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| Fred, KI6QDH At The Controls |
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| The Controls |
Unexpected Es throughout Saturday afternoon with big gun (BG) signals radiating out of Texas and Arizona. Tracked Es using DX Maps ES MUF map throughout event using Motorola Android OS mobile device connected to local Verizon 3G wireless network.
Highly recommend DX Maps as a difference maker when locating E-clouds.
BG signals stable through afternoon utilized as beacons when beaming either Southeast or Southwest. Noted K5TR and N5RZ as BG loud on the central coast of California on Saturday afternoon. Significantly diminished signal strength on Sunday afternoon as station scanned nearly 300 KHz of bandwidth.
Spiked rates late Saturday afternoon while Es move across New Mexico and Arizona. Noted giant BG signal quality as one station used a 5 element yagi at 10 feet with 100 watts pumping the aluminum. Fluttery signals prior to sunset including two hop skip reaching 4-land operators with heavy metal in the sky.
Signature fluttery signal suggested unstable path into New Mexico shortly after sunset as Dave, WD5COV located in New Mexico went into the log. He was our last Q until Sunday afternoon when we finally broke 100 contacts.
Slammed conditions on Sunday took a significant turn toward enduring severe boredom in the chair.
Beacon BG signals from Saturday blipped inside the cans before falling into terminal silence. Continued monitoring DX Maps ES MUF with lots of classic armstrong rotor trips before logging two stations in the Pacific Northwest.
Adrenaline driven anticipation for an opening toward Spokane, Washington never materialized. Continued scanning 300 KHz of bandwidth resulting in two additional contacts potentially located near San Diego, California.
Fatigue gnawed on my positive attitude like a mad dog and severe boredom calling mindless CQs resulted in hitting the FT100 off button around 3 o'clock local.
Overall, I'll be back next year!
73 from the shackadelic near the beach.