Good evening,
I was sitting here reading a few Sherlock Holmes stories I had somehow
missed over the years while listening to the radio. Soon I would be back at
the bench soldering and totally forget about sending this out. So I shall
remedy this omission :) Yesterday the sun was shining nicely and the snow was
a few inches deep. Even though the temperature was near freezing the white
covering remained in the shady areas. So I had my very own White Christmas.
However, while hiking around following all the tracks ("reading the news") I
found a strange crystalline growth much like helictites. Since the snowfall
about four days ago the nights have been in the 20s while the days have been
within a few degrees of freezing; either above or below. But each morning
there has been a dense fog. This must have been what grew my interesting
formations. When I scraped them off the underlying stratum was simple corn
snow. The fog must have been adding layers to the facets of the corn snow.
The propagation this week was rather good. All the solar activity stirred
up the ions above our heads and allowed contacts on 15 meters. I did not try
10 meters but there has been chatter about some openings to those who call CQ.
Remember: a band is always dead if everyone simply listens. Today, upon
checking SpaceWeather, I find the sun is quiet again. No spot on front or back
sides but "the game is afoot" (too much Sherlock here :) and the sun may just
keep sporting a few freckles now and then. Luckily the sun was not eaten by
dragons at its low point and yesterday folks saw it begin its inexorable
movement northward. (I really should not read 19th century literature! But
the Gutenberg Project includes only those items which are in the public
domain.) Maybe the new year will bring an ever more active sun. That would be
very nice.
Please join us tomorrow evening.
1) Hail signs (first letter or two of the suffix of your call)
2) NCS help (as well as QSP/QNP <relay> help)
Sunday 2300z (Sunday 3 PM PST) 14050 kHz
Monday 0000z (Sunday 4 PM PST) 7045 kHz
Stay warm,
Kevin. KD5ONS
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