The first day of spring

It was the first day of spring yesterday according to the traditional calendar. It is the middle between the winter solstice and the spring equinox day. It is still cold in morning and evening. It was minus 10 deg C early this morning. But the daytime is surely getting longer.

 



                                         An ume tree full of buds. They may come out soon.


North Americans were heard on 40m from early in the afternoon in fall and winter. They are getting much weaker now. We should wait for the opening until an hour or two prior to sunset here. On the other hand, 20m is getting activated for the whole north hemisphere at night. Signals are still wobbly by the arctic path but are very loud and steady. The paths to the Western Eu and the East Coast are open at the same time. It could even open to the whole world. The problem is that there are much less stations on the radio than a decade or two ago. Where have all the guys gone?

In March, the bands are getting noisy. And the thunderstorms are frequently coming this area. They often prevent me from turning on the radio at night. It is the time for me to look for friends in the areas far away where I could reach only through the arctic paths. I will stay being a beacon on 20m at night.

This spring paths were the hallmark of the spring DX season in my young days. Running 50 or 60W into a vertical dipole, I used to have a lot of calls from Eu on 20m. It was springs in late '60s. I stayed up very late at night. Now, it won't matter how many DX I work. I would rather look for a QSO worth spending early spring evening. I would say again "Tell me your story". I will stay being a beacon on 20m at night this spring. Keeping yourself apart from chasing DX or number of QSOs, spend your time for such a QSO, my friend.