6m/10m WSPR - or not?

I was about to switch back to 6m WSPR but the lightning map shows deteriorating weather with possible storms approaching from Lincolnshire and the North Sea.  Maybe I'll stay on 10m a while longer and then decide what to do. If the storms get close I shall go QRT.

UPDATE 1318z:  Well, the Lincolnshire storm is moving north. That means it is getting further away from here.  I'll QSY up to 6m WSPR later this afternoon, unless another storm rears its ugly head.

UPDATE 1410z:  GM4FVM (428km - very short 10m Es skip) copied strongly at -10dB S/N on 10m WSPR at 1340z. Suggests decent Es on higher bands.

UPDATE 1442z: First GDX today G8VDQ (93km) spotted on 10m WSPR at 1424z but quite weakly.

6m - storms stop play

Just as things on 6m Es were hotting up, I can hear distant thunder and an approaching storm. Currently the storm is tracking to the west of Cambridge and may miss us, but as a precaution I have disconnected antennas, PSU and rigs. If the storm moves further away I will reconnect things. Darn! 6m was great today and I fear I may miss some good DX.

See http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en .

UPDATE 1912z:  Looking at WSPRnet.org it appears I am not missing any great super-DX from across the Atlantic on 6m. All I can see are decent Es paths around Europe. For now,the antennas and rigs will remain disconnected just in case the storms reappear. For now, the storms seem to have moved away east.

Storms - missing us again?

See http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en  .

Having just got back from my twice daily "constitutional" walk of 400m "around the block" (to help my balance post brain bleed), I noticed how close and thundery it feels this evening.

The nearest storms currently are about 70 miles west of here, but this could change. It certainly feels like we are in for a storm within hours, although there is no thunder audible locally at present. The lightning map is proving very useful and I have unplugged rigs, PSU and antennas when storms are on their way.

At present, the storms seem to be tracking well west of us. We'll see how the storms move in the next few hours.

Storm risk passed?

See http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en  .

About 3 hours ago there was thunder and lightning less than a mile away and very heavy rain, but all is now quiet here.  The nearest storm activity was at Wicken and Dullingham but these have subsided now. I suspect the main danger has now passed and I can safely reconnect rigs and antennas.

Will probably go on 6m WSPR later today.

Storms to miss us?

According to the lightning map, it looks like the nasty thundery weather is tracking up west of us (Peterborough and Stamford area?)  and could miss us altogether. We'll see.  See http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en . For now, I shall keep on the Wonder Wand Compact indoor loop to see how it performs.

UPDATE 1127z:  Storms are dying out now. I think we'll miss them.

Approaching storms

Although the nearest electrical storms are some way off (West Country and over the Cherbourg Pennisula) they are likely to be here tomorrow. As a precaution, I shall disconnect all rigs and antennas before bedtime. Probably they won't be here until later in the day, but better to be safe than sorry.

See http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en .

Closed down station - thunder storms close

As there is thunder/lightning around, I have decided to disconnect antennas and switch off the rigs. The storms are getting closer according to http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en .  As much as I'd like to continue to monitor on 6m, I think to go QRT is the right decision tonight. There will be plenty of other times to monitor 6m and 10m.

UPDATE 2110z:  The worst of the storms missed us.  However, there is a lot of storm activity around still, so the rigs and antennas will remain off tonight.   Meanwhile I am watching Brazil getting beaten by Holland. Current score Brazil 0  Holland 2. Unless Brazil create some magic, they are doomed.

UPDATE 2207z: Would not like to be in the Brazilian national football team this evening.

In the shack

This is a photo of me in the shack just before lunch today. Since lunch, I have had to disconnect everything because of an approaching lightning storm. At the last count (flashes to thunder) it was about 2km away but I think the storm is now moving away.

G3XBM in the shack today

For storm maps see http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en . The storm seems to have moved off: I can still hear thunder (to the east) but no nearby lightning. We have heavy rain, which will do the garden good.

Just a moment ago there was a flash and thunder almost overhead.  This showed up on the lightning map. Storms still rolling around. I shall not reconnect the antennas and radio gear for a while yet.

6m - local storms stop play

Currently we have thunderstorms around so I have disconnected ALL antennas, turned off the rigs and turned off the WSPR software and the PC.

This morning there was no Es seen here on 6m, just GDX. G0OKQ was a consistent reporter 98km away in the Chiltern Hills.  Local G4IKZ (18km) was not on.

If the storm passes over, and goes, I'll reconnect 6m WSPR  At the moment (1352z) the storm is about 3km away judging by the time difference between lightning and thunder claps. I hate this sort of weather.

Sunspot count is 95 and the forecast for 20-30MHz is "good" so F-layer propagation on 10m should be promising. Conditions are "disturbed".