Sunspots - Thursday May 18th 2023

 Solar flux is 138 and the SSN 106. A=4 and K=1.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Wednesday)

My W5OLF 10m WSPR beacon was turned on about 0905z. So far (at 0915z) no spots.

UPDATE 1541z:  Most of my spots today look like locals or via F2, with an absence of Es.

UPDATE 1600z: Some signs (at last!) of some Es.

UPDATE 1645z:  I am tempted to try with a much smaller ERP. I might try 10mW ERP and see what reports result. I need to make an external attenuator for the FT817ND. Maybe tomorrow. I cannot use my 10m WSPR beacon as it is pre-loaded with 0.5W and cannot be changed.

UPDATE 2120z:  QRT on a day when we did not see Es here. Well, maybe one Italian was briefly Es. In all, 8 unique station spots today.

8m QRP FT8 (Wednesday)

Not quite sure why, but I have a better feeling about today. 

My QRP 8m FT8 was turned on 40.680 MHz at about 0905z. DF is about 1950 Hz as usual and I am on TX in the first period.

UPDATE 1310z:  Still no 8m FT8 spots. Es has been poor and I was expecting better.

UPDATE 1804z:  Still no spots for days on 8m FT8. This is dire. It looks if my "better feeling" was a bit premature!

UPDATE 2121z:  QRT after another disappointing day.

Goldfinches - NOT amateur radio

These small birds seem to be the most common small bird around here. They can often be seen or heard nearby. They happen to be very colourful too. At a guess, they are the most colourful garden bird in the UK.

See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/goldfinch/ .

4m activity contest (UKAC)

Unless I have my dates mixed up, the RSGB organised 4m activity contest is this Thursday evening. Last month I forgot! It starts at 1900z (8pm UK clock time).

So far, I have been disappointed by activity levels on 4m, so I hope it is better  for the UKAC. Maybe more people pop up in the Es season. I live in hope.

Assuming I remember (must put alarm on, HI) I shall give it a go.

Norwich Market - NOT amateur radio

This was Norwich Market on Monday. They had interesting mushrooms and tomatoes on sale. 

Wednesday plans

My current plan is to go on 10m WSPR QRP TX and 8m QRP FT8. I am hoping the Es improves!! 

Devon lunch 2016 - NOT amateur radio

This was our lunch in 2016. Ivor Dewdney made the best pasties. I think they survived the pandemic. I can taste them now! 

What is reality? - NOT amateur radio

Several times in the last few months I have had very vivid dreams. These dreams were so vivid that I managed to confuse dreams and reality. The latest was of a hedge trimmer. In the dream, I could not remember getting it. Yesterday afternoon I looked in the garage to try to find it! Of course, it was not there.

Sporadic-E (Es)

So far, this has been a disappointing Es season. Things hopefully will change, but 8m has been very disappointing so far. By now, I was hoping for openings most days. 

UPDATE 1732z:  At the moment there seems to be a good Es opening in Eastern Europe. See https://www.tvcomm.co.uk/g7izu/radio-propagation-maps/europe-sporadic-e/ for G7IZU's excellent website.

Sunspots - Wednesday May 17th 2023

Solar flux is 134 and the SSN 106. A=8 and K=1.

Distant Konik ponies - NOT amateur radio

We saw these in the distance on our a walk to Wicken Fen at the weekend. They are used to keep the grass short, naturally.

Cow parsley - NOT amateur radio

This field in Burwell is full of cow parsley at those time of year. 

Eddystone EC10 receivers

From time to time these still appear on auction sits like eBay, commanding ridiculous prices. As a young person these were highly coveted. In reality they were unbelievably poor. These days a low cost SDR dongle offers far superior performance for far less than the 1968 new price!

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/commercial-rigs/eddystone-ec10 .

Keeping an eye on Es in Europe

Following Hugh's (HC02) suggestion, I am now looking at this map of 8m Es in Europe.

See https://www.tvcomm.co.uk/g7izu/radio-propagation-maps/8m-40mhz-spot-band/

On the same site is this map showing live Es data for other bands. I get the feeling 8m Es could be promising later.

See https://www.tvcomm.co.uk/g7izu/radio-propagation-maps/europe-sporadic-e/ .

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Tuesday)

My beacon was turned on at about 0820z. 

UPDATE 0924z:   So far just local spots.

UPDATE 1326z:  3 unique spots so far with the furthermost being deep in the Indian Ocean.

UPDATE 1903z:   7 unique spots today. I do not think there was any Es today.

UPDATE 2040z:  QRT.

Royal Gloucester Bell - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday we went to the exhibition at Norwich Castle Museum of the Royal Gloucester ship. This is the ship's bell. 

8m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)

As I was not on the air yesterday, I intend to go on 8m FT8 later. As the 10m antenna is available I will be on 10m WSPR TX with 500mW too. 

UPDATE 0927z:  Gear turned on about 0820z. No spots on RX or TX.

UPDATE 2044z:   QRT. It is now some days since I have had any spots on 8m FT8. Es seems to have been poor so far this season.

Sunspots - Tuesday May 16th 2023

Solar flux is 135 and the SSN 103. A=6 and K=1.  Numbers look back to normal.

No amateur radio today

Today we went on the train to Norwich where we met my wife's brother and his wife. We treated them to high tea as it was their 50th wedding anniversary. We also went to Norwich Castle to see a special exhibition on HMS Gloucester which sank off the Norfolk coast in the 1600s. 

So, no amateur radio today!! It is a tough life, but someone had to eat it 😉😋