We’ve recently had at least one day with zero sunspots, July 17. Spaceweather.com currently reports a sunspot count of 160. So that is encouraging. However, I’ve been working 6 meter sporadic E layer openings and having quite some fun.
I’m running 100 watts into a vertical dipole at 20 feet. It’s actually my Cushcraft MA6V which covers 20 meters through 6 meters. It’s not the best antenna for VHF, but it gets me on the air. For example, yesterday I had CW QSOs with Venezuela and Cuba, a phone QSO with Puerto Rico and heard but did not work Guatemala and Martinique. I also worked Dominican Republic on JT65. During the opening I also managed to work a number of US and Canadian grids on primarily CW but a few on phone as well.
My next project is to put up a horizontal antenna on 6 meters. This should keep me occupied during the sunspot lull. Hope to work you as well.
