HFU HF Underground
Loggings => 10/11 meters => Topic started by: RobRich on June 12, 2022, 0902 UTC
-
Currently I have the Airspy HF+D tuned to 11m and dropped down to -140dB in SDRangel. Spotted some intermittent activity in the waterfall around ~0845z, but it might have been local.
I need to get a feedline to the den for one of my 18' verticals, as my 31' vertical is hardly ideal for low-angle 11m DX signals.
Took a quick look at global estimated conditions. Nothing much here, at least not yet anyway, but I did spot MUF at 84MHz and foF2 at 29MHz in Japan today.
BTW, before I forget, I noted actual 10m FM activity a few days ago while rolling the VFO on the Kenwood R-2000. Amateurs might want to toss out an occasional CQ on 29600 simplex. Ya' might be surprised.
Faint signal activity with intermittent modulation on 27015a at ~0940z. I dropped down to -150dB for the waterfall, so the activity is well down in the noise floor here.
Similar for 27285a at ~0942z. Faint trace activity and intermittent modulation. Maybe 11m will open before greyline arrives.
Thinking of weak signals....
I usually prefer headphones for personal listening, but lately I have been back to earphones, especially for weak signal work. Many earphones tailored for music tend to overhype frequencies above and below what I want to hear for SSB and similar, thus requiring equalization, which even still might not help.
Long story short, I have landed upon the Etymotic ER3SE earphones with balanced armature drivers. I am using foam eartips as silicon tips tend to irritate my ear canals. The ER3SE model is tuned for flat frequency response. No booming bass and no shrill mids/highs to equalize. Yeah, I know earphone tuning can be a huge YMMV depending upon the individual, but anyway, I am copying 11m AM voice comms nearly -150dB down in the SDR waterfall while typing this post.
https://www.etymotic.com/product/er3se-earphones/
BTW, Etymotic earphones often are priced well below MSRP at Amazon.
Faint to light activity on 27015a, 27165a, 27185a, and 27215a at ~1010z. Spotted a few faint traces in the waterfall above 11m, too.
Spanish language activity on 27850u at 1014z. Sounds like DX, though I am not sure if NA, SA, or Europe.
Usual early-morning locals on 27385l at 1016z. They tend to chat for awhile before DX starts taking over the frequency.
Around ~1020z:
27495u - DX activity
27520u - Faint signal DX activity
27555u - DX activity - sounds like French language
27395u - ongoing qso - local/regional?
Meanwhile on 10m around ~1028z:
28030 - CW activity
22280 - CW activity - sounds like a beacon
28395u - SSB activity - sounds like Spanish or maybe Italian language?
Around ~1035z:
27425l - SSB DX activity - op in France calling CQ
27645u - weak signal SSB DX
27775 - digital mode
Around ~1842z:
(https://i.imgur.com/uHrots0.jpg)
Technically UTC has rolled over to June 13, but anyway:
(https://i.imgur.com/8i5ieNv.jpg)