Seasons are changing, and it’s not just the weather. My interest in HF has been waning like the current solar cycle. But it’s not just the propagation; it’s the growing quantity of automated bots and contests where cheating has become the accepted norm.

How is it the ARRL CEO put it recently?

“Cheating is ubiquitous in amateur radio.”

To be certain, the events of the latest WRTC (or any other contest scandal) don’t impact me as I don’t participate in that side of the hobby. Still, it feels kinda slimy, and the fact that almost no one seems outraged has cheapened the amateur radio service in my opinion.

Looking to shake things up a bit, I’ve started thinking (again) that now is a good time to move to weak-signal work at VHF and higher frequencies. After all, HF band conditions are only going to get worse as we head for the bottom and then wait even longer for the top of Cycle 26. But here’s the sobering part: it will be roughly ten years until the HF bands spring fully back to life. I’m 67. You do the math. If I’m lucky, my ham radio days will be winding down right about the time the next peak arrives.

Transitioning from HF to weak-signal work will give me at least a decade of interesting new challenges and opportunities. Why wouldn’t I jump on that?

I believe I can get on the air rather quickly. There are still three major meteor showers left this year to sample scatter work: the Orionids (late Oct), Leonids (mid-Nov), and Geminids (mid-Dec). The Geminids are the best meteor scatter opportunity of the year.

Plus, I still want to try something on EME. I’m told the dozen or so really big EME stations around the planet should be workable with a modest setup. I’m keeping a close eye on this upcoming operation:

“Ham Radio Adventures (WE4DX) will be at Pacific Beach, Washington (CN77), and we’re planning to try EME during our annual gathering. This will be our first EME operation, and we’re looking forward to learning and making contacts with other stations. Our primary station will be on 432 MHz with an IC-9700, a KLM 432-30LBX antenna, and a 500 W amplifier. We can also try 144 and 1296 MHz. We’ll have high gain antennas for those bands, but no amplifiers or LNAs for 144 or 1296.”

I have an IC-9700 and can muster 30 elements and an LNA on 432MHz along with 500 watts. If they can do it, maybe I can too.

I have VUCC on 50 MHz, but everything above that is a blank slate. Every grid, every contact, every band is new. It’s like starting over, because it is. And at this point I’m glad I haven’t done weak-signal work before now, as it gives me something new and exciting to look forward to.

First up: the Orionids.