Wednesday, March 7, 2012

The Bands Have Spoken!

It's official
I have tuned the bands about once an hour for the last 7 hours and have not heard one signal! When I turned on my Icom 756PRO, I hit the "Band Condition" button and this is what displayed on the screen. This is a high end option for radios normally used above 60 degrees North. Also optional is the "Flutter Filter" which when depressed, it attaches an add-on to the outgoing transmission giving that strange effect that makes your signal sound like it's traveling through water. Most note this type of signal quality on the cluster by posting signal reports like, "59A", etc. I believe these might come standard on the Icom IC-8800DX.  I know it's not yet April but my April QST should be arriving sometime soon.

2 comments:

  1. That are great features Phil. So unfortunate that band conditions are in worse shape this time. We all wait for better times. I never experienced a total black-out on radiosignals. But I see that's common in Alaska. The last few days my XYL and I are following the TV series Flying Wild Alaska on Discovery. Great to see the area there although I think they are more north-east from your QTH. 73, Bas

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bas - Well, I'm hopeful that after the sunspots calm down a little bit the bands will come back strong! And in speaking of that show, I love it as well. There are so many shows filmed here in Alaska and it's neat to see what is right here in our own backyard. And you're right, they are NE of us. Thanks for stopping my friend and good DX!! 73!

    ReplyDelete