Heat Wave

[ka1bwo]

Long haul on 75 meters Friday night at 9:30 local time work HLR on his wire array he was peaking S9+ here in Preston, Idaho.I also heard  Steve (QIX) with a good signal but he signed out before I could call him  I Looked out at the thermometer the temperature is -18F and dropping. Just threw a cup of boiling water out the back door to see if it would really crystallized, it did in mid air  Where have you gone Tom Vue our ham nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
Joe

[WA3VJB]

58º F at 5am EST here at Annapolis.

Pitied the Ravens fans at 9º in Denver, but it was worth it.

[K5UJ]

I wish it were -18 here.  We need a real winter badly and it looks like this one is a replay of last year 

If true, then March will be like April and that stinks.  Why?   The ground badly needs snow.   It's like a dry sponge now.  That means drought in summer, me having to water, and the rivers are low.  Barge traffic on the Miss. and Ill. rivers is in trouble. 

The heat stinks because not enough bugs die.  Last fall I had an infestation of box elder bugs in the shack like I've never seen before.  They got into the 75A-3.  You are sitting there and see a shadow of a box elder bug across the kc dial.  It hasn't even been below zero here 

[KB2WIG]

Here in C NY, we had 51 this morning.

Maybee you put the A-3 in the freezer and kill 'em off.


klc

[W7TFO]

Hi teens here (desert outside Phoenix) this early AM.

Frozen pipes.  Frozen dog water.  Balky Diesels.

We are not set up for this, more like 120 degree days.

73DG

[w1vtp]

Rob

RE: Box Elder bugs - get rid of your Box Elders!  I have the same problem - it's a weed tree.  No Box Elder tree = no Box Elder bugs.  I have a plan to get rid of these pests (trees).  I hope you are not using those trees as an antenna sky hook.

Joe:

Really?!!  The cup of hot water froze in air?  Wish I could have joined the QSO.  Maybe next time

Al

[W3GMS]

Rob

RE: Box Elder bugs - get rid of your Box Elders!  I have the same problem - it's a weed tree.  No Box Elder tree = no Box Elder bugs.  I have a plan to get rid of these pests (trees).  I hope you are not using those trees as an antenna sky hook.

Joe:

Really?!!  The cup of hot water froze in air?  Wish I could have joined the QSO.  Maybe next time

Al

Al,
Are they the same as Stink Bugs?  They are running wild down here in PA and I am sure other places as well. This past summer they were really bad. 

Never saw them in the past down here but now they are everywhere. Contact cleaner kills them quickly and so does carburetor or brake cleaner!

Joe, GMS

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Guess we're livin' in the tall cotton here. Been in the low 70s the last 3 days. High 60s last time I checked today, with rain. Actually got a few minutes out in the station yesterday to tidy up a bit. Might even get some time next weekend to work on the transmitter.

[W3GMS]

Guess we're livin' in the tall cotton here. Been in the low 70s the last 3 days. High 60s last time I checked today, with rain. Actually got a few minutes out in the station yesterday to tidy up a bit. Might even get some time next weekend to work on the transmitter.

I hope not another "crap out" !

Joe,
Great to hear from you and that is mighty cold for sure.
Joe, GMS

[KA0HCP]

Just came back from the mail box. The earthworms are crawling on the side walks.   "It ain't fittin'!"

bill

[w1vtp]

Rob

RE: Box Elder bugs - get rid of your Box Elders!  I have the same problem - it's a weed tree.  No Box Elder tree = no Box Elder bugs.  I have a plan to get rid of these pests (trees).  I hope you are not using those trees as an antenna sky hook.

Joe:

Really?!!  The cup of hot water froze in air?  Wish I could have joined the QSO.  Maybe next time

Al

Al,
Are they the same as Stink Bugs?  They are running wild down here in PA and I am sure other places as well. This past summer they were really bad. 

Never saw them in the past down here but now they are everywhere. Contact cleaner kills them quickly and so does carburetor or brake cleaner!

Joe, GMS

Joe

Here is an excellent article put out by the Univ of NH on the subject.  You need to figure out which bug you are talking about.  One variety (scary) lives inside your house during the winter.  The Box Elder has orange on its body.

I will be taking this problem to my pest control people this spring

Here's the link

http://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/resource001722_rep2404.pdf

Stink bugs are a general designation for several insects

GL, Al

[w1vtp]

Here's a short quote from the document I just posted:

"Boxelder bug [Leptocoris trivittatus (Say)] isn’t common in New Hampshire. Adults are about ½-in (13 mm) long, and black with red markings. The insects are strongly associated with boxelder maples, which aren’t very common here. Boxelder is occasionally planted as an ornamental tree, and is occasionally found near rivers. Rarely, the bugs have been seen feeding on maple or ash trees. In addition to the general controls suggested below, there is one effective option for eliminating this insect: eliminate any boxelder trees nearby. Boxelder bugs start massing on buildings about early September, and continue in mild weather for much of the fall. They don’t bite when handled."   [emphasis mine]

The classic "stink bug" can be the variety that lives inside the walls of your house.  It's a survival thing for them - not like carpenter ants that eat your house

Al

[W2PFY]

Well for whatever reason the weather has been warmer in Upstate NY for the last six years or so. In 2000 the ice near Westport, NY on lake Champlain was over two feet thick all the way over to Vermont which is about 4 miles. I used to take my truck out there and ice fish. In January & February  2000 and 2001  it never got above zero. The years before that were just as cold or even colder. This has effected the winter commerce and has affected everyone who supplies fishing supplies and has also slowed snowmobile recreation as well. At Lake George which is further south, the winter caravels on the ice are gone. But it's great for stringing antennas as there are no bugs and the leaves are off the trees  

[W1RKW]

we had our share of stink bugs last year but they weren't anything like others have experienced. Fortunately, they're large enough not to penetrate small openings in the home so not a problem getting in. The asian lady bug however has been a nuisance for the last several years.  Two years ago we had them coming up through the plumbing penetrations for the baseboard heaters by the hundreds. This last fall nothing. Hope it stays that way for a while.  

[K5UJ]

the b.e. bugs don't really do anything bad.  they don't bite or sting or do any damage to anything; they just crawl around slowly and occasionally fly, and I could put up with a few but not 100 of them, especially if they crawl inside the ham gear to get warm. 

I don't have any B.E. trees, but I'm told they like other trees too.  It is another one of those deals where the trees belong to someone else and I can't control it.  And it is impossible to effectively seal an old house.  If I were in the country with a few acres and these things were coming from some trees on my property, those trees would be gone by now.  All I can do is get a pest control guy next fall and have him spray all over outside and in.   I hope this was just a weird one time deal. 

Rob

[W4AAB]

75 degrees with moonsoon rain on Friday, 70 on Saturday, 65 yesterday, and now we have an ice event at 30 degrees.Ready for spring!!
                                                         Joe W4AAB

[John K5PRO]

16 deg tonight, 6 this morning. The past week has been frigid here in northern NM.

[W3GMS]

Here's a short quote from the document I just posted:

"Boxelder bug [Leptocoris trivittatus (Say)] isn’t common in New Hampshire. Adults are about ½-in (13 mm) long, and black with red markings. The insects are strongly associated with boxelder maples, which aren’t very common here. Boxelder is occasionally planted as an ornamental tree, and is occasionally found near rivers. Rarely, the bugs have been seen feeding on maple or ash trees. In addition to the general controls suggested below, there is one effective option for eliminating this insect: eliminate any boxelder trees nearby. Boxelder bugs start massing on buildings about early September, and continue in mild weather for much of the fall. They don’t bite when handled."   [emphasis mine]

The classic "stink bug" can be the variety that lives inside the walls of your house.  It's a survival thing for them - not like carpenter ants that eat your house

Al

Thanks Al.  The stink bugs we have are light colored on their bellies and a brown color on top.  More of a nuance than anything else.  We have a canning jar with some lysol inside and that is their final resting place !  They are very easy to catch since they don't run to fast. 

Joe, GMS