Finally short opening around 06:30UT with qsos with VK4DRK and ZL2ATH on 20m. Some NA listened very low on the morning too.
Unfortunately high temps (>31ºC) here carried very strong winds all night (very short sleep time so). Will try to repeat the experience on May and on a weekend, which seems to be better. Thanks to all chasers, and good luck on the party!
73, Mikel
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Looking at the list of posted Alerts, so far there are 29 enthusiastic activators from Japan, New Zealand, Australia and European countries 
73, Andrew VK1AD
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Added an alert for ZL3/OT-212 0500 UTC which would be followed by an overnight camp at ZLL/0368 (Lake Isobel).
And backup plans of ZL3/OT-372 or 394 if wx or energy not up to an overnighter.
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Rob,
All my posts are editable, no time limit. But you have to be logged in.
73 Andrew VK1DA/VK2DA
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Um. Think that editing old posts in a privilage you earn as you use the forum more. Seem to recall I didn’t used to be allowed to edit after a few minutes. (Or was that a different forum?!)
That could be right, I use it a bit so maybe I have that privilege without realising it isn’t automatic.
Andrew
VK1DA/VK2DA
There are stories about a strong solar wind for the next 24 hrs on our ZL local news. But I see nothing on ham sites. Anyone who knows how to access the real solar data got any comments on what the impact on the bands is likely to be and whether we’re setting ourselves up to fail here at 2023-04-01 05:00Z?
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Wow what a great turn out! Latest count is 44 enthusiastic SOTA activators.
Good DX to all and stay safe.
73, Andrew VK1AD
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Looks like it will miss us, or has missed us - fingers crossed for Saturday morning, where I’m more concerned about local weather which might be showery…
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That’s probably it - I can edit for up to a day, but after that, forget it - I don’t have such privileges. You’d think there might be a hidden algorithm which takes into account how long one has been registered with SOTA, or what kind of contributions one might have made to the community, but no - it’s purely Reflector/Discourse based. Which is completely acceptable, as long as one understands that…
Try activating in Britain. If that worried you, you’d never go out!
The forecast for here is overcast with 10% chance of rain, so I will be prepared for a heavy downpour!
At the last event in October there was a forcast for Kp of 5 and I almost didn’t go out. I’m glad I did because I had several S2S with VK. So don’t let it worry you.
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Hi Matt,
I usually look up https://spaceweather.com/
According to their page, solar wind speed is currently increased.
Another source is here: (Real Time Solar Wind) SolarHam
I didn’t notice any significant impact on propagation on 20m, though. Reports on WSPR for DL3TU look normal, I found SNR for some reporters was even better than the previous days (with kp = 4 this utc morning)
On 20m CW, I heard VK3HDI at 7:00z rst 599 and ZL3XDJ rst 579, both on a dipole. I often found 20m LP isn’t affected that badly when the geomagnetic field is unsettled.
Let’s hope condx hold up!
I’m all excited and even the horrible weather forecast can’t stop me 
See you all hopefully tomorrow!
73, Roman
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Weather forecast is stormy for southern Germany (wind 70-90 km/h)… including torrential rain coming from the Atlantic. Waiting for a gap to show up somewhere…
73
Ingo
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The forecast is actually improving here!!! No excuses now to avoid an early call 
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Best of luck with the early start Andy! I still can’t make up my mind about tomorrow as the forecast down South isn’t looking too promising, but occasionally changes to a more positive outlook just to tempt me…
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We will also try. Stephan @DC8LZ is also with me. We hope that the weather will not be as bad as predicted and are looking forward to being there, even if only for a short time.
Marcel DM3FAM
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Forecast over this side of the country (near the Severn Estuary) for Saturday’s early daylight hours is somewhere between 
Decidedly Damp and 
Ducks…
Have fun, everybody. 
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The worst news is that this week has been so bad I haven’t been able to get out to fine-tune my new 20m vertical 
. I think the SWR is still a bit high (and I won’t have a tuner). Nothing beats real life testing though, so I’ll give it a go with my trusty dipole on standby. Duck weather now forecast either side of my planned activation, but seeing as it was supposed to have been dry yesterday and today I’m not holding my breath and am prepared for anything short of thunderstorms.
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Any “news” article that contains the words “huge”, “unleashed”, “blast”, “racing” and “nearly” in one sentence is sensationalist bollocks. It’ll be fine (or not!).
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Spaceweather.com is a commercial site, i.e. they depend on clickrates and so tend to “push” solar news a little bit. NOAA forecast is G none and spaceweatherlive.com forecast is Kp 3.
Ready to go! 
Ahoi
Pom
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