In this issue of “DX Info” I will review some of the DXing hints and tips which I shared in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SOLAR FLARES <\/strong>Take note of Solar Flares and activity which can be found on the left side of this site under \u201cBand Conditions\u201d, they are a huge part of successful DXing on HF!<\/p>\n\n\n\n OKAY\u2026but what does the info in that side bar mean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you find yourself on a solar weather website and you see three measurements have you ever wondered what they actually mean? The three main items you want to pay attention to are the SFI (Solar Flux Index), the K-Index and the A-Index.\u00a0 You may want to print the following for future reference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SFI<\/strong> –<\/strong> Summarization of the Sun\u2019s Radiation Output<\/p>\n\n\n\n 70 \u2013 Not Good<\/p>\n\n\n\n 80 \u2013 Good<\/p>\n\n\n\n 90 \u2013 Better<\/p>\n\n\n\n 100+ \u2013 Best<\/p>\n\n\n\n A – INDEX<\/strong> \u2013 Daily Average of Magnetic Activity<\/p>\n\n\n\n A = 0 \u2013 7 Quiet<\/p>\n\n\n\n A = 8 \u2013 15 Unsettled<\/p>\n\n\n\n A = 16 \u2013 29 Active<\/p>\n\n\n\n A = 30 \u2013 49 Minor storm<\/p>\n\n\n\n A = 50 \u2013 99 Major storm<\/p>\n\n\n\n A = 100 \u2013 400 Severe storm<\/p>\n\n\n\n K – INDEX<\/strong> is updated every 3 Hours<\/p>\n\n\n\n K = 0 Inactive<\/p>\n\n\n\n K = 1 Very quiet<\/p>\n\n\n\n K = 2 Quiet<\/p>\n\n\n\n K = 3 Unsettled<\/p>\n\n\n\n K = 4 Active<\/p>\n\n\n\n K = 5 Minor storm<\/p>\n\n\n\n K = 6 Major storm<\/p>\n\n\n\n K = 7 Severe storm<\/p>\n\n\n\n K = 8 Very severe storm<\/p>\n\n\n\n K = 9 Extremely severe storm<\/p>\n\n\n\n LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN – <\/strong>Another extremenly important thing to remember is to \u201cLISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN\u201d to the DX operators instructions and pay attention if the DX station is working \u201cSplit Frequency\u201d! You will never work them if you call on the DX frequency\u2026.all you will do is get the rest of the DX community angry at YOU!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n GREY LINE – <\/strong>When working the low bands usually the best time is before and after the \u201cGrey Line\u201d! What is the Grey Line? Well using it over the years to my advantage I could take the time to explain in depth but seeing that many have already done so I will direct you to check out those videos and explanations. Simply do a search for \u201cGrey Line DXing\u201d to view or read about the Grey Line in Amateur Radio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n METEOR SHOWERS – <\/strong>Check 6M during meteor showers, it is a fun time to work other 6M stations on meteor scatter! Meteor scatter (MS) in ham radio\u00a0uses the brief, ionized trails of meteors burning up in the atmosphere to reflect VHF\/UHF signals<\/mark>, creating short-lived communication paths\u00a0(\u00a0burst communications<\/a>\u00a0)\u00a0for contacts over hundreds of miles, often using voice and digital modes like\u00a0FSK441<\/a>\u00a0(WSJT-X<\/a>)\u00a0on 6 & 2 meters during meteor showers for long-distance. Meteor scatter communications has been used by ham radio VHF enthusiasts for many years. Using meteor scatter propagation enables ham radio contacts to be made over distances up to about 2000 km on the VHF bands. No long QSO\u2019s just short contacts\u2026interesting and fun!<\/p>\n\n\n\n LINGO and \u201cQ\u201d CODES<\/strong> – <\/strong>Commonly used lingo or words and \u201cQ\u201d codes used in DXing** and Contesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DX**: Refers to a long-distance contact or a rare station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CQ: A general call to any station for a contact (QSO).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Work: To successfully make contact with another station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Simplex \u2013 Single Frequency, without a repeater acting as a middleman<\/p>\n\n\n\n Split \u2013 transmitting on one frequency while receiving on another, typically used by rare DX stations to manage huge \u201cpileups\u201d (many callers).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pileups \u2013 many stations calling at same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CW: Continuous Wave, which typically refers to Morse Code operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rag chew: A long, informal conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rig: The amateur radio equipment\/transceiver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n UTC: Universal Time Coordinate \u2013 Also known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT); Coordinated Universal Time; Zulu time (Z). NOTE: Always use UTC time! UTC time is 4 hours ahead of our local time in winter and 3 hours ahead in summer. Example: Local being 7:00AM Local the time would be 11:00AM UTC, 12:00PM \u201cNoon\u201d would be 16:00 UTC or Zulu. Also use the 24-hour clock (military time) format. Example: 15:00 is 3:00 PM, 14:00 is 2 PM, 18:00 is 6 PM and 21:00 is 9 PM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 73: Best regards. Use just 73 not 73s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 88: Best regards to a XYL or YL<\/p>\n\n\n\n Q-Codes (Standardized Abbreviations)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Q-code was originally developed for commercial radio-telegraph communication but is widely used by hams for both Morse code and voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n QRZ: When a station finishes a contact and is ready for the next one, essentially asking \u201cWho\u2019s next?\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m ready for calls!\u201d , Who is calling me\u201d , \u201cYou are being called by\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n QSL: I acknowledge or confirm receipt of contact (often a physical postcard sent to confirm a contact).<\/p>\n\n\n\n QSO: A conversation or contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n QSY: Change frequency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n QTH: Location (e.g., \u201cWhat is your QTH?\u201d or \u201cMy QTH is Kensington\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n QRP: Low power operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n See the complete list of printable \u201cQ\u201d codes and Phonetic Alphabet here: https:\/\/www.arrl.org\/files\/file\/Get%20on%20the%20Air\/Comm%20w%20Other%20Hams-Q%20Signals.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Upcoming Events….<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n SPARC Sunday Net<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jan 4, 2026 VE1CFR \u2013 146.850 Mhz<\/p>\n\n\n\n CARC Repeater Net<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jan 7, 2026 VE1CRA \u2013 146.670 Mhz<\/p>\n\n\n\n Monthly Meeting<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jan 14, 2026 Summerside Clubhouse<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have a great 2026 and good DXing – Ken VY2RU<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In this issue of “DX Info” I will review some of the DXing hints and tips which I shared in 2025. SOLAR FLARES Take note of Solar Flares and activity which can be found on the left side of this Read more\u2026 <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.summersidearc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.summersidearc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.summersidearc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.summersidearc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.summersidearc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5031"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.summersidearc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5032,"href":"http:\/\/www.summersidearc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5031\/revisions\/5032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.summersidearc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.summersidearc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.summersidearc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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