Howdy kidlets. Another week gone. I had a bit of a frustrating time this afternoon. I was in the middle of logging a contact and my ketboard stopped working. I changed the batteries and nothing. I removed the device and nothing. I ended up re-adding the keyboard and re-booting and, voila, it works! Gotta love it. Now combine that with trying to navigate government websites looking for information, I was really feeling disgruntled. Now I got the stuff straightened out and got the answers I need so I have been regruntled. 🙂

It has been a nice time since my last update. This weekend was pretty mellow. We did some shopping, we got stuff for my mother-in-law and we did a bit of work around the house. Also, I played radio.

Yesterday we took a drive up to the Hemlock Road Overlook in Western Perry County in Tuscarora State Forest US-5479. It is a nice spot to sit and watch the valley and has a good elevation for working radio. The 40 Meter band was not in good shape, though. Lately the bands have been up and down and this weekend was pretty dismal, but I was able to work 11 stations, including 3 park-to-parks. A few cars rolled past us and we had a courteous motorcyclist drive up. He parked next to us, took some pictures and, seeing what we were doing, he pushed his bike away from us before starting it. Kudos for him. 🙂

Now a few words about band conditions. We have past the peak of the 11-year cycle and for the next few years, conditions will be less good than they have been. The higher frequency bands will seem to diminish, and more and more activity will shift to 14 MHz and below. I would suggest making sure you have capabilities on the 40- and 80-Meter bands as they will really start to shine, especially at night. If you do CW or digital modes, 30-meters might be an option as the antennae are shorter than for lower bands (14.1 meters for 10MHz ad opposed to 19.8 meters for 7.18 MHz or 38.3 meters for 3.725 MHz). The other bands will not go away but there will be fewer openings. One band that might surprise you, though, is 6 Meters. It can open at seemingly random times and stay open for various intervals. I have known people in the past who keep a radio tuned to the 6-meter band on frequencies where beacons are, listening for openings. Some of them have, with patience, achieved the “worked all states” award on 6 from the ARRL, which is a real accomplishment.

Well that is all for now, I guess. Namaste kids and keep your stick on the ice.