With some help from N9CA (Tim) I got my G5RV-Junior dipole back up to 42' just in time for the SS yesterday and today!
One of my halyards broke (rotted out) and dropped the far end down to the ground. I had temporarily spliced the broken ends together and managed to get it up about 5' and off the ground and was planning to use it as a 'sloper' but fortunately the weather cooperated yesterday morning and Tim volunteered to help me out. We replaced both halyards and guy lines while were at it so hopefully it will be trouble-free for the next few years.
So far I've racked up 368 completed contacts... fun!
I learned long ago not to buy much of anything from MFJ. The G5RV-Junior I bought is a 52' version that will tune 40m through 6m and fits my available space nicely. There are no bare wires anywhere as the antenna itself is enclosed in UV resistant PVC (?) and all connections are sealed with glue-lined heatshrink and silicon. I have a full-sized G5RV that I use on field days and POTA activations.NOOICE!! Ya long time ago I made the mistake of getting an MFJ G5RV - didn't even last 3 years - literally shredded and the contacts on the board were tin plated instead of stainless so every nick rusted out and the twin lead just turned to dust at every twist point it seemed. Was a good aerial while it lasted though!
No one had ever said that HF propagation was muerto (dead) - very poor, yes, but not dead - at least not yet.
There is very wide disagreement - showing how poorly we really understand our parent star - about how strong Cycle 25 (the one we are currently in) may actually be. Some say it will only be a bit better than Cycle 24, but this article seems to suggest one even stronger than Cycle 23...
Sunspot Cycle 25 could be among the strongest ever | Amateur Radio News
The ARRL reports a research paper has concluded that Solar Cycle 25 will stronger than the just-ended Solar Cycle 24 and likely stronger than Solar Cycle 23www.southgatearc.org
Mike
Ya cycle 25 top is 11~ years from now~ish since we are at the literal bottom of the 24>25 cycle.
You got that shot right. Take a look at "dead" 15 meters.
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And on the low end of the spectrum, here is WWVB at 7:20 pm.
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