Update January 12, 2025:  For the 2nd time, an attempt at activating 80/160m outside of Kathmandu didn’t really work. Got to the Turtle Hill (1,810m asl) early on Friday and with the help of Nabin, 9N2NK, the 40-30 antenna was up and tuned about half an hour before the sunset. 80 and 160 was to follow Saturday morning, depending on the noise. Initial check, still during the daylight, had shown the noise on 60/40/30 was surprisingly low, around S2-3 without attenuator engaged on the radio. But the moment sun went behind the ridge, noise started to raise sharply. At that point I blamed the large flood lights at the resort which were all switched ON for a bachelor’s party.
I run some CW on 30 and 40m with mixed results, slightly better compared to my QTH in Kathmandu, but still a struggle with most of the signals buried deep in the hhhhrrrrrrrssssshhhhh. Very familiar sound - feels like pulling a coffee grinder over my ears. Something I’m very much used to from operating my station at home in the city.

The party ended around 1 AM and I went to switch off all LED lights in the compound. To my big surprise, there was absolutely no improvement!
I stayed on 40 and 30 for most of the night, freezing my rear end off without electrical heating if I wanted running the amp. The resort only has two shabby 15A power lines.

The village on Turtle Hill is very small, with only 5-6 houses along with the resort, hence I don’t believe the noise is generated locally.
This made me think of a different noise source – Kathmandu! It starts just a kilometer away as the crow flies, although it sits at a 500m lower altitude. From the hilltop all one can see is a huge sea of lights and a deep hum from the big city. After two nearly equal experiences I am now convinced, this is the case.

Looking at the noise levels on 160-30m, best on 30m at S8-9 and progressively worse on lower bands, this makes any location on the Kathmandu Valley Ring pretty much hopeless for serious DX-ing and contesting. I faced exactly the same situation last year a bit further to the East, beefed up with a nearby HV X-former sparking. Something any future DX-pedition to Nepal should consider very seriously. If the low bands and night operation are the target, then Kathmandu Valley is just NOT an option. There is also no space for any beverages due to very steep and complex terrain. Low lands in the Terai region would be better, but it is heavily populated.

Last but not least, it's the man-made interference that threatens our hobby today more than anything else!

Update January 10, 2025: Low-band activity!! - 10/11/12 January 2025

My 4x4 is loaded with some 200Kg of equipment, poles, wires, tools, backup power, etc.. A real Dx-pedtion to a hill above Kathmandu (aprox 1810m asl) to try for the 2nd time with much needed low band activity.
Plan is to start on 30 and 40 tonight and if all OK, 80/160m vertical will be built tomorrow. Antennas will remain in place for a couple of months depending on the first night and the local QRM. Keep your fingers crossed, will keep you posted!

Paper QSL direct only, via S56DX. LoTW is updated at least once a week.
Please note that bureau, QRZ.COM log, eQSL, etc. are not supported. No Flags either - instead of counting the flags stick to operating your expensive equipment. That's the best way to keeping our precious frequencies busy and clear of AM/SSB pirates!

Update December 6, 2023: Just back from a resort at the edge of Kathmandu valley but much higher, with a clear shot from 270-90 degrees, and far enough not to suffer from the crazy man made noise I have in KTM  – keep the fingers crossed. I am renting a bungalow over the winter period and the German owner kindly allowed me to install antennas for the season. The place is not that far from my home, but it takes 2-3 hours to get there due to traffic and road condition up in the hills.

Spent the whole day today building verticals of different shapes and all seem good, but was not able to test the noise/QRM as the guesthouse was still fully occupied this weekend. Will be back next week on Friday for two nights and then selected weekends until end of February, if no surprise with the local QRM.

160&80m wire vertical&invL are installed on an 18m SpiderBeam pole and tuned fine, while the 40m wire, also attached to the same pole, just doesn’t load properly. Will build a separate fiberglass pole superted wire vertical next week instead.

Hope all the stars align and finally allow for some decent low band runs!

Update January 23, 2023: Back to the country as of 16th January and enjoying good conditions on 12 & 10 meters. The local QRM is bearable higher in the spectrum, while it’s getting worse and worse on 17m and below.

Antenna for 80 & 160 has been removed. While I could easily reach EU with very decent signal, only a single QSO was made on 160 and a few more on 80. Local interference prevents any meaningful activity on lower bands. For the fall, the plan is to activate a QTH within the Kathmandu valley, but away from populated areas, covering 160-40m. I have identified a couple of good locations which should not suffer so badly from QRM, as is the case in the city. Till then, will continue to operate higher bands, while also preparing some extra RX stuff for this year’s 6m season. 

Update November 25, 2022: "Last week I finally installed an 80/160 quarter-wave sloper, stretching over two adjacent land plots and a bundle of power and optical cables. I have the neighbours’ permission to keep the antenna up till end of March. Both bands tuned very well, but there is a lot of RF in the shack and my ears must be lighting up during the TX. The initial operating results are very discouraging, though. Not only is the RX a problem, which I have expected, it seems that I don’t reach out either and the FT8 reports from nearby Asian stations are in the range of -15 to -20.

I was monitoring my transmissions remotely at home/S53R and on 80m I was barely decodable on a phased verticals array on a hilltop location, while not a beep was heard, or even a trace seen on 160m FT8 just before the 9N sunrise. QRM is plain and simple – out of this world! Nothing new and very little I can do about it. Only with the use of DXE NCC-2 I managed to “extract” a couple of stations on 80m. They were mostly from Asia with just two from EU, bordering Asia as a matter of fact. More tests are needed and the upcoming CQWW CW will be a good reference. Stay tuned.

On the other hand, higher bands (17-6m) are surprisingly good with substantially less QRM. Please note that 60m is not permitted in Nepal."

Update July 21, 2022: "6m ES season is coming to an end. Very rarely EU stations were heard in the last 2 weeks and only a few JAs are still coming through. The more the season progressed into July the more very specific propagation patterns, as described below, were observed. June was by far the most productive month. All in all, a very good season with some 2200 unique QSOs (a total of around 2,400) in the log, out of which 450 are CW, 2 on SSB, and the rest are FT8. Europe accounts for about 20% and the rest is mainly JA and Asia, with only a handful of Pacific and Africa contacts. No North America worked, although VE1PZ and K1TO decoded my signals on one occasion.

EU openings in 9N are very random, few, and selective – meaning only stations from a narrow/small geographical area come through, while at the same time I’ve been heard throughout EU with very decent signals. Always wondered how much the fact that I am positioned on the “wrong”, Southern side and just under the massive 7000+ meter Himalayan wall and EU being exactly in the same direction, has to do with this very peculiar propagation phenomena?

The main HF antenna, 2-el Yagi, is down for maintenance and won’t be back on the tower before mid-September. In the meantime I operate with a small multi-band vertical, so don’t expect the usual signals on the higher bands. 

QRM continues to be prohibitive for any normal CW/SSB on 20m and below, where even FT8 struggles with signals heavily plagued by the local interference/QRM. Higher bands are surprisingly good with substantially less QRM. Please note that  60m band is not permitted in Nepal.

QSL via S57DX, direct only, LoTW and Club Log are updated at least once a week. Please use s57dx@yahoo.com for PayPal requests."

Update July 11, 2022: "Focusing on 6 meters during June & July and the majority of activity will be over the weekends. During the week I may check the band occasionally in the 06:00 to 07:30Z window, and from around 11:00Z onwards. Europe is pretty tough, the band typically opens just once or twice a week in that direction and in a very selective manner - meaning only stations from a narrow/small geographical area come through, despite me being heard throughout EU. Always wondered how much the fact that I am positioned on the South side and just under the massive 7000+ meter Himalayan wall, with EU being exactly in the same direction, has to do with this very peculiar propagation phenomena?

QRM continues to be prohibitive for any normal CW/SSB on 20m and below, where even FT8 struggles with signals heavily plagued by the local interference/QRM. Higher bands are surprisingly good with substantially less QRM. Please note that 60m band is not permitted in Nepal."

QSL via S57DX, direct only, and of course, LoTW and ClubLog will be updated at least once a week. Please use s57dx@yahoo.com for PayPal requests. Last but not least, Robert states, "- NO Flags! Instead of counting flags, you may wish to spend more time on the bands and make some meaningful use of your expensive equipment. QRZ.COM log and eQSL are also not supported, hence please avoid sending emails with such requests."

Update June 2, 2022: "6 meters is finally coming up and after several hundred JA and Asia stations the first EU contacts were logged today. I will focus on 6m during June and July, with a gap of a few days from 6-9 June. The majority of activity will be over the weekends and from around 11:00Z onwards during the week.

QRM continues to be prohibitive for any normal CW/SSB on 20m and below, where even FT8 struggles with signals heavily plagued by the local interference/QRM. Higher bands are surprisingly good with substantially less QRM. Please note that  60m band is not permitted in Nepal.

Most of the activity is on CW and occasionally some SSB. I’ve started doing RTTY again, which is good fun and requires operator interaction and some skills, as opposed to utterly boring and unchallenging, yet I must admit very useful FT8&FT4 modes.

QSL via S57DX, direct only, LoTW and ClubLog are updated at least once a week. Please use s57dx@yahoo.com for PayPal requests."

Update November 14, 2021: Robert, 9N7AA (S53R) will be QRV in the CQWW DX CW contest (November 27-28) on 10, 15, 20 and 40m bands.

S53R reports: "9N7AA license has been issued yesterday. T6AA equipment is still stuck in Kabul and we are trying hard to bring it to Kathmandu. I have brought two TS590SG radios and a few basic accessories in my suitcases, so some very basic operation will start soon. A small multiband vertical has been installed temporarily until I move to my permanent residence, where Ultra Beam / WIMO 2el Yagi (40-6m) will be installed at 25m+. Will still have to figure out 160/80m due to very limited space. Note that 60m band is not permitted in Nepal.
 
The new residence is a high rise with a clear shot towards EU and US. The problem in Kathmandu is very heavy QRM due to open power lines and all kinds of man-made interference. For the time being, an only limited operation is planned but the pace should pick up by end of November and when the rest of the equipment arrives. 
 
QSL for this operation goes via S57DX, direct only, and of course, LoTW and ClubLog will be updated at least once a week.
 
Please note that 9N7AA was previously issued to UA3AA back in 2014 and is now re-issued to me. S57DX will only handle the QSLs for my operation, from November 2021 onwards.
 
73 Robert, S53R / 9N7AA"