Lost some more, won some more.

Today I heard 3B8FA in  Mauritius calling CQ on 50MHz, again.

This time I was ready and I called him several times.

He did not reply.

That was one I lost.

Others I called and lost on 6m were Qatar, Kuwait and Norway.

Four countries not on my list for 2023.

However, I did work 3B9FR. Not Mauritius itself, but the autonomous island of Rodrigues. So that was a new square, new DXCC and new personal distance record on 50MHz of 10397km.

Why am I telling you this? Is it just boasting? No, the message from this is that you should get moving and working some DX on 50MHz while it is here.

3B9FR helped draw my 2023 DXCC total equal to my total for the whole of last year, and it is only 19 May. In 2022 I was not trying very hard. A better comparison would be with 2018 which had a total of 67. So that is the next target.

It makes a lot of difference when you have something to aim at.

I keep saying this - my station is nothing special. This time I was using an IC-7100, 200W and an antenna with a boom of 3 metres up about 10m above ground level. No full legal linear, no huge lattice mast, no super rig.

Times are good just now on 6m. Sure up to now it has been pretty lacklustre but it really looks like things are hotting up now.

Contacts on 50MHz at GM4FVM 10 to 19 May 2023.

Several other GMs worked 3B9FR at the same time so there is nothing particularly special about my effort. You can do it too.

I can get over missing the other four DXCC thanks to working this one, number 40 this year. However, I still have those four and lot more to reach in the rest of the year.

There have been developments in the radio, antenna and linear departments which I hope to post about soon.

73 

Jim GM4FVM