I hope you enjoyed the holiday weekend just coming to a close. The swimming pools and splash pads are all open for business around here and we hosted a big lunch here with the kids and grandkids on Sunday. We watched a little of the Indy 500 though it doesn’t hold my interest. Being “locals” in the Indy television market means the race is blacked out here. This year was a rare exception as with more than 350,000 in attendance the owners decided to cut us a break and broadcast the race live for the first time in a long time. Having been snubbed for so long I’m not a fan now. So it was on the boob tube, but I ignored it.

There was a little time for radio on Saturday and Monday and I took advantage of the exceptional conditions on 10, 12, and 15 meters. The somewhat late cycle enhancement as described by Frank, W3LPL:

“An unexpected significant increase in ionizing radiation (as indicated by the doubling of the solar flux index and doubling of the sunspot area on the visible disk) produced exceptional late May 12 and 10 meter F2 propagation at mid latitudes in the northern hemisphere”

I hung out on the digital mode for the entire run and worked several new band slots. The highlight for me was putting several new Chilean stations in my log. I enjoy working Chile as it is one of the southernmost countries in the world and close to Antarctica, extending along a narrow strip of land between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. A beautiful South American country I hope to visit one day.

Stations worked this weekend included:

9Y4M, IU0WCX, CE2EP, VE3MNO, VP2MAA, T31TTT, 9A5E, CA1LRM, CA1NPK, FK8HA, 5W1SA, CE4WJK, YN2RP, PU2BRU, TI5RTZ, FM8BK, and VO1TH.

15 meters was still hopping this evening with the JA’s just beginning to roll in when I pulled the plug to go watch the hockey playoff game. I’m rooting for Montreal who are currently tied 1-1 after the first two games in Carolina as the game has shifted to Montreal for the next two games. Go Habs!