SDR transceivers?

Recently I mentioned the 5W SDR transceiver from Italy by Elad which retails for £899 in the UK. This can be used with or without a PC. Clearly with a PC more features are available.

There are several more SDR based transceivers on the market such as the Flex 1500. There are also a few SDR transceiver kits. I wonder if readers have any favourites?

Firefox crippled?

Maybe it is just me and my Win 8.1 PC, but today I am having great problems with my Firefox web browser, which in the past has been both reliable and stable. The program seems to freeze on several bookmarks (notably Facebook) and I have to restart the PC to recover. I just wonder if a recent Windows Update (installed earlier) has upset it?

Anyone else suffering in the last day or so with Firefox?

I hope Microsoft is not trying to act dirty. Not saying they are - but it seems odd that all my problems have just started today. If I were to make a browser change it would be to Google Chrome.
 
UPDATE 12.3.15 1410z:   I deleted the Facebook bookmark and replaced it.  All seems well with Firefox.

Not amateur radio!

Today my XYL and I visited a couple more churches near Cambridge. I have updated my East Anglian Churches Blog. Sadly we have found more locked churches of late, usually as a result of thefts. All very sad. I am pleased that most churches are not locked.

10m USA WSPR spots today

WB8ELK/01 (6872km) was the first in the USA to spot my 500mW WSPR beacon today at 1328z. Quite a few other USA station are spotting me too. It was a good morning on 10m WSPR:  I was spotted in Western Australia twice.

UPDATE 2040z:   Opening to USA and Canada on 10m WSPR still in full swing.

UPDATE 2104z:   USA stations still spotting my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon.   It is now several hours after dark here. Will this opening never end? I shall stick on 10m until this opening ends. At some point the band will just die out to the USA. The last 2 spots were -16 and -19dB S/N. Often signals are strongest just before the band dies out on a given path.

UPDATE 2125z:    This is amazing. Just a few moments ago my 10m 500mW beacon was still being spotted by WB8ELK/01 (6872km). I am staying on 10m for a while yet.

UPDATE 2215z:   It looks like the opening to the USA ended (for me) with the 2118z spot by WB8ELK/01. Only locals spotting me since then. Considering 10m was only expected to be "fair" it was in good shape with a couple of spots by Australians this morning and a long opening to North America this afternoon and this evening.

Sunspots and 10m - March 11th 2015

Sunspot number has risen slightly to 43 but 10m propagation is forecast to be "fair". Already though my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon has been spotted by VK6YS (14479km) and several on the edges of Europe.

Last 10m USA spots this evening

The last USA station to spot my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon was K9AN (6505km) at 2016z. As I said before, I missed the start of the USA opening as I did not start until later today.

Since 2016z only locals G4IKZ (18km) and G3YAC (12km) have been spotting me.

I have now gone QRT on 10m WSPR but I am still active on MF (472kHz).

70cm UKAC tonight

Stations worked this evening with 5W/5el on 70cm SSB

After less than an hour and 9 QSOs I had to stop straining my voice and stop. Some locals, such as G2XV, were missed as they were operating "search and pounce" so I had no idea where to call them! Best DX was only 105km tonight although I heard further. Had I been able to operate longer I might have worked further. It was fun though and I managed to work 4 QTH locator squares. Conditions seemed pretty flat.

GPS

These days, we take satellite navigation such as GPS so much for granted. I am told  that the best resolution using satellites for civilian use is now down to 30cms but for military uses the resolution is better still. It seems quite incredible that GPS is nowadays routinely embedded in smart phones and we just assume we can find our position with great accuracy. Such accuracy came about as a result of a military project way back in the Cold War.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System .

70cm UKAC this evening

Last week I mended my 2m/70cm antenna so it rotates again. This evening is the UKAC March 70cm leg. With a 5el and 5W pep it is highly unlikely I'll win even the low power section but I hope to be on long enough to work a few stations before my stoke affected voice tells me to stop.

Sunspots and 10m propagation - March 10th 2015

Sunspot number is lowish again at 29. 10m propagation was forecast to be "fair". When I turned on my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon earlier this afternoon, the band was already open across the N.Atlantic. I had my U3AC course on "Maps in the Digital Age" until after lunch.

UPDATE 1826z:  Still wide open to the USA and Canada.

UPDATE 1940z:  The 10m band is still open across the North Atlantic.