In the log this week
* Vienna Wireless Winterfest Hamfest This Sunday, March 9, 2025
* DXpedition Spotlight: VU4AX - Andaman Islands
* MVARC Nets on the Air
* What's happening with DX?
* Solar Activity Update
* Upcoming Contests
* Interesting Online Radio Content
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Vienna Wireless Winterfest Hamfest This Sunday, March 9, 2025
Sunday, March 9, 2025 the Vienna Wireless Society is hosting the 49th Winterfest hamfest at Oakton High School, 2900 Sutton Road, Vienna, VA 22181. This is one of the biggest hamfests that is close to us here in Northern Virginia and is always a fun time. The Mount Vernon Amateur Radio Club has rented a table inside, so we'll be there selling gear and letting folks know about the club. Tickets are $12 (plus service fee) in advance and $15 at the door, so getting them online is a way to save a few bucks. Tailgating is $20 and includes an admission ticket. They also have a raffle where they're giving away a Yaesu FTDX10 and an Icom ID-5100A-D. If you're able to make it plan on stopping by and saying hello. This is one of a small handful of hamfests in the area still operating, so giving your support helps to ensure it will be there for years to come. Also, it is a great way see old friends and make new ones. More information can be found at https://viennawireless.net/wp/winterfest/. Of note, this Sunday is when we "Spring Forward" into Eastern Daylight Time -- so make sure to set your clock so you get there on time and don't miss any deals! We hope to see you there!
DXpedition Spotlight: VU4AX - Andaman Islands
Image Courtesy DX-Adventure.com
This week brings a highly anticipated DXpedition to South Andaman Island in the Bay of Bengal to the East of the Indian subcontinent. This is a rare entity, particularly for North America where it ranks number 28 on the Club Log most wanted list. It is a particular challenge due to the fact that the azimuthal path is nearly directly over the North Pole. The DX-Adventure team plans on setting up on the Western beach to improve their working conditions for North American contacts and will be using Spiderbeam beam antennas on 10, 12, 15, 17, and 20 meters. They have indicated they will be focusing on providing the best opportunities to North America as is possible, looking for band openings to exploit. The plan is for them to be running 6 stations 24 hours a day, starting on the 10th and continuing until the 20th. Due to regulations on the island, there will not be any 6 meter operations as the government limits operations on that band to 25 Watts on FM. The operating team includes 10 operators from Belgium and 2 operators from the Netherlands. This promises to be an exciting opportunity to get some particularly rare DX in your log. For more information about the DXpedition, check out their web site at https://www.dx-adventure.com/en/home-eng/. Good Luck!
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 lot of DX on the air in the next week. Stations on the air will include Cayman Islands (ZF2CA), Cocos Keeling Islands (VK9CU), Andaman Islands (VU2AX), Jamaica (6Y7EI), Sint Maarten Island (PJ7AA), Antigua (V26MN), Comoro Islands (D68Z), Solomon Islands (H44MS), Sri Lanka (4S7KKG), Benin (TY5C), Senegal (6W7/ON4AVT), Marcus Island Minami Tori Shima Islands (JG8NQJ/JD1), and Antarctica (FT4YM, 8J1RL).
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 149 and the estimated sunspot number was 147. Over the last week the SFI has declined. Conditions have been excellent for HF propagation and are predicted to remain good. Solar activity has been low with only low level C-class flares being observed. Geomagnetic conditions are expected to be quiet today and unsettled to active tomorrow. There is only a 5% chance for S1 or greater solar radiation storms for the next few days according NOAA forecasts. In terms of radio blackouts the chance of an R1-R2 blackout is at 45% and the chance for R3 or greater radio blackouts is at 10%. No G1 or greater geomagnetic storms are expected and no significant solar wind features are forecast. Conditions have been favorable overall and the 10 meter band has been open everyday with lots of DX on the bands. 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
This weekend brings the Novice Rig Roundup, the SARL VHF/UHF FM Contest, the Commonwealth (BERU) Contest, the DIG QSO Party, the AGCW QRP Contest, the EA PSK63 Contest, the South America 10 Meter Contest, the Stew Perry Topband Challenge, the Oklahoma QSO Party, the Idaho QSO Party, the Wisconsin QSO Party, the TESLA Memorial HF CW Contest, the UBA Spring Contest, the FIRAC HF Contest, the YOTA Contest, the Classic Exchange 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
Ralph of Electronics for the Inquisitive Experimenter takes a look at how Antenna Tuners work to match your antenna via complex conjugate matching -
Josh KI6NAZ takes a look at the CTR2 Mini and MIDI rig control devices -
Michael KB9VBR does a POTA rove in Wisconsin's Driftless region -
Hayden VK7HH takes a look at the LiTime 50 Ah LiFePO4 battery -
Mike K8MRD Builds a Yaesu FT-891 Go-Bag with an Armorloq cage -
Steve KM9G takes a look at the new Retevis MA1 Dual Bander -
Matt M0DQW takes a look at the new Retevis MA1 Full Duplex 50 W Mobile 2m/70cm rig -
Mark KD7DTS and Ara N6ARA do multiple SOTA activations back-to-back -
Sean W9FFF really likes a new antenna winder design -
Hayden VK7HH gives his favorite HTs on Amazon for 2025 -
Mike K8MRD talks RFI suppression for mobile operations -
Paul OM0ET takes a look at a new firmware and HI-Z receive circuit for the Micro Pocket Receiver -
Josh KI6NAZ takes a look at the Intellitron HA-1711S antenna and compares it with the MFJ Long Ranger -
Forrest KI7QCF unboxes a new (to him) QRP rig and activates some POTA -
Tim K5OHY unboxes a G90 and does some backyard POTA hunting -
Sean W9FFF talks about whether you should be "worried" if your neighbor has a tower -
Rob N1NUG fixes a problem with his NanoVNA -
Hayden VK7HH lists his picks for the best antennas on Amazon -
Craig KM6LYW talks about the latest version of his DigiPi suite -
Kevan 2E0WMG goes kayak portable at a salt marsh -
George VK2AOE makes a waterfall display to accompany his Kenwood TS-520 -
Dugbo KD7DUG activates Iron Mountain for SOTA and takes us along for the adventure -
Tim N7KOM talks about the K6STR Emergency Backup Antenna -
Matt M0DQW shows you how to use an RTL-SDR locally with a web browser based SDR software program -
Sean W9FFF tears down the Reel POTAble Antenna -
Mike K8MRD takes a look at the Nurzviy SolarEpoch Foldable Solar Panels -
Steve KM9G takes a look at a Aferiy Power Station -
That's it for this week.
Best 73,
Ed
N2EC
