ROAR Nets Report for 14th and 16th August 2016
 
0530z - 0600z Anzo Net on 7,110
From Bill VK4ZD
Phil VK2MCB was 57 and gave me 59
Peter VK3KCD was 57 and gave me 59
Graham and son Charlie VK2VV was 59+10 and gave me 59+
 
0600z - 0700z Europe - Anzo Net on 14,295.2 Long Path
Net extended next week to 0600z-0730z to extend propagation window for G & ANZO*
From Bill VK4ZD
Phil VK2MCB was 56
Miika OH2BAD was 56 and gave me 57
Brian G3LUW was 44-55 and gave me 33
Pertti EA7GSU was 57-8 and gave me 58-9
Klaus HB9CQS was 57 and gave me 56
John G3OKT was 11
Alain F4GHB was 44 and gave me 45
Vernon G0EGW was 33-44
Nick G4HCK was 11
I went QRT at 0652z
 
From John G3OKT
Solar figures at 0305z were SFI 91 A 5 K 2 sunspots 73 (falling)
OH2BAD and G3OKT were 5.9+20dB b/w at 0600z.
Miika gave Phil VK2MCB 5.6 and Bill VK4ZD 5.6 before losing both in QRM at 0620z.
HB9CQS was 5.7 QSB here initially, building to 5.9 at 0625z and giving me 5.7/9. Klaus heard Vernon G0EGW (a new member of ROAR) at 2.2; Klaus was 5.6-7 with Alain F4GHB.
VK2MCB gave HB9CQS 5.8 in exchange for 5.7 - down to no copy in the noise.
VK4ZD heard Klaus at 5.7.
EA7GSU gave Miika 5.9; 5.5 to 5.9 for G3LUW depending on beam direction; gave HB9CQS 3.1. Pertti was 1-5.1 here in QSB and heard VK2MCB at 5.1 in exchange for 5.5.
G3LUW finally heard VK4ZD at 4.4 in exchange for 5.5; Brian was 5.1 here.
F4GHB was 2.1 here; I thought I heard Alain give VK4ZD 5.5, HB9CQS 5.5 and G3LUW 5.6. Alain was 5.7 with OH2BAD and 5.4 to 5.5 with HB9CQS.
HB9CQS called Len VK4BLZ but got no response.
G0EGW Vernon in Framlingham was 5.6/9 with OH2BAD in exchange for 5.8; Vernon was 4.1 to 4.3 here and could hear G3LUW and also just hear VK4ZD. Suddenly Vernon came up to 5.5 here at 0625z.
G0EGW described Phil VK2MCB as very weak, peaking S3 at 0632z.
G4HCK Nick was acknowledged by EA7GSU when Pertti was 5.2. Nick was 2.1 here and exchanged 5.7/8 b/w with Pertti.
EA7GSU was 5.2 QSB at 0635z; Pertti gave Vernon 5.5-7 and got 5.8.
OH2BAD gave Vernon 5.6/7 at 0638z but Miika had to go QRT with heavy rain static at 0638z.
Pertti relayed his sympathy at 0643z for Diane VK4DI via VK4ZD for her knee injury – echoed by us all.
EA7GSU got 5.6-9 from G3LUW at 0641z. Still no copy of VKs here when Pertti closed the net at 0653z. G3LUW, HB9CQS and G3OKT thought that the net start might usefully be shifted to 0630z.
PA3AHC called in at 0657z with what sounded like an electrical contact problem. Malcolm was peaking 5.7 here and gave me 5.4.
 
0800z - 0900z UK 80-metre Net on 3,694
From John G7OAI/P who was net controller
I opened the net at 0759Z, with G3LUW, G3OKT, G2FUU and G3JJR all called in within seconds, but no one else.
Conditions appeared to be a lot better than in previous weeks. My QSO with brother-in-law G0VXG were the best we'd seen on 80, with his signal to me being S9+40, just before the net. However it was not to last! John JJR lost me completely during one over, but was very good with Tommy, G2FUU, who was somewhat distorted to me on some overs, but not others. But we managed OK for almost 45 minutes. I closed the net at 0843z.
G3LUW - 5x9, G3OKT - 5x9+60, G2FUU - 5x7-8, G3JJR - 5x8-9, 5x3-4 on one over - sudden deep QSB!
 
From G3OKT
G7OAI/P was 5.9+25dB here and suffered QSB on me down to 5.7. QSB also on G3JJR.
G3LUW was 5.9+10dB and 5.9 with Tommy
G2FUU was 5.9+10dB and gave me 5.9+20dB
G3JJR was 5.9+5dB, gave Tommy 5.7 (not as strong as usual), was 5.8 mostly with G7OAI and G3LUW and 4.7 with G2FUU
Vernon G0EGW had earlier said on 20m said that he would not be on this net, but would probably be on the 1700z 80m net this evening. Tommy thought he would also be on the 1700z net.
The net closed at 0848z
 
1200z – 1300z TransAtlantic Net on 14,287/8 or at 1500z on Sunday on 14287kHz or 14.310MHz
 
1700z – 1730z RIBI evening 80-metre Net on 3,693 MHz
 
2000z - 2030z N.AM Transcontinental Net on 14,287/8 or 14.310
 
0700z – 0730z Tuesday 16th August 2016 NZ 80-m net on 3,693
 
0600z - 0630z Tuesday 16th August 2016 EUR net on 14,295.2 / 7,136 +/-
From Bill VK4ZD
Phil VK2MCB was 57 and gave me 59
Peter VK3KCD was 57 and gave me 59
Klaus HB9CQS was 44-55
No other stations were heard
I went QRT at 0635z
 
From John G3OKT
Propagation figures at 0310z were - SFI 88 A 4 K 1 sunspots 70 (increasing)
G3OKT called CQ at 0600 and 0605z with no response.
HB9CQS called VK2MCB at 0605z. Klaus said Phil was very weak 3.2 or 3.3 with poor copy. Klaus got 5.3 from Phil. No trace of Phil here.
VK4ZD was just heard by Klaus but no copy here.
VK3KCD was 4/3.3 with Klaus but no copy of Peter here.
PA3AHC was heard by Klaus at 0617z but Malcolm was not copied here. Malcolm gave Klaus 5.6.
The net closed at 0618 – rather disappointing!

*Copy for info of e-mail exchange re extending the net for the benefit of G stations :
 
From G3OKT to VK4ZD (cc ZL2JPM et al)
Hi Bill, at the end of Sundays ROAR net, Brian said that his signal received from you came up significantly. Do you think it worth trying 0630z - 0730 z for next Sunday's net on 20m and if successful, for the following Tuesday too? Klaus and I agreed with Brian (and I think Pertti too)
If so, I will advertise the shift in this week's report which goes to everybody.
 
From ZL2JPM
From ZL’s perspective, the closer the time approximates the grey-line the better. Our sunset is at about 0545z, so times from 0600-0630 are likely to be better than later times. By the equinox, the times will line up better (and if history is any guide, propagation from ZL to Euro will improve!!).
At present, Doug (ZL1BFS) and I have been working our 80m net on Tuesdays at 0800z (3693) and we listen on Sundays. Unfortunately, neither of us has heard beyond VK (where Phil (Vk2MCB) is the strongest.
 
From: VK4ZD
From my perspective Tuesday was very disappointing after the great result on Sunday.
The observations that I have made for the theoretical availability of propagation are as follows:
 
VK4 to HB - 0530z to 0700z, HB to ZL closes 0600z
VK4 to G - 0530z to 0730z, G to ZL closes 0530z
VK4 to OH - 0530z to 0700z, OH to ZL closes 0530z
VK4 to EA - 0630 to 0730z, EA to ZL closes 0630z

All signals from Europe into ZL are marginal (50% to 75% chance)
Accordingly it appears that our current sched time offers the best possibility of a contact to all except G (and ZL)
Based on that I propose that we consider extending the net by 30 minutes to 0730z to try and get a result into G.
What do you think?
 
From HB9CQS to VK4ZD, cc G3OKT and EA7GSU
Your VK4 to HB prediction is as close as you may get. This morning I worked Len between 06:10 and 06:25. He was 55 - 56 when we started and had dropped one S-degree when we finished.
Brian and John are 11 – 12 degrees west of me. They will undoubtedly benefit by a retiming so that the net closes at 07:30z and I support John’s request.
Being deprived of my morning sleep on Sunday mornings has always been a bothersome sacrifice. Hence, I am for starting at 06:30z. It made me sad that the 21:00z short path solution wasn’t a solution. You might have appreciated afterwards what we Europeans are going through.
 
 
 
That’s all for now,
73s from John G3OKT
18th August 2016