Stations worked here over the weekend on 136kHz using normal speed CW:
Saturday 18/9
GW4ALG (06.46UT: gave him 58/99, he gave me 599), PA0SE (07.05: 579, 579),
G3CCH (10.34: 579, 579).
Sunday 19/9
DJ5DI (07.33: 559, 559QRN), PA2NJN (08.08: 569QRM, 519QRM), G6RO (08.45:
57/89, 599), GW4ALG (09.10: 58/99, 599).
The main event this weekend was certainly the weather. Most of the time we
had gale force winds and heavy rain so my antenna suffered a lot, and that
limited the times it was safe to operate. Static levels were correspondingly
high in the evenings. Friday morning was fairly calm but there was no-one
about to work and the weather prevented any contacts later. Saturday was
similar, and again activity levels were disappointingly low. Sunday morning
was much better with good propagation, so suddenly QRM became a problem,
especially during my QSO with PA2NJN where both ends of the contact suffered
interference from several G stations!
During the week I worked a new station - G0AKY, Bill in Bexhill who was
quite weak but fully readable here. On Sunday morning, Toni HB9ASB was a
good 559 signal here at 07.00UT on 136.5kHz, but my antenna was off tune
due to stretching overnight in the winds, so I didn't try to call him. A
new German station heard on Sunday was DJ1RL at RST-449, calling CQ and
then working DK8KW who was 559. At 20.00UT I heard Marzio IK5ZPV calling
CQ on 136.9kHz at RST-469 through the heavy static. I called him for
around 10 minutes at the end of each CQ, but he didn't hear me. Roll on
the quiet conditions during the winter!
Regards John G4GVC near Leicester, IO92JP
** TX: Synth + 400W RF from modified 'G3YXM' Mosfet PA **
** RX: TS-850S with 3 x CW filters and 0.5ppm TCXO **
** Ant: Inv-L 60m long, 6m high at feed end, 12m high at far end **
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