The PA QRM party seems to have fizzled this year. I heard quite a few of them in the early evening, but they didn't dominate the band as in years past. There were plenty of non-qrmtest QSO's in progress. By 0600 GMT there was very little activity on the band and no qrmtest activity at all. Maybe it ended at midnight PA time?
The only problem is that the AM activity fizzled as well. I called several CQ's on 3705 but no response. There were a couple of AM qso's in the ghetto, and the boys from NC were on 3720. But by midnight all the AM activity had shut down too. So I just turned off the transmitter and came into the house.
QRN wasn't all that bad, and it was Saturday night. Where is all the activity? Not even much slopbucket after about 11 PM.
Where are all those hoards of newcomers that were supposed to fill the bands with congestion when the code test was eliminated?
Why all the concern about "bandwidth", when activity seems to have taken a nosedive?
Most of the PA QP activity seemed to be on CW around 7040, and 3530-3560. I think they have some rule, where they stop it at 0500z, and restart it at 1300z today.
BTW,I briefly heard a nice, strong, AM signal on 7290 yesterday afternoon (it wasn't Ashtabula Bill). But, 2 or 3 minutes later it was gone, so (with my VFO issues I'm busy ironing out, making it a hassle to use the Scout on 40) I went to 40 CW instead.
73,
Ellen - AF9J
On a cold, rainy day
