Hi friends,
I will be active from Moldova from September 5th to 9th.
The first two days will be on 1296 and 2320 MHz (just in time for the ARRL EME contest). Then, on the evening of September 6th, I will switch over to 144 MHz for a couple of days. If I find a suitable QTH, I might also get on the air before the contest on September 3rd or 4th.
Good news: I managed to find a solid additional QTH, so I'm heading out a bit earlier and will be active from September 2nd to 9th.
+++++
After three days on the road and nearly 2,000 km, I’ve arrived at the QTH. Crossing the border and clearing customs was relatively quick. The Moldovan customs officer questioned me at length about everything, hinting that I needed a permit from the Chamber of Commerce, a TIR carnet, and asking what guarantees he had that I’d take all this equipment back out of Moldova. I think he was just fishing for a “gift,” but once he saw the absolute determination in my eyes and realized I was ready to turn around and leave, he simply waved his hand and told me to pass. A good start to the trip! ))
Within 30 minutes, I was on site. Since moonrise isn’t until the evening, I took my time setting things up. First, I decided to test 144 MHz to check out the local noise floor. There’s some crackling noise to the west, but toward moonrise it seems reasonably quiet.
I made a few tropo QSOs and am all set to hit the air at moonrise!
2026-09-02,16:41:30,2026-09-02,16:42:30,YO8TNB,KN37,144.176133,FT8,+02,-03,,,,,,,
2026-09-02,16:42:15,2026-09-02,16:44:40,ER3UA,,144.176133,FT8,+02,-03,,,,,,,
2026-09-02,17:43:00,2026-09-02,17:44:00,YT7KW,KN05,144.175709,FT8,-04,-13,,,,,,,
2026-09-02,17:44:00,2026-09-02,17:45:00,YO2LOZ,KN05,144.175709,FT8,+04,-09,,,,,,,
2026-09-02,17:54:00,2026-09-02,17:55:00,YO5AVN,KN17,144.174994,FT8,-07,-09,,,,,,,
2026-09-02,17:55:00,2026-09-02,17:56:00,YU7ON,KN04AX,144.174994,FT8,+08,-14,,,,,,,
2026-09-02,20:00:00,2026-09-02,20:04:00,SM2BYC,KP25AX,144.140999,Q65,-20,-15,,,,,,,
2026-09-02,20:04:00,2026-09-02,20:08:00,DK5EW,JN48MB,144.140999,Q65,-25,-18,,,,,,,
2026-09-02,20:08:00,2026-09-02,20:12:00,PA0V,JO33II,144.140999,Q65,-22,-27,,,,,,,
2026-09-02,20:18:00,2026-09-02,20:22:00,9A5RJ,JN86EL,144.140999,Q65,-26,-26,,,,,,,
2026-09-02,20:22:00,2026-09-02,20:26:00,UY5BC,KN29,144.140999,Q65,-26,-24,,,,,,,
2026-09-02,20:34:00,2026-09-02,20:38:00,PA3DZL,JO21LS,144.140999,Q65,-23,-22,,,,,,,
2026-09-02,20:46:00,2026-09-02,20:50:00,UA3PTW,,144.140999,Q65,-22,-16,,,,,,,
2026-09-02,20:53:00,2026-09-02,20:56:00,S54AC,JN86,144.140999,Q65,-20,-22,,,,,,,
2026-09-02,20:56:00,2026-09-02,21:00:00,LY2IJ,KO25TF,144.140999,Q65,-23,-25,,,,,,,
A couple of hours later, a thunderstorm rolled in and the rain started pouring down. I had to shut everything down urgently, wrap all the connectors in plastic, and postpone operations until morning.
2026-09-03,04:14:00,2026-09-03,04:18:00,I3MEK,,144.141033,Q65,-20,-19,,,,,,,
2026-09-03,04:32:00,2026-09-03,04:36:00,ZS4TX,KG30BW,144.141072,Q65,-21,-25,,,,,,,
2026-09-03,05:01:00,2026-09-03,05:04:00,YO6DBA,KN36,144.141072,Q65,-32,-31,,,,,,,
2026-09-03,05:18:00,2026-09-03,05:22:00,UC1I,LP52,144.141072,Q65,-25,-24,,,,,,,
2026-09-03,05:26:00,2026-09-03,05:30:00,G4BWP,JO02FH,144.141072,Q65,-28,-26,,,,,,,
2026-09-03,05:30:00,2026-09-03,05:34:00,SM5DIC,JO89JT,144.141072,Q65,-24,-18,,,,,,,
2026-09-03,06:24:00,2026-09-03,06:28:00,I2FAK,JN45OB,144.141090,Q65,-21,-23,,,,,,,
2026-09-03,08:02:00,2026-09-03,08:06:00,OZ7UV,JO65DH,144.140989,Q65,-28,-32,,,,,,,
2026-09-03,09:08:00,2026-09-03,09:10:00,OM4CW,JN88,144.182999,Q65,-11,-12,,,,,,,
2026-09-03,09:16:00,2026-09-03,09:17:00,YU7ON,KN04AX,144.174999,FT8,-14,-18,,,,,,,
2026-09-03,10:03:15,2026-09-03,10:04:15,UX7DX,,144.175454,FT8,-17,-09,,,,,,,
2026-09-03,10:06:30,2026-09-03,10:09:15,HG3FMZ,JN96,144.174888,FT8,-17,-23,,,,,,,
-27 QSO
In the morning I managed to log a few QSOs, but as soon as the elevation dropped—around 8:00 AM local time—normal operation on 2 meters was effectively over. The noise floor shot straight up, and naturally, any further EME became completely out of the question.
Switching over to FM mode showed a signal level of 59+20 dB. It looks and sounds very much like a repeater located somewhere near the Romanian border.
So Plan B goes into effect:
Tonight at my moonrise (MR): I’ll try working 144 MHz for a few hours (while the antenna is pointing away from the suspected repeater). Then a quick sleep, and at first light I’ll take down the 2m antenna and mount the dish for 23 cm. On September 4th, I will operate there until moonset (MS), followed by the morning MR on Saturday, September 5th.
Saturday teardown: I need to pack up everything and clear out of this QTH by 12:00 local time, which means I can remain active on 23 cm until around 07:00 UTC.
After that, moving to the new QTH: I’ll try to set up quickly to catch Saturday’s MS on 13 cm (though that depends on the new site setup).
Sunday, September 6th: Most likely active on 23 cm, switching to 13 cm for a couple of hours during the day.
September 7th and 8th: Dedicated to 144 MHz, local noise levels permitting.
2026-09-03,17:51:15,2026-09-03,17:52:45,HA2NP,JN97SG,144.175899,FT8,-03,-11,,,,,,,
2026-09-03,20:43:00,2026-09-03,20:47:00,S51ZO,JN86DR,144.140996,Q65,-26,-18,,,,,,,
2026-09-03,21:13:00,2026-09-03,21:17:00,NH6V,BL20,144.140996,Q65,-23,-19,,,,,,,
2026-09-03,21:54:00,2026-09-03,21:58:00,G8RWG,IO91,144.140996,Q65,-26,-29,,,,,,,
2026-09-03,22:14:00,2026-09-03,22:18:00,OM4CW,JN88,144.140996,Q65,-26,-24,,,,,,,
2026-09-03,22:18:00,2026-09-03,22:22:00,JH0BBE,PM97LG,144.140996,Q65,-26,-26,,,,,,,
2026-09-03,22:54:00,2026-09-03,22:58:00,OH4LA,KP20,144.140996,Q65,-23,-32,,,,,,,
2026-09-03,23:16:00,2026-09-03,23:20:00,G4YTL,IO92MB,144.140996,Q65,-32,-26,,,,,,,
2026-09-03,23:28:00,2026-09-03,23:32:00,DF1NP,JN58,144.140996,Q65,-26,-22,,,,,,,
++++++++++++
As soon as I woke up this morning, I rushed out to swap the Yagi for the dish. Even though I’ve got plenty of practice, it still took nearly two hours. The payoff, though, was a nice little pileup waiting for me.
2026-09-04,06:12:00,2026-09-04,06:16:00,OK1KIR,JN79,1296.100996,Q65,-09,-11,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,06:18:00,2026-09-04,06:20:00,PA3DZL,JO21LS,1296.101000,Q65,-13,-15,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,06:23:00,2026-09-04,06:25:00,UA3PTW,,1296.101000,Q65,-10,-17,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,06:25:00,2026-09-04,06:27:00,ON4AOI,JO21BA,1296.101000,Q65,-16,-18,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,06:27:00,2026-09-04,06:29:00,ZS4TX,KG30BW,1296.101000,Q65,-19,-20,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,06:29:00,2026-09-04,06:31:00,ES3RF,KO29,1296.101000,Q65,-20,-20,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,06:31:00,2026-09-04,06:33:00,OK1USW,JN69UN,1296.101000,Q65,-17,-20,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,06:33:00,2026-09-04,06:35:00,OZ9AAR,JO45TS,1296.101000,Q65,-12,-15,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,06:35:00,2026-09-04,06:37:00,IK3COJ,JN65BN,1296.101000,Q65,-21,-17,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,06:37:00,2026-09-04,06:39:00,PA3FXB,JO33KC,1296.101000,Q65,-20,-19,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,06:38:30,2026-09-04,06:41:00,DL8FBD,,1296.101000,Q65,-21,-23,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,06:41:00,2026-09-04,06:43:00,G0LBK,IO93JK,1296.101000,Q65,-20,-19,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,06:43:00,2026-09-04,06:45:00,I2FAK,JN45OB,1296.101000,Q65,-17,-19,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,06:45:00,2026-09-04,06:47:00,IQ2DB,,1296.101000,Q65,-19,-23,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,06:47:00,2026-09-04,06:49:00,SP5GDM,,1296.101000,Q65,-19,-19,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,06:49:00,2026-09-04,06:51:00,DL1HUH,,1296.101000,Q65,-15,-14,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,06:51:00,2026-09-04,06:53:00,RA4HL,,1296.101000,Q65,-15,-17,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,06:53:00,2026-09-04,06:55:00,PA0BAT,JO31FX,1296.101000,Q65,-20,-18,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,06:55:00,2026-09-04,06:57:00,DF3RU,JN59UL,1296.101000,Q65,-13,-15,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,06:57:00,2026-09-04,06:59:00,ZS6JON,KG33VV,1296.101000,Q65,-22,-21,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,06:59:00,2026-09-04,07:01:00,R1NW,KP71,1296.101000,Q65,-24,-19,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,07:01:00,2026-09-04,07:03:00,DL1AT,JO61SF,1296.101000,Q65,-22,-19,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,07:04:00,2026-09-04,07:06:00,DF2VJ,JN39LI,1296.101000,Q65,-19,-22,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,07:06:00,2026-09-04,07:08:00,G4RGK,IO91ON,1296.101000,Q65,-26,-15,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,07:08:00,2026-09-04,07:10:00,GW4ZHI,IO82AH,1296.101000,Q65,-24,-24,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,07:10:00,2026-09-04,07:12:00,IK5VLS,JN53GU,1296.101000,Q65,-20,-18,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,07:12:00,2026-09-04,07:14:00,F5KUG,JN03,1296.101000,Q65,-16,-18,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,07:14:00,2026-09-04,07:16:00,UA9FAD,LO88AA,1296.101000,Q65,-22,-17,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,07:16:00,2026-09-04,07:18:00,PA3EXV,JO32,1296.101000,Q65,-18,-19,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,07:18:00,2026-09-04,07:20:00,NC1I,FN32OB,1296.101000,Q65,-08,-11,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,07:21:00,2026-09-04,07:23:00,G4YTL,IO92MB,1296.101000,Q65,-26,-22,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,07:26:00,2026-09-04,07:28:00,VE6TA,DO33GS,1296.101000,Q65,-17,-22,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,07:44:00,2026-09-04,07:48:00,KG0D,CN88,1296.101000,Q65,-25,-26,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,07:47:00,2026-09-04,07:52:00,DL7UDA,JO62,1296.101000,Q65,-16,-20,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,07:52:00,2026-09-04,07:56:00,RX3DR,,1296.101000,Q65,-23,-23,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,07:58:00,2026-09-04,08:02:00,DG0FE,JO62UN,1296.101000,Q65,-17,-22,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,08:10:00,2026-09-04,08:14:00,LA3EQ,JO28,1296.101000,Q65,-26,-22,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,08:16:00,2026-09-04,08:20:00,R4CX,LO32,1296.101000,Q65,-17,-22,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,08:20:00,2026-09-04,08:24:00,DL1SUZ,JO53UN,1296.101000,Q65,-23,-24,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,08:30:00,2026-09-04,08:34:00,DK5AI,JO51GO,1296.101000,Q65,-23,-26,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,08:34:00,2026-09-04,08:38:00,CT1FFU,IM59KJ,1296.101000,Q65,-20,-21,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,08:40:00,2026-09-04,08:44:00,HB9Q,JN47CG,1296.101000,Q65,-07,-14,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,08:46:00,2026-09-04,08:50:00,IK7EZN,JN90DG,1296.101000,Q65,-18,-20,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,08:52:00,2026-09-04,08:56:00,CT1WO,IM58,1296.101000,Q65,-22,-25,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,09:02:00,2026-09-04,09:06:00,KB7Q,DN45,1296.101000,Q65,-24,-26,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,09:54:00,2026-09-04,09:58:00,OK1DFC,JN79GW,1296.101000,Q65,-14,-15,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,10:00:00,2026-09-04,10:04:00,AA6I,DM06,1296.101000,Q65,-22,-22,,,,,,,
47 QSO in log on 23 cm.
Plans for moonrise (MR): I'll start on 23 cm for the Far East / Asia and anyone who didn't manage to work me today, followed by a quick break for 2–3 hours of sleep. Once the sun comes up, I'll try switching over to 13 cm. Then, around 07:00 UTC, I need to take down all the antennas and vacate the place (as other guests are checking in). I'll load everything into the van and head to the new QTH. Check-in there isn't until 11:00 UTC, but if the owners let me in a bit earlier, I might be able to get on the air on 23 cm for my moonset (MS) in the evening.
+++++++++++++
In the evening, moonrise (MR) was quite late local time, and with hills blocking the horizon up to 9 degrees of elevation, I had to wait until 1:00 AM. Fatigue had really built up by then, and all I wanted was to catch up on sleep, but the tight expedition schedule doesn’t leave much room to relax.
I started on 23 cm, and by around 4:00 AM, it seemed I had worked everyone who was calling. Waiting another couple of hours for the moon to rise over the US East Coast was simply beyond my energy levels. I laid down for a two-hour nap, got up with the alarm, and worked a few stations that were waiting—including a CW QSO with OK1KIR.
Next, I swapped the septum feed and switched over to 13 cm, putting 6 QSOs into the log there. I couldn’t stay on the band for long, though, as new guests were checking into the rental cottage and I had to tear down, pack up all the gear, and vacate the property by 11:00 AM.
2026-09-04,21:46:00,2026-09-04,21:50:00,OK1UGA,JO80DD,1296.101000,Q65,-17,-22,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,22:12:00,2026-09-04,22:16:12,OK1IL,JN69,1296.101000,Q65,-25,-25,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,22:28:00,2026-09-04,22:36:00,VK4CDI,QG52XH,1296.101000,Q65,-24,-25,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,22:40:00,2026-09-04,22:44:00,BA7NQ,OL63NA,1296.101000,Q65,-23,-22,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,22:50:00,2026-09-04,22:58:12,OK1KIR,1296.101000,CW, 539/559,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,23:00:00,2026-09-04,23:04:00,JJ3JHP,PM75,1296.101000,Q65,-15,-19,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,23:06:00,2026-09-04,23:10:00,JQ3JWF,PM75,1296.101000,Q65,-16,-19,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,23:16:00,2026-09-04,23:20:00,JH3AZC,PM85,1296.101000,Q65,-18,-19,,,,,,,
2026-09-04,23:26:00,2026-09-04,23:30:00,PA0TBR,JO21SL,1296.101000,Q65,-17,-22,,,,,,,
2026-09-05,00:40:00,2026-09-05,00:48:06,EA8DBM,IL18OH,1296.101000,Q65,-22,-25,,,,,,,
2026-09-05,00:52:00,2026-09-05,00:56:00,JA6AHB,PM53CP,1296.101000,Q65,-17,-20,,,,,,,
2026-09-05,04:48:00,2026-09-05,04:52:00,KA1GT,FN54UJ,1296.101000,Q65,-21,-27,,,,,,,
2026-09-05,05:20:00,2026-0905,05:24:00,UA9YLU,MO92HX,1296.101000,Q65,-25,-20,,,,,,,
2026-09-05,05:26:00,2026-09-05,05:30:00,ZS5Y,KF59JR,1296.101000,Q65,-21,-24,,,,,,,
2026-09-05,05:32:00,2026-09-05,05:36:00,UA1ALD,KO49,1296.101000,Q65,-20,-23,,,,,,,
2026-09-05,05:59:00,2026-09-05,06:01:00,IK2DDR,JN55GN,1296.101000,Q65,-15,-17,,,,,,,
2026-09-05,06:18:00,2026-09-05,06:22:00,OE9ERC,JN47VL,2320.101000,Q65,-09,-18,,,,,,,
2026-09-05,06:22:00,2026-09-05,06:26:00,OK1KIR,JN79,2320.101000,Q65,-17,-24,,,,,,,
2026-09-05,06:26:00,2026-09-05,06:30:00,PA3DZL,JO21LS,2320.101000,Q65,-15,-22,,,,,,,
2026-09-05,06:42:00,2026-09-05,06:46:00,HB9Q,JN47CG,2320.101000,Q65,-09,-21,,,,,,,
2026-09-05,06:48:00,2026-09-05,06:52:00,OK1DFC,JN79GW,2320.101000,Q65,-16,-22,,,,,,,
2026-09-05,06:52:00,2026-09-05,06:56:00,PA0BAT,JO31FX,2320.101000,Q65,-17,-23,,,,,,,
22 QSO, Total 105 QSO
It took about an hour of driving along dirt backroads to reach the new site. It’s a cozy cottage, but unfortunately situated in a hollow, with zero space to park the van right next to the antenna. Moonrise is clear starting from around 3–5 degrees of elevation, but moonset is blocked by a hillside, meaning I won’t be able to operate below an elevation angle of 25 degrees.
Fortunately, the moon’s declination is high, so in theory, I can still work the West Coast at higher elevations. The other issue is that I had to burn through all my spare feedline, extending my 10-meter run by another 13 meters. That means I’ll be taking an additional hit of around 2 dB in cable loss.
In the morning I’ll start on 144 MHz, then switch over to 1296 MHz.
++++++++++++
The day started out terribly... and honestly ended pretty much the same way—nothing to write home about.
It rained all night. The antenna is pitched right in the middle of a vegetable patch, so walking around means wading knee-deep in thick black mud. I gave 2m a shot, but everyone seemed to be busy working the contest. The noise floor was massive—nobody could hear me, and I couldn’t hear a soul. After an hour, I threw in the towel and decided to swap the antenna and switch over to 23 cm.
The whole changeover took about two hours. For the RX feedline, I patched together two phasing lines from the 144 MHz array and mated them to my original 20-meter run. I power up the rig, kick on the LNA, and... nothing. Zero reception. It’s been a while since my “favorite mentor and buddy,” Old Man Murphy, paid me a visit!
I swap the LNA—useless. I swap out every adapter, juggle the cables back and forth—still dead silence.
I have to open up the amplifier. Naturally, as luck would have it, I left my set of miniature wrenches and precision screwdrivers at home. Clock is ticking, so I had no choice: using a pair of pliers, I brute-forced the little bolts loose. Inside, everything looked pristine—nothing detached—but the vibration from the bumpy roads had loosened an SMA connector. I tightened it down with a wrench, slapped everything back together in a hurry, and hallelujah—RX is back.
By then, the moon was already high up behind the clouds, though the sun was shining brightly. To verify azimuth and elevation, I aligned on the sun, swinging the dish left/right and up/down—and encountered pure witchcraft. The absolute maximum sun noise I could see was barely 2 dB (compared to the typical 5–7 dB on my dish). I aimed the dish down into the dirt: ground noise was 2–2.5 dB, right as usual. Pointed back at the sun—complete nonsense, practically undetectable. I double-checked the focal length, remeasured the dish diameter—mechanically everything was spot on.
Eventually, the moon peeked through the clouds. I aimed by sight, measured the elevation manually with an inclinometer, and started calling CQ without wasting another second. With great struggle, I managed to scratch out 5 QSOs with the “big guns.”
2026-09-06,09:08:00,2026-09-06,09:12:00,OK2DL,JN79,1296.100780,Q65,-19,-23,,,,,,,
2026-09-06,09:28:00,2026-09-06,09:32:00,OE9ERC,JN47VL,1296.100780,Q65,-20,-20,,,,,,,
2026-09-06,09:52:00,2026-09-06,09:56:00,PE1L,JO21,1296.100780,Q65,-26,-22,,,,,,,
2026-09-06,09:56:00,2026-09-06,10:00:00,DM2CFH,JO61,1296.100780,Q65,-22,-20,,,,,,,
2026-09-06,10:06:00,2026-09-06,10:10:00,DL4DTU,JO61,1296.100780,Q65,-22,-20,,,,,,,
5 QSO, Total 110 QSO
Everyone is messaging me that my signal is down by about 10 dB compared to normal, and on my end the picture is identical—all incoming signals are 10–12 dB weaker. I asked Erich, OE9ERC, to run as a “beacon” for a bit with his 10-meter dish. The result was just as bleak: at best, I was copying him at -16 dB, whereas normally I see him at -5 to -6 dB.
I am completely out of ideas; I’ve double-checked and tried absolutely everything. The only thing that comes to mind is some intense stream of protons or solar particles slamming into Earth. Stations with massive setups might hardly notice, but for a compromised portable setup like mine, it’s brutal. I witnessed something very similar during one of my early expeditions to OH0: for an entire night and half the following day, I couldn’t hear a soul (nor could anyone hear me), and then suddenly it was like a curtain got lifted. Back then, though, I chalked it up to my own inexperience.
Toward midday, conditions seemed to pick up slightly—W2HRO, who started out at -28 dB, crept up to a solid -24 dB. But then high winds kicked up, nearly blowing over the tripod a couple of times, so I had to throw in the towel and call it a day.
I still have one more day left. I haven’t taken the dish down yet, so tomorrow morning I’ll give 23 cm another shot, as there are still plenty of requests on the table. Once the moon sets, I’ll pack up the gear and start heading home. I’ve decided to abandon 144 MHz altogether—swapping out antennas back and forth is just too exhausting, and besides, ER5GB has shown up on 2m EME with a solid setup anyway. So, full focus remains on 1296 MHz.
++++++++
In the morning, without changing a single thing on the dish or the equipment settings, I ran outside to take measurements as soon as the sun peeked up and hit about 10 degrees of elevation. And what do you know—everything was back to normal for this SFI level: the cold sky to sun noise ratio returned to its typical 5 dB, and ground noise was 1.5–2 dB (right where it was yesterday).
I called CQ and logged 3 QSOs with completely expected signal reports for stations of that class (cross-checked against my logs from previous expeditions). Maybe the reports were down by about a decibel, but that’s hardly surprising considering my TX feedline is now 2.5 times longer.
So my primary theory stands: something unusual in the ionosphere/magnetosphere (a geomagnetic disturbance or a stream of solar particles) caused heavy attenuation on this band. By the way, I witnessed this exact same phenomenon during my very first expedition to OH0.
Another interesting data point from yesterday courtesy of my longtime friend ES3RF: on his 3-meter dish, typical sun noise at SFI 100–105 sits around 11 dB. Yesterday, right during my “blackout,” the SFI was up at 126, yet he was only reading 8 dB of sun noise.
2026-09-07,05:08:00,2026-09-07,05:12:00,YO2LAM,KN05PS,1296.101000,Q65,-19,-24,,,,,,,
2026-09-07,05:24:00,2026-09-07,05:28:00,DL1AT,JO61SF,1296.101000,Q65,-20,-22,,,,,,,
2026-09-07,05:34:00,2026-09-7,05:38:00,OH3LWP,KP11WK,1296.101000,Q65,-19,-24,,,,,,,
2026-09-07,06:18:00,2026-09-07,06:22:00,PA1PS,JO21,1296.101000,Q65,-21,-24,,,,,,,
2026-09-07,06:22:00,2026-09-07,06:26:00,DL6ZG,JO21,1296.101000,Q65,-19,-23,,,,,,,
2026-09-07,06:34:00,2026-09-07,06:38:00,UF3D,,1296.101000,Q65,-22,-23,,,,,,,
2026-09-07,06:52:00,2026-09-07,06:56:00,DJ2DY,JN39,1296.101000,Q65,-24,-24,,,,,,,
2026-09-07,07:36:00,2026-09-07,07:40:00,F5KUG,JN03,1296.101000,Q65,-20,-24,,,,,,,
2026-09-07,08:56:00,2026-09-07,09:06:00,W2HRO,FN20NG,1296.101000,Q65,-18,-27,,,,,,,
2026-09-07,10:12:00,2026-09-07,10:20:00,AC2AC,EL96,1296.101000,Q65,-25,-28,,,,,,,
2026-09-07,10:34:00,2026-09-07,10:38:00,ON5GS,JO21VD,1296.101000,Q65,-18,-19,,,,,,,
Total: 120 QSO
A huge thank you to everyone who financially supported this trip:
KB7Q, NC1I, PA3DZL, IK3COJ, OK1IL, AA6I, ZS4TX, G0LBK, PA3FXB, DF2VJ, PA0BAT, DK5AI, HB9Q
Thanks Alex for great 13cm QSO! 73s de Jac, PA3DZL
Tnx again Alex, for great 23cm QSO, UFB signals from you !! 73s de Jac, PA3DZL