In the log this week
* PJ6Y Youth DXpedition to Saba Island Underway
* Event Spotlight: DX Marathon Sprint
* Reminder: ARRL Requests Amateurs Contact Representatives About Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act
* MVARC Nets on the Air
* What’s happening with DX?
* Solar Activity Update
* Upcoming Contests
* Interesting Online Radio Content
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PJ6Y Youth DXpedition to Saba Island Underway
Image Courtesy https://pj6y2025.com/
As we go to press the PJ6Y Saba Island DXpedition should now be underway. The PJ6Y DXpedition will be activating the island of Saba (IOTA NA-145) with a team of fourteen young operators from around the world with nine of those ops being first-time DXpeditioners. Additionally, there will be 30-40 young amateurs who will participate remotely using NexGen2 RiBs made possible from a Northern California DX Foundation grant. The DXpedition is set to run from October 15 until October 29, 2025. Saba island is in the Caribbean and is the smallest special municipality of the Netherlands. The dormant volcano Mount Scenery dominates the landscape with a height of 2,854 feet or 870 meters. The island’s population was 2,158 in January 2025 and it has the smallest territory by permanent population in the Americas. Look for them on the bands and check out their web site for more information at https://pj6y2025.com/.
Event Spotlight: DX Marathon Sprint
This weekend marks the start of the 2025 CQ DX Marathon Sprint. The sprint aims to promote DXing activity with new and existing entrants of the CQ DX Marathon which is a year-long annual event. The sprint itself is a 10-day event which follows the majority of the same rules, just for a shorter time. All contacts on all bands that are direct (not using repeaters, satellites, or the Internet) count when operated from a single location. Participants submit logs to the DX Marathon site and a point is awarded for each new country or entity as well as a point for each new CQ zone worked. Contacts for the Sprint also count for the Marathon itself. For more information on rules and how to participate, visit https://dxmarathon.com/rules/2025-sprint/. Good luck.
Reminder: ARRL Requests Amateurs Contact Representatives About Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act
Image Courtesy: United_States_Capitol_-west_front.jpg: Architect of the Capitol derivative work: O.J. - United_States_Capitol-_west_front.jpg, Public Domain, Link
The American Radio Relay League is asking American amateur radio operators to contact their representatives and senators in support of the “Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act”. The legislation seeks to give amateur radio operators rights equal to users of antennas for broadcast television, wireless internet, and flagpoles. The bills, H.R. 1094 in the House of Representatives and S.459 in the Senate seek to prevent overly restrictive homeowner’s association (HOA) regulations that prohibit the installation of antennas, even when placed inconspicuously. The ARRL asks that all amateur radio operators go to https://send-a-letter.org/hoa/ which will allow for a letter to be sent on your behalf to your Representative and Senators. More information can be found at
http://www.arrl.org/member-bulletin?issue=2025-09-17
https://www.arrl.org/current-legislation
MVARC Nets on the Air
* 2 Meter FM Net: Tuesdays at 7 PM [146.655/- MHz (141.3 Hz PL Tone) ]
* 2 Meter Digital Net: Immediately Follows 2 Meter FM Net [146.655/- MHz C4FM]
* MVARC Slow Speed CW Roundtable: Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 AM [3.565 MHz CW]
* MVARC Cherry Tree Net: Saturday and Sunday at 8:30 AM [3.920 MHz LSB]
What’s Happening with DX
There will be a good amount of DX on the bands this week including Vanuatu (YJ0CA), Manihiki Atoll North Cook Islands (E51MWA), Niue (E6AD), Greenland (OX3LX), Montserrat (VP2MPN), Gambia (C5Y), Lakshadweep Islands (VU7T), Saint Barthelemy (TO4K), Aruba (P40W), Saint Vincent (J8K), British Virgin Islands (VP2VRX), San Andres (5K0UA), Canary Islands (EF8R), Angola (D2A), Rodrigues Island (3B9KW, 3B9/M0CFW), Saba Island (PJ6A, PJ6Y), Wallis and Futuna Islands (FW5K), Bonaire (PJ4K), Tanzania (5H3MB), Guatemala (TG9BBV), Madagascar (5R8IC), Burkina Faso (XT2AW), Marcus Island Minami Tori Shima Islands (JG8NQJ/JD1), Colombia (HK3JCL), Mali (TZ4AM), Kuwait (9K2HN), Solomon Islands (H44MS), and Antarctica (DP0GVN).
A calendar of DXpeditions can be found at https://dxnews.com/calendar/
Solar Activity Update
As we go to press the Solar Flux Index (SFI) was 161 and the estimated sunspot number was 132 with 7 numbered sunspot regions visible from Earth. Over the last week the SFI has increased. Solar activity has been at high levels recently. The geomagnetic field was at quiet levels and the Kp index reached 2 yesterday. The solar wind peaked at 498 km/s. Solar activity is predicted to be moderate with geomagnetic activity at unsettled to minor storm levels today, quiet to active levels on Saturday and Sunday. The chance of solar radiation storms at the S1 or greater level is low at 10% through Saturday and at 5% Sunday. R1 to R2 radio blackouts are likely in the near term with a predicted probability of 60% through Saturday and at 40% Sunday. R3 or greater blackouts are possible with a 15% chance predicted today through Saturday and 5% on Sunday. There is a chance of 6 meter propagation so keep an eye on the band and spotting clusters to be ready for the next time the magic band does its thing. It remains a fantastic time for amateurs to get on the air and work the world.
Good sources of real-time solar information include
https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/
and
https://solarham.com/
. A good overview of conditions can be found at https://dx.qsl.net/propagation/. To see D-layer absorption data and associated radio blackouts, visit https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/d-region-absorption-predictions-d-rap. To see real-time Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF) and Critical Frequency (foF2) information from radiosonde data, visit
https://prop.kc2g.com/
.
Upcoming Contests
On the contest calendar this weekend we will see the the JARTS WW RTTY Contest, the 10-10 International Fall Contest on CW, the New York QSO Party, the Illinois QSO Party, the Worked all Germany Contest, the Stew Perry Topband Challenge, the Feld Hell Sprint, the Argentina National 7 MHZ Contest, the Asia-Pacific Fall Sprint on CW, the UBA ON Contest on 2m, the YLRL DX/NA YL Anniversary Contest, and the Run for the Bacon QRP Contest. As always the K1USN SSTs, MSTs, and CWTs will also be on the air.
The full contest calendar with events and exchanges can be found at https://www.contestcalendar.com/weeklycont.php
Interesting Online Radio Content
Dr. Tamitha Skov WX6SWW discusses recent solar conditions and her forecast -
Mike K8MRD shows us some ambulance conversions for amateur radio and camping -
Nanofix takes a look at an inexpensive thermal camera for electronics work -
Mike K8MRD shows the launch of a Pico Balloon -
Matt M0DQW takes a look at the new SenHaiX HT with HF reception -
Josh KI6NAZ takes a look at the new Baofeng UV-5R Mini -
Dugbo KD7DUG takes us along as he participates in the SKCC Weekend Sprintathon -
Nanofix shows his methodology for diagnosing faults for electronics repair -
Kevin KB9RLW shows how to use 3D Modeling to make a fan grill for the spooky season -
Patrick F2DX shows us the amazing logistics and beautiful scenery behind the FP5KE DXpedition to St. Pierre and Miquelon -
Mike K8MRD shows us a 10 meter Yagi on a pneumatic mast -
Mike M0MSN shows us the Retevis Ailunce H1 DMR HT -
Tim N7KOM paints his navy flameproof key for a whole new look -
Josh KI6NAZ discusses whether the IC-705 is still worth it 5 years in -
Steve KM9G makes a Raspberry Pi Weather Station with an eInk display -
Kevin W1DED talks to Tim K3LR about his legendary contest station and Multi-Multi Operations -
Walt K4OGO makes a telescopic vertical antenna with a reflector and gets it on the air -
Matt M0DQW tests out the AntRunner Satellite Tracker Azumith/Elevation Rotator -
Kurt ON7FF shows us what’s new in the latest version of the Thetis SDR software for the Hermes Lite 2 -
Callum M0XXT gets his new 4 square setup ready for testing -
Sean W9FFF builds a spool fed Rybakov antenna -
Mike K8MRD does a POTA rove in the Puget Sound -
Matt M0DQW takes a look at the PortaRF HackRF Radio -
Practical Engineering shows the engineering behind the bases of large antenna towers -
That’s it for this week.
Best 73,
Ed
N2EC
