In the log this week
* MVARC in the Park - David KU8V does an Early Shift POTA Activation
* MVARC Breakfast and Meeting Recap
* DXPedition Spotlight - TX5U in French Polynesia
* SteppIR to Exit Amateur Radio Antenna Manufacturing
* FlexRadio announces new Aurora Series SDRs
* MVARC Nets on the Air
* What's happening with DX?
* Solar Activity Update
* Upcoming Contests
* Interesting Online Radio Content
MVARC in the Park - David KU8V does an Early Shift POTA Activation
Early in the morning on 6/4/2025 I saw that MVARC member and Parks on the Air enthusiast David KU8V was activating parks in the District of Columbia for an Early Shift activation. I was able to work him on the way into my office using my mobile setup and heard him doing his always amazing job of handling a pileup and getting POTA hunters in the log. Since I had a few minutes to spare I swung by his operating location to say hello and snapped a photo of him with his setup in action. When I stopped by he had over 70 QSOs in the log on 40 meters alone, and intended to hit the higher bands as they opened. It was great seeing David and working him on the air. If you have operations you'd like to share drop me a line and I may be able to include it in a future Amateur Radio News and Notes.
MVARC Breakfast and Meeting Recap
Photo Courtesy Corey KN4YZY
Last Saturday we had a great turnout for our monthly breakfast. In fact we had such a good turn out we needed to have multiple tables! After the breakfast we headed over to President Corey KN4YZY's place to test some equipment ahead of Field Day. We found some equipment that was not in working order, so that may have saved us some grief on the big day. We also tested out a few different antennas on the bands and used our test equipment to diagnose and resolve some issues. Of course, most importantly we had a fun morning together and we're looking forward to another fun Field Day this year.
Photo Courtesy Corey KN4YZY
DXPedition Spotlight - TX5U in French Polynesia
Image Courtesy https://www.f6kjs.fr/tx5u-archipel-des-tuamotu/
Didier F6BCW has been QRV in Tikehau, Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia since May 26th and is expected to be running until June 9th. He has had a strong signal to the East Coast recently and I was able to work him on 17 and 20 meter CW on June 3rd. He is targeting 12,000 QSOs on CW and SSB and will QSL via OQRS on Club Log an on LotW after 6 months. As of the last log upload on the 4th he has had 4,618 QSOs uploaded to Club Log. Tikehau is #140 on the most wanted list for CW and #123 on SSB. More information on Didier's operation can be found at https://www.f6kjs.fr/tx5u-archipel-des-tuamotu/.
SteppIR to Exit Amateur Radio Antenna Manufacturing
Image courtesy SteppIR
Antenna manufacturer SteppIR Communication Systems announced that they will stop production of consumer antennas and accessories at the end of August this year. This marks yet another departure from the Amateur Radio market after the exit of MFJ and the brands they owned a year ago. SteppIR is known for the tunable Yagi style antennas that used stepper motors to change the length of the driven element so that the antenna is always resonant on the desired transmit frequency. Their antennas were prized for their performance and frequently seen in serious contest stations.
FlexRadio announces new Aurora Series SDRs
Image Courtesy FlexRadio.com
At Dayton Hamvention this year FlexRadio announced their new Aurora series of Software Defined Radios. These radios offer the ability to transmit up to 500 Watts on the HF bands and 200 Watts on 6 meters at full duplex while still supporting 120 V circuits. Their 510 models offer a single "spectral capture unit" and are the more traditional option, while the 520 models have 2 "spectral capture units" and are capable of operating SO2R (Single Operator 2 Radio). They come with an integrated tuner and run CESSB for a punchier signal. As we go to press the MSRP on their site is $6,199 for the AU-510 and $7,349 for the AU-510M (with the Maestro display on the front). For the AU-50 it starts at $8,599 and getting the Maestro version AU-50M will cost you $9,599. The units are not yet available and are in the pre-order phase. There are different delivery options with the earliest group being Q4 of this year, the second group Q1 2026, and the latest one after those two groups have been fulfilled.
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. Stations on the air include French Polynesia (TX5U), Koror Island (T88HR, T88TJ), Bermuda (VP9/WA4PGM), Saint Martin Island (FS/K9EL), Tokelau (ZK3ZK), Kuwait (9K2HN), Falkland Islands (VP8DPD), Marcus Island Minami Tori Shima Islands (JG8NQJ/JD1), 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 128 and the estimated sunspot number was 92 with 5 numbered sunspot regions visible from Earth. Over the last week the SFI has decreased. Solar activity has been moderate recently with the geomagnetic field being at quiet to active levels and the Kp was below 4. The solar wind reached 765 km/s on Wednesday and has decreased to near 580 km/s. High speed streams are expected to persist through Sunday when a glancing blow from the June 3rd CME is expected to enhance magnetic field parameters and make a G1 storm likely. Unsettled to active levels are expected to persist through the 8th. The chance of solar radiation storms at the S1 or greater level is low at 5%. R1 to R2 radio blackouts are possible with a predicted probability of 40%. R3 or greater blackouts are unlikely with a 5% chance predicted. 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. There was an opening this week on Tuesday where I was able to work a station in Quebec from Virginia from my mobile station via CW. Despite some challenging daytime conditions, HF conditions have been favorable overall. It remains a fantastic time for amateurs of all license classes 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 can look forward to the 10-10 International Open Season PSK Contest, the VK Shires Contest, the Tisza Cup CW Contest, the Wake-Up! QRP Sprint, the Atlantic Canada QSO Party, the Kentucky QSO Party, the UKSMG Summer Contest, the IARURegion 1 Field Day on CW, the RSGB National Field Day, the ARRL International Digital Contest, and the 4 States QRP Second Sunday Sprint. 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
Michael KB9VBR takes a look at the Radioddity HF-009 Antenna -
James KE8PZN does his first POTA activation with the FTX-1 Optima -
Save It for Parts modifies a antenna to receive GOES Satellite data -
Mike K8MRD experiments with off grid power solutions trying to find one without RFI -
Ramon EA5IW does Bike QRP -
Matt M0DQW brings the hammer down (literally) on the Quansheng TK11 -
Adam K6ARK and Mark KD7DTS activate SOTA overnight on 160 meters -
Ed W4EMB shows a loading coil jumper for the Chelegance MC-750 -
Alan W2AEW shows off his build of the SolderSmoke Challenge Direct Conversion Receiver -
Josh Ki6NAZ takes a look at cheap speakers for portable operations -
Mike K8MRD tests out a 400 Watt solar panel for portable operations -
Ralph of Electronics for the Inquisitive Experimenter goes into building a matching network with a Smith chart -
Ralph of Electronics for the Inquisitive Experimenter goes into building a matching network with numerical methods -
Josh KI6NAZ goes bike portable for a SOTA and POTA activation -
Dr. Tamitha Skov WX6SWW goes deep into what happened in the last week that wrecked the HF bands with solar storms -
Matt M0DQW takes a look at a Moonraker 10 and 12 meter rig -
Kevin W1DED talks to Chris KL9A about his CQ WPX CW win from CQ9A in Madeira Island -
That's it for this week.
Best 73,
Ed
N2EC
