Week 4

This week started out with very bad band conditions 

Starting on Monday, the A-Index was over 100, with most subsequent checks showing the number around 150 to just under 200. The K-Index has been around K6 or K7.

Midday Wednesday, the bands opened up a little more, and most were "Fair" rather than "Poor." On Thursday morning, band conditions were substantially better, although even though the bands were pretty weak the first half of the week, on Wednesday evening near UTC rollover, I was able to make an FT8 contact with Fiji (3D2). After the UTC day roll over the conditions didn't really get any better. The only station calling was the same Fiji station I had contacted earlier, so I waited for at least 45 minutes since the first contact and the next UTC day, and made contact again.

I am glad that I am experiencing this now. Band conditions were weak, it was after sunset, and I was still able to make a 6,200+ mile contact on 10 meters. The conventional wisdom says I shouldn't have been able to make that contact, but finding the right conditions, the right mode, and someone sitting in the right place listening. It is definitely helping me to be willing to try and not give up. I keep hearing that we are at the downward side of the solar cycle and that HF conditions are going to get worse.

I was able to get some cash together and ordered some parts and pieces to make some wire antennas. I started by 3D-printing parts and accessories to help me organize, store, and deploy new wire antennas.

POTA Activations

This week, I did not conduct any POTA activations this week.

Totals

I am a little confused; my numbers don't line up on my general logs, LOTW, or QRZ. I know I have done an additional 64 contacts this week, so I am going to go with that number and just use the additional contacts for each week.