@AE4WX@N4JAW I had my first unsuccessful activation yesterday. I'm using it to remind myself that what we're doing actually takes some skill (and luck) and no POTA activation attempt is guarunteed.
@AE4WX@chrisfarnham Don't let it bother you. Sometimes its out of your control. I've had 192 attempts at US-7956 & 178 activations. 10 of those failures were due to band conditions or bringing the wrong radio (MONO Band), The rest were where I ran out of time.
@N4JAW@chrisfarnham All right, so I'm thinking about #FieldDay and trying an antenna that is not the usual (hamstick on a mag mount). I don't know if I will be permitted to put anything in the trees or even stood up (e.g., on a tripod) though I will ask...
I have to build or buy whatever I use, and I don't have much time (and no experience) to build...
I also want to keep the cost at a minimum, thoufh I will trade $ for saving build time by buying of reasonable.
@chrisfarnham@N4JAW tris is true... but you had the odds stacked against you yesterday! The space weather conditions were just awful.
I was unsuccessful on my first attempt too. Learn from it, be proud of the step you took, and get back out there! Looking forward to park-park contact with you.
@AE4WX@chrisfarnham I was LUCKY yesterday. I've noticed a pattern with this rotation of the sun. Major flares have hit over Europe 0600 - 0800 UTC, If I can get out before 1300 UTC, 40 meters is doable albeit noisy.
@AE4WX@chrisfarnham I checked my RBN readings when I got home. All of my 20 meters snr were single digit dB except for ZF9CW. I always have a good snr from them.
@AE4WX@chrisfarnham Had to tell. Some may have been like me an just did not turn on their rigs. Almost like terrestrial weather. Its been heavily overcast here all day. Hit and miss rain showers, so I've just stayed indoors.
@AE4WX@N4JAW yesterday, morning (Eastern Time) I could see that I was getting out. I think I may have even heard a response or two to my CQ calls but the noise floor was so high I couldn't hear anything.
@kelvin0mql I'll shoot you a message when I'm operating on 17 and 15 meters, if that helps. I have been using those bands more frequently lately on POTA activations due to band conditions. It's weird a lot of POTA hunters don't use those bands,. Most of the ones I get are from more seasoned hunters. I wonder if some hunters don't have antenna set up for those bands or don't use tuners.
Great question! When I get on 17 or 15 it takes forever to make contacts. I can call for a long time between QSOs. I have to think there's something about most home setups that makes those bands less popular.
Well 17m is one of the WARC bands, & is excluded from some (many?) contests.
So, dude set things up for contesting in the '90s. Now too old to climb the tower or up on the roof. Nothing changes unless something breaks & he calls for help.
This is how I imagine it goes.
When assembling my #DXCommander, I had some choices to make. I chose 17m and did not choose 60m.
@kelvin0mql I've got an antenna for every band for my rigs. When I purchased my FT891 several years ago I made a dipole for 60 meters. With my Buddipole Deluxe antenna, I can build a 6 meter Yago, so I'm set.
@KC8JC@kelvin0mql Same here. Thanks to POTA spots, there are several on those bands who have become regular hunters whenever I'm on 17 & 15 meters. Mostly western and far eastern Canada, Northwest/western U.S., , England, Europe, and Spain
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