In the log this week
* DXpedition Spotlight: FP5KE at Saint Pierre and Miquelon Islands
* MVARC Nets on the Air
* What's happening with DX?
* Solar Activity Update
* Upcoming Contests
* Interesting Online Radio Content
DXpedition Spotlight: FP5KE at Saint Pierre and Miquelon Islands
Image Courtesy FP5KE Site
Starting Monday, September 15, 2025 the F6KOP team will be starting their DXpedition to Saint Pierre and Miquelon Islands. They'll be on the air until September 26th. Saint Pierre and Miquelon is a very interesting island off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. While just a few miles off the coast of Canada, it is actually an overseas collectivity of France. The islands are an archipelago consisting of eight islands totaling 93 square miles with a population of 5,819 as of the 2022 census. The islands rank 103rd on the most wanted list on clublog.org. Being so close by, there should be a lot of good opportunities to work the team and get in the log. They plan to focus on "human modes" like CW, SSB, and RTTY while still working FT8 and FT4.
The F6KOP club are prolific DXpeditioners and have a history of many successful DXpeditions. As always, they will be working split, so don't call them on their transmission frequency. For CW they will be up 1-10 kHz, for SSB 5-20 kHz, and for RTTY up 3-10 kHz. They will be bringing an armada of rigs, amplifiers, and antennas with multiple hexbeams for the higher bands, VDA antennas from 20 meters to 10 meters, verticals from 160 meters to 30 meters, and a beam on 6 meters. They also plan to work satellite modes and earth-moon-earth. With their skill and equipment, this promises to be a big DXpedition that should be fairly easy to get in the log. Good luck and good DX!
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 Sint Maarten (PJ7K), Svalbard (JW6VDA), St. Pierre and Miquelon (FP5KE), Christmas Island (VK9/SP9FIH), Karpathos Island (SV5/HB9OAU), Norfolk Island (VK9NT), Annobon Island (3C0W), Palau (T88DF), Banaba Island (T33TTT), Tanzania (5H3DX), Rwanda (9X2AW), Colombia (HK3JCL), Mali (TZ4AM), Palestine (E44OM), Equatorial Guinea (3C3W), 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 115 and the estimated sunspot number was 92 with 7 numbered sunspot regions visible from Earth. Over the last week the SFI has decreased. Solar activity has been at low levels recently. The geomagnetic field was at quiet to active levels and the Kp index reached 4 yesterday. The solar wind peaked at 502 km/s. Solar activity is predicted to be at quiet to unsettled levels today and at quiet levels Saturday and at quiet to active levels on Sunday. The chance of solar radiation storms at the S1 or greater level is low at 1% today through Sunday. R1 to R2 radio blackouts are possible in the near term with a predicted probability of 30% through Sunday. R3 or greater blackouts are unlikely with a 1% chance predicted today through 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. HF conditions have been favorable overall. 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 ARRL EME Contest, the WAE DX Contest on SSB, the SKCC Weekend Sprintathon, the Africa FT4 DX Contest, the ARRL September VHF Contest, the North American Sprint on CW, the IRTS 70 cm Counties Contest, the IRTS 2 m Counties 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
Adam K6ARK, Mark KD7DTS, and Tim N7KOM activate multiple SOTA peaks ... with a bug! -
Walt K4OGO shares his favorite sites for checking propagation conditions -
Kevan 2E0WMG does some DXing at dawn -
Alan W2AEW shows how to characterize a directional coupler with a VNA -
Matt M0DQW shows off a new portable shortwave radio using both the SI and TEF chipsets -
Mike K8MRD sets up a shelter to activate portable in the woods -
Tom N3WS talks about his thoughts about the Buddihex antenna -
Josh KI6NAZ tries to do 3 mode POTA with a sub-one pound setup -
Walt K4OGO takes the QRP Labs QMX+ beach portable -
Mike K8MRD evaluates new lower loss RG-174 from ABR -
Nanofix teaches his wife how to solder with tiny surface mount components -
Hayden VK7HH talks about how to best wrap your coax -
Sean W9FFF takes a look at the Malahit DSP 2 radio -
Nanofix talks about what diode mode is on your multimeter and how to use it -
Matt M0DQW takes a look at network attached storage to archive files from an SDR -
Kevin KB9RLW tests out a loop-on-ground antenna for receive -
Walt K4OGO gives an overview of the USDX/USDR radios and his thoughts on them -
Rob N1NUG builds a doublet antenna -
Mike M0MSN installs a Yaesu 101 MP in his shack -
Oystein LB8IJ builds a paddle with a potato for POTA! -
George VK2AOE installs a CW filter in a Yaesu FT101E -
Steve KM9G looks at cheap and fun antennas -
Mike K8MRD shows his new bag for his QMX -
That's it for this week.
Best 73,
Ed
N2EC
