Category Archives: Tropo

July VHF Contest ’19

Posted on July 7, 2019 by dh8bqa

Another July contest in the books. Condx were rather average most of the time. The night hours brought some nice DX so the average per QSO was 420 km which is unusually high. Around 400 km/QSO is quite normal for … Continue reading →

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A small but unstable tropo opening

Posted on June 28, 2019 by dh8bqa

Was occasionally checking the F5LEN Tropo Forecast and saw there might be some lift yesterday but was stuck with other duties so couldn’t make it to the station. Indeed there were tropo contacts well above 1.500 km from eastern Poland … Continue reading →

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Some normal VHF DX this weekend

Posted on June 2, 2019 by dh8bqa

Well, still no Sporadic-E on 4 & 2 m overhere. 🙁 Peter was quite active on 6 m but even there only very patchy openings. Luckily there were a few smaller VHF contests this weekend that allowed to work some … Continue reading →

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Weekend (VHF) activities … some tropo again

Posted on November 18, 2018 by dh8bqa

As the YL was working weekend shifts in QRL I had some more spare time than usual this weekend. 😉 Decided to spend the time in the shack and finally start working on a new project idea I’ve been thinking … Continue reading →

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Tropo vanished …

Posted on October 25, 2018 by dh8bqa

Still a bit of tropo when arriving at the station this afternoon (seems it was better this morning), but all very unstable, signals readible only a few times then vanishing again. —————————————————————— TIME CALLSIGN LOCATOR TX RX BAND MODE PROP. … Continue reading →

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Totally unexpected tropo!

Posted on October 24, 2018 by dh8bqa

Two blog posts on the same day always mean something special! 😉 Well, after all the hard antenna work today I spent the evening at the contest station, working a few DX stations on HF here and there, working my … Continue reading →

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Golden October

Posted on October 9, 2018 by dh8bqa

Germany has been experiencing a great indian summer during the last few days. Nice high pressure zone, clear blue sky, warm temperatures … we usually call it a “Golden October”. As a VHF guy this kinda “smells” like Tropo is … Continue reading →

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DARC July VHF Contest ’18

Posted on July 8, 2018 by dh8bqa

Well, I’m not sure what to think of this one. Equipment played very well. I didn’t sleep more than 2 hours so plenty of BIC time (“butt in chair”), too. Conditions were quite okay also but still only a bit … Continue reading →

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Small tropo opening into the U.K. tonight

Posted on July 3, 2018 by dh8bqa

Tonight was the usual first Tuesday every month 2 m NAC (Nordic Activity Contest) which is accompanied by the UKAC (UK Activity Contest) as well as the IAC (Italian Activity Contest) as well as the SPAC (SP = Polish Activity … Continue reading →

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Sporadic-E & Tropo on one day! :-)

Posted on June 4, 2018 by dh8bqa

Wow … that’s been a great evening on VHF again! 6, 4 & 2 m were hot all day long but unfortunately I had to spend the day in QRL. There were some massive 2 m ES openings but I … Continue reading →

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First Sporadic-E this season :-)

Posted on May 28, 2018 by dh8bqa

Well, writing two blog posts on the same day must mean something special! Indeed, it does! 😉 We had the first real Sporadic-E opening here up Northeast. 😎 I’ve been hogging the station for over a week now but VHF … Continue reading →

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Year-end tropo

Posted on December 30, 2016 by dh8bqa

Coming back from a Christmas trip to JO73 yesterday, December 29, driving westwards to Cologne (JO30) we enjoyed a very nice sunset. Sky was crystal blue, sun was shining and turning everything into dark when setting with a slight flicker … Continue reading →

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Small tropo opening …

Posted on November 29, 2016 by dh8bqa

Speaking of last weekend being in the middle of a rather boring CQWW CW contest I couldn’t resist switching to 2 m Saturday morning after seeing some DX spots on the cluster showing tropo between the UK and Northern Franconia as … Continue reading →

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Marconi Memorial Contest … and QRV on 2 m again

Posted on November 8, 2015 by dh8bqa

Just seeing I didn’t report on this blog that my 2 m PA used for remote ops had failed. 🙁 It happened right after the early October tropo. Returning from taking a nap on 4 October when switching on the amp … Continue reading →

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Surprising tropo again!

Posted on October 24, 2015 by dh8bqa

Well, neither the weather nor the Tropo forecast (see picture) did look like we would get a big lift but Friday early afternoon it really happend – EA1MX appeared on 2 m here in Northeastern Germany! Would not have thought … Continue reading →

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Fantastic tropo, few QSOs

Posted on October 4, 2015 by dh8bqa

Already on Wednesday when looking at the weather forecast I had the gut feeling there was something to come. The F5LEN Tropo Forecast said so, too, so I was eager to see how VHF condx would evolve. Unfortunately Uwe, DL3BQA, … Continue reading →

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July VHF contest 2015

Posted on July 5, 2015 by dh8bqa

Not been much active lately … QRL, QRL, QRL. So it was good to get out of all the business stuff for a few hours this weekend and free up my mind. 😎 Condx were rather average, didn’t recognize any of … Continue reading →

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OJ0 – Market Reef #64 on 2 m

Posted on June 10, 2015 by dh8bqa

Not very active after returning from holidays, QRL taking its toll. Besides this 6 and 4 m haven’t been very active, too. There were a few openings but if I was there in the evenings I was either too close … Continue reading →

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My first week on “four”

Posted on May 12, 2015 by dh8bqa

Having spent my first week on the new for me 4 m band it might be a good time to sum up my first experiences. As anticipated the band is very interesting. Despite running QRP only into a small 5 ele Yagi … Continue reading →

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First 4 m QSOs done

Posted on May 5, 2015 by dh8bqa

Finally found a bit time late this evening and worked my first two 70 MHz tropo QSOs with Greg, SP3RNZ, in JO92 (300 km) and Marek, SP2MKO, in JO93 (267 km). Also tried with SP9HWY in JO90 (465 km) whom … Continue reading →

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