3 June 2001 It's been a bit since my last update. The F2 has come and gone with A total of about 20 countries worked. E's are upon us now and each day there is Some type of opening. Double hops to the west coast have netted many new Grids. 10 gHz still is not operational but soon enough I hope. Au this past spring took me out to the mid west on 144 MHz. 17 July Au conditions presented themselves at about 2000 Z on 15 July. In a quick review of 50, 144 and 432 I found Au propagation on all but choose to concentrate on 144 because I was hearing EN grids with 59A signals. I will Update my maps in the next day or so to show these great contacts I had on 144 MHz. The Au was present for what I believe to be the longest duration Au I have been active on. I continued to hear signals until nearly 0100 Z 16 July. On 16 July at 2000 I was treated to a very strong E opening on 50 MHz. EO21 was 59+++. Later that same evening Double hop E's into DM33, 34 and area were also 59+.The weekend netted at least 10 new grids on 144 and 50 MHz combined which is a Big weekend for me. 26 June Eu continues to try and make it's way into New England but still I have yet to hear what the Big Guns are working. The reports I hear them giving are 55 to 58 but I hear nothing. Opening seem to be happening in the early AM and early PM. I will continue to listen in the hopes of an opening with signals Strong enough for my five elements at 40 ft to hear them. 22 June 2000 The June contest was a great success here in FN42. Most of my time was spent on 50 MHz. With good results. A pipeline into South Florida was present almost all weekend With signals 55 to 59+. The band opened to South and Central America on Sunday Evening with signals also 59. A contest in my opinion is a double edged sword in that there are Many more stations to work but operating from a home QTH puts one At a disadvantage over those sitting on mountain tops. While I Heard at least 20 new grids on 6 I was able to get only 5 of them. I'll take the 5 for sure but wouldn't it have been nice?............ The roof tower is complete and working well. I await the launch of P3D This fall and look forward to all it promises to be. 10 gHz is also near completion. I would hope to be QRV in two weeks. 8 April 2000 Arrived home at 2100 Z 6 April to an Au opening on Six and Two. I worked out as far as EM89 on Two. Then later around 0100 7 April Six opened into South and Central America. For about an hour no signal was less then 56. By 0230 Z all signals were gone. I will be Active in the Spring Sprints. 12 March 2000 I will be active in the spring and summer contest this year. Those interested in skeds please let me know. I work the Contests to gain grid squares not points so I will take the Time necessary to make the QSO. I am in need of lots Of grids 903 and above so please give me a try. 27 February, 2000 Maps are now updated to reflect my recent activity. The Jan contest was productive for me due to a nice Au opening on that Saturday night. Most Au contacts were on 144 Mhz. I lost out on activity on 222, 903 and 1296 due to lack of preparation and equipment troubles. The weather wasn't that great to be fixing things outside. ( temps in the neg numbers!!!!!!) This spring will bring about major changes to the antenna farm. A roof tower will allow me to gain a small amount of height but will shorten feed lines and firm up the setup so that wind will not misalign the yagis. 10 gHz is in process. I doubt that I will operate from the home QTH however MT. Wachusett FN42bl is just two miles from here so operation should be easy. Anyone interest in being my first 10 gHz contact? 21 Sept. 1999 I am now running 175 watts on 144 Mhz and 50 on 432. Plans are to have 150 watts on 432 Mhz by years end. 15 Sept 1999 I was unable to operate as much as I would have liked to Due to trying to get my house painted. I did however Manage FN41 on 222 and FN54 on 222 and 432. That all in The span of about 20 minutes. BIG plans are in the works for the shack. Items are Up for sale on the ARRL radios online board. Some things Have already sold. The plan is to get some preamps and RF power. Maybe even a DSP. If you have RF amps and or preamps for sale in 50, 144, 222, 432, 903 and 1296 let me know. 15 Aug 1999 Band opening on six seem to be few and far between but when they are in I am extending the grid map west. Still very quite to the east. I don't think anyone else is working Europe either or I'd hear about it. I had a great QSO with Mike N1EOP. He and I both have ATV 70cm. I think I'll get the rig up and running again and see what happens. Thanks Mike for sparking the interest again. The Contest was not as well attended as I would have hoped for. Come on guys, use them or lose them. Good news I am back up to full power on six meters. A trip to HRO yielded a 30 Amp switcher power supply. They are very small and weigh almost nothing for what they are. The big plus over repairing my old supply was now quite the unit is. My home build unit can do other things. 9 July I lost my big power supply in a storm the other night so I've been running QRP (10watts) on six. The other day I heard a EH8 rst 56 so I called. It took three calls before I had him. Not bad for QRP. The repairs continue on the supply to get me back to 100 Watts 6 July I worked Europe the other day Finally got a good opening and worked OZ and GM stations The next day one hour before Field day I worked into DN and DM grids 14 June Well the June contest is over. I didn't make as many contact as I would have liked on 222 Mhz and 903 Mhz. Where was everyone?? No long haul on either band. For that matter I only had three good E's on 50 Mhz. On the more positive side I did manage to pick up some local grids on 144 222 and 432 which I was missing. 7 June Tropo opening on 6 June 144 Mhz. And 222 Mhz for me. Worked N4QI in FM06. This was my first DX contact on 2 Meters. Lots of other signals heard but they didn't hear me. Guess the mountain was getting in the way again. Reports were that the band opened at about 0400Z and stayed open a few hours. Then again at 1000 Z for three to four hours. (This is when I was on the air) A fun Sunday AM Beacons heard W3ccx/b FM29 on 144 Mhz and 222 Mhz. NO 432 heard Can the band do it again this weekend?????????? CONTEST TIME 2 June More signals into FN42 from EU and West coast US but still weak with me so no QSO. Still waiting for first 903 Mhz QSO. Please don't make me wait for Contest to find out it's not working well. 222 Mhz is up and functional. Wa2umx/B 222.050 559 No other beacons heard. 28 May 99: The 6 meter band was open again to EU while I was at work but closed as soon as I got home. In other news, I put together the 222 Mhz. Yagi. An M2 15 element 23' boom. I will be on the air Memorial weekend for testing in preparation for the contest. 27 May 99: I heard Europe for the first time on 50 Mhz. at 0000 Z on 27 May 1999 Signals were very weak at my QTH and I was unable to make QSO with any. stations. Stations heard were CT1 and EH8 stations In other news: The FP5 Beacon was 599 50.038 Mhz The VE4VHF Beacon was 599 50.037 Mhz 15 December 2001 Excellent condition on 6 continue. Also continuing is the poor operating of local stations. It is not too surprising to me however as I've watched these stations thru the years. Most recently a station in FN43 decided to take my frequency by simply hoping on and calling CQ. Other stations call the same DX they have already worked before while others try for their first QSO. All in all the peak of 6 F2 activity has drawn the HF operators and the HF operators bad habits to six. Simple rules to follow but they are not.