AS "5Z0L" was 599 here and across N EU
- a pirate of course. Nice Tropo to EA and CT3 on 144MHz
28th Big single hop Es across EU - and virtually nothing else:-(
29th Another day of intense single hop Es - nothing else:-(
30th Another day of intense single hop and some double hop Es across Eu - nothing else:-(
31st Nice SSSP opening EU-JA, another day of intense single hop and some double hop Es across Eu -
and the beginnings of some trans-Atlantic stuff - from CT /EA8 at least.
JUNE (in June / July I do not report all Es -
just too much)
1st SSSP opening Med-JA, and some east west multi Es across
S Eu. Antennas locked down due to 100km/h winds so didn't hear 5V7MI who
was into N France early evening.
2nd Es again plus a one man opening from 9M2TO to pretty much all of EU.
Then later in the evening 4X4DK i for a long time on a dead band (no
intermediate skip) with lots of F2 type backscatter from N EU callers.
9K2OD also working many - but only very weak here.
3rd At last some afternoon multi Es including KP4 etc. Sadly no N-S so
still waiting for 5V
4th Good USA - SV opening but very narrow - only BS from SVs here.
5th / 6th Not QRV
7th on for last 40min of UKSMG Contest - some Es to south but nothing
else.
8th good Eu Es but nothing else.
9th good Eu multi-hop Es but nothing else.
10th good Eu Es but nothing else.
11th good Eu multi-hop Es plus a long one man opening to UK8OM.
12th good Eu Es but nothing else.
13th Eu Es and finally a nice evening opening to Carib etc YV, 8P, KP4, 9Y, PV8,
FM5 etc even on my vertical at home in the valley (CW skimmer):
14th Widespread multi hop Es in EU plus another small evening opening to Carib
YV, 9Y, KP4
15th Widespread multi hop Es in EU and finally an afternoon and evening
opening to N America (patchy and weak!) C6ATA worked in FL15. Band was still open in EU at
0100z 16/6 G8BCG CT1HZE 50104.2 CW CQ 14 dB 19 wpm 0046z 16 Jun
16th Widespread strong multi hop Es in EU 4L1AN good sig on SSB 18:45 and evening opening to Carib & N America. FS/K9EL a good signal for over 1 hour. I did not work
anyone as every time I called CQNA or CQ DX in the DX window or below
50.1 half of Europe called me:-(
17th a quiet day followed by Elton John at the
Eden Project for a nostalgia fix:-)
18th widespread Es in EU and another night to the Carib FS/K9EL, VP2MTT,
KP4s. Nice evening
Es to Italy on
144MHz and a big signal across the Channel from
F1NUM on 432MHz
19th YV4NN loud at 16:15. 1cq and an "agn" from 5V7 at around 17:15z.
Nice tropo on 144MHz - worked a string of EAs plus EA8TX. CS3 beacom 59+
for over an hour.
20th JE1BMJ 419/539 08:20z qtf 25. Nice evening CW QSO with Jack OA4TT
despite constant IMI and callsigns from ignorant contest ops:-(
21st EU contest mayhem but also an amazing opening for
5V7MI worked for DXCC#233. Michal has 100w and a dipole.
Sylwia Michalak are on an amazing journey - see
rainbowtruck and give them some support if you can. Late afternoon
saw an extensive opening to N America with some new squares worked in DM
and DN grids. Then several hours to the Caribbean
8P2K,
9Y4D,
PV8, YV, FM5,
J69 etc plus HC5 on JT65
22nd Nice opening to N America and then Big Aurora and AuE after CME
hit. Big Es and Au on 144MHz also.
23rd Aurora still running in the morning. Wide single hop Es but nothing
else.
24th Very quiet in N Eu. Good path to BV from the Med. 2nd CME hit
didn't produce anything significant.
25th Intense Es across EU and out to MN grid, small evening opening to
US and intense backscatter from QTF 130deg arond 20:30z
26th Some JA SSSP into S Eu. Intense Es across EU and out to MN grid and
A71 etc. Late opening to FM5, PV8 caught on my vertical/skimmer:
My skimmer never sleeps:
27th PJ5A in from about 15:20 - still in 22:30 amazing!
Nice Carib opening with PJ5A, KP4, KP2, VP2E, 9Y, YV, PV8, HI3, C6 etc hrd/wkd.
My
skimmer also had a great night including YV4NN 50095.1 CW CQ [LoTW] 7 dB 23
wpm 2147z - not bad for a vertical in a valley!
28th A very quiet day here in the West. Nice evening opening to Carib
again. CO8LY, PJ5A, 9Y4D. And my skimmer...
29th A solid tropo duct on 144MHz to D44 from mid day
until at least 22:00z D44TS 0n 144MHz Tropo at worked plus a string of EA8s. A fairly quiet
day on 6m then from 17:50z the PJ5A show 599 / 59 all evening... plus
UT1FG/MM for a new field/grid GM03 and a string of DX heard / worked:
9Y4, VP2ETE, FG8OJ, PJ5A KJ4E, J69DS, HC5K, HC6F, YV4NN, HK4SAN,FG5GP,
FM5WD, YV5IUA, YV4NN... my skimmer didn't do so well...
30th A quiet day so far as I could see - not QRV.
Whilst we were having an evening swim and picnic at Palace Cove my
skimmer was quite busy - best DX YV4NN 50101.2 CW CQ [LoTW] 9 dB 23 wpm
1916z AGAIN! A new evening path has been discovered: JW7QIA to W & VE
-many happy people:-)
JULY (in June / July I do not report all Es -
just too much)
1st My Birthday:-) Not QRV but I see that JW7QIA has
been making more QSOs into W & VE - amazing
2nd A few week JAs this morning 08:30 - 08:55. Widespread mainly single
Es from here from 10:00z - 12:00z. A very late opening to NA and polar
path to KL7 for OH - wow. My vertical / skimmer did OK:
|
G8BCG |
W1FV |
50090.8 |
CW DX [LoTW] |
3 dB |
23 wpm |
2159z 02 Jul |
|
G8BCG |
W1ZZ |
50091.8 |
CW DX [LoTW] |
4 dB |
18 wpm |
2156z 02 Jul |
|
G8BCG |
WA1Z |
50082.5 |
CW CQ [LoTW] |
4 dB |
24 wpm |
2155z 02 Jul |
|
G8BCG |
K2MUB |
50088.4 |
CW CQ |
4 dB |
27 wpm |
2153z 02 Jul |
|
G8BCG |
K1WHS |
50097.7 |
CW CQ [LoTW] |
12 dB |
19 wpm |
2151z 02 Jul |
|
G8BCG |
K1TEO |
50086.3 |
CW CQ |
7 dB |
22 wpm |
2148z 02 Jul |
|
G8BCG |
K1WHS |
50097.7 |
CW DX [LoTW] |
14 dB |
24 wpm |
2146z 02 Jul |
|
G8BCG |
W3EP |
50095.8 |
CW CQ [LoTW] |
7 dB |
23 wpm |
2142z 02 Jul |
|
G8BCG |
G0TSM |
50099.6 |
CW CQ [LoTW] |
4 dB |
23 wpm |
2136z 02 Jul |
|
G8BCG |
K1TEO |
50086.3 |
CW CQ |
7 dB |
23 wpm |
2129z 02 Jul |
|
G8BCG |
K1TEO |
50086.3 |
CW DX |
6 dB |
23 wpm |
2129z 02 Jul |
|
G8BCG |
W1FV |
50084.8 |
CW CQ [LoTW] |
6 dB |
23 wpm |
2126z 02 Jul |
|
G8BCG |
W3EP |
50095.8 |
CW CQ [LoTW] |
2 dB |
23 wpm |
2126z 02 Jul |
|
G8BCG |
G0TSM |
50086.3 |
CW DX [LoTW] |
8 dB |
22 wpm |
2123z 02 Jul |
|
G8BCG |
NZ3M |
50086.3 |
CW CQ [LoTW] |
6 dB |
23 wpm |
2112z 02 Jul |
|
G8BCG |
NZ3M |
50086.3 |
CW DX [LoTW] |
9 dB |
23 wpm |
2107z 02 Jul |
|
G8BCG |
F5LQ |
50095.4 |
CW CQ [LoTW] |
25 dB |
25 wpm |
2104z 02 Jul |
|
G8BCG |
F5LQ |
50098.4 |
CW CQ [LoTW] |
8 dB |
23 wpm |
2103z 02 Jul |
|
G8BCG |
W3EP |
50095.8 |
CW CQ [LoTW] |
12 dB |
22 wpm |
2101z 02 Jul |
|
G8BCG |
K2MUB |
50099.8 |
CW CQ |
5 dB |
27 wpm |
2055z 02 Jul |
3rd A little morning SSSP to JA and another nice late
evening opening to NA.
4th 05:00z Copied W7GJ/P in DN24 off the moon - no QSO:-(
Not QRV rest of day - crazy contest.
5th 11:00z Interesting opening - VK8MS in briefly working central EU -
another crazy contest day.
6th 07:20z worked Alexandr ER5GB for new initial and DXCC #63 via 6m EME.
Day time multi hop Es across EU. Opening from FN Field across UK and EU
from about 20:30.
7th 07:30 brief SSSP QN<>IO70 into 09:45 TJ3SN booming on 110.6 - into
GM & N EU. All day EU Es then early KP4 and VP2ETE LOUD at 18:05
plus K4MM. VP2ETE and KP4 still in at 21:00 but nothing much else all
evening.
8th Intense Es across EU and a late evening appearance of 4L1AN on SSB &
CW
9th Intense Es across EU again but nothing else. Great Tropo down the
Atlantic D4C/B loud on 144MHz and just in on 432MHz
10th 07:00 SSSP JL8GFB 539 then gone. 08:00 6 JAs in log JA2,3 and 4
areas - QTF030. Usual daily EU Es. Quiet evening.
11th not QRV poor condx
12th not QRV poor condx
13th not QRV poor condx
14th not QRV EU Es poor condx
15th not QRV EU Es poor condx
16th big EU Es all day plus 9K and FM5 both in at the same time in the
evening
17th big EU Es all day
18th big EU Es all day and nice opening to the usual suspects in PY -
still amazed by what my skimmer hears at home on a vertical!
19th / 20th EU Es all day but nothing more.
20th EU Es all day but nothing more.
21st A VERY quiet day.
22nd/23rd/24th A small amount of EU Es
25th A VERY quiet day.
26th / 27th EU Es all day but nothing more.
28th EU Es all day but nothing more. 140 QSOs in the RSGB / Nordic
Activity contest:-)
29th EU Es all day and out to MN Field.
30th / 31st weak EU Es all day but nothing more.
August
1st A good start to the month: Some EU Es all day then a nice evening
opening to Carib KP4, KP2, YV and HK5 (briefly).
2nd / 3rd / 4th Some EU Es but nothing else.
5th Nothing! 6th Not much!
7th/8th/9th G3WOS 6m DXers BBQ
10th A nice early evening opening to N America - 60 or so CW contacts
plus a handful of SSB - EL, EM, EN, FM, FN, GN heard / worked
11th A new square IO43 from EI8E and another nice evening opening to N
America.
 12th/13th/14th A quiet day - small EU Es only - plus of course Persieds MS
15th/16th More quiet days but excellent EME including a -10 QSO with
IW5DHN - many stations testing for
the upcoming V6M DXpedition:-)
17th/18th/19th quiet days - small EU Es only
20th Finally - decent Es across EU and out to 9K
21st Aug another quiet day apart from TF3ML/P having lots of fun
22nd a quiet day
23rd Some decent 2 hop Es across EU
24th/25th very quiet just some single hop from here
 26th Tim G4FJK heard by BM6GJL whilst working LZ1AG - genuine - amazing
- sadly no QSO:-( First day for Lance V6M with very high
degradation - I had a sequencing issue with my PA so did not complete:-(
Despite
high Degradation, Lance wrkd SM7FJE, IW5DHN, S57RR, YU7EF - he also
copied G5WQ, G8BCG, G8VR, GD0TEP, OH2BC, ON4IQ, S59A .
27th Great signals from V6M but this far west I am at the back of the
queue - maybe tomorrow. Congrats to all, Particularly GD0TEP.
28th V6M: congrats to the 3 EU in the log. Lance said he didn't copy me
but I got G8BCG V6M OOO - guess Lance was tired (see pic).
At least I worked CT1HZE for EME initial #142 ans EME DXCC # 64
29th quiet day. V6M Lance lost his PA 15mins before my Moon Rise.
Fingers crossed that something can be done - Lance must be distraught:-(
30th Quiet day.
31st VERY quiet day.
September
1st
Nothing at all in IO70 but Z81D into Med. V6M left by boat en-route
home.
2nd / 3rd /4th/5th / 6th Dead band.
7th Dead all day except for a little early evening Au down here in the
SW
8th / 9th / 10th / 11th /12th /13th / 14th / 15th / 16th / 17th / 18th /
19th / 20th /21st Dead band
22nd Finally some afternoon Es around EU and D4 + ZD7 beacons in the
evening. S America coming soon!
23rd /24th a little single Es to south and late evening start of TEP
25th No Es but ZD7 beacon and brief tract of PY in evening
26th /27th quiet day
28th No Es but two new EME initials #143 OZ2KEC and #144 KB3SII in FN67
29th quiet Day
30th Some late afternoon Es to the south
October
1st
Quiet day
2nd My skimmer spotted an early morning Es opening but no activity -
quiet for rest of day:
3rd
/ 4th / 5th / 6th Band dead
7th dead band then TF3ML booming Evening AuEs
8th Weak Aurora then Strong Es to Italy for 45mins from 19:00z
9th / 10th / 11th At RSGB Convention
12th / 13th / 14th / 15th / 16th Dead band
17th / 18th / 19th Some EU Es and "almost" S America E-TEP
20th D4C/B in for over 2 hours from 17:30 and D4D loud on 110 crystal
controlled for 1 hour + :-*( TEP from PY / CE to CT but no linkage from
here. New shack almost ready to go :-)
21st Strong N/S afternoon Es but no linkage to evening TEP
22nd D4C/B again and also ZD7 - but no S America before I went to bed;-)
23rd Strong single hop afternoon Es across EU but no linkage to
evening TEP from here EME initial #145
IH9/PE1ITR 5el 1wl yagi, 500w
24th Again strong single hop afternoon Es across EU but no linkage
to evening TEP from here
25th Quiet band EME initial #146 SP4MPM
26th Quiet band
27th Quiet band but good activity contest: SSB ODX S57RR and 66 contacts
in 1 hour of activity
28th Quiet band here but good afternoon TEP to S Africa into S EU
29th 30th 31st Dead band
Nov
1st
Dead band
2nd Dead band - almost:
3rd
4th 5th dead band
6th Some
morning Es to Italy and afternoon Es to Spain
7th Some afternoon Es to Spain and a very brief burst of Nic
TY2AC at around 15:50
8th Nice Direct A-TEP to S Africa (no Es or other indicators. 12:20 - at
least 13:50: vertical+skimmer:
16:00 D4C/B loud! TF3ML loud on AuE around midnight!
QUITE A DAY
9th Nice single hop Es throughout the day.
11th - 25th in EA8 - not much activity except the usual S America every
night
26th - back home to 50mph winds - array locked down:-(
 29th
/ 30th Winter Storm Clodagh finally got the better of my 50MHz eme array
on Monday. The wind gusts sheared the main stub mast even though the
tower was tilted over and the lower yagis locked to the ground - I am
QRT for a while:-( Dec
13th
Wow a signal!
16th
wow another!!
19th
20th
25th
26th
30th
31st Seems that my skimmer was celebrating the new year
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