Sunspots and 10m - Friday July 3rd 2015

Sunspot number has climbed back to 111 today (K=1) with settled conditions. 10m is again expected to remain "poor". We just could see some 10m F2 DX today, just maybe.

Overnight on 10m and 6m WSPR

Overnight I saw no evidence of Es until breakfast time this morning on 6m with station in Finland coming through. The common wisdom is Es but I still wonder if noctilucent clouds are responsible for some of these very northern openings. It requires someone to correlate 6m openings and the presence of these clouds. I  could well be totally wrong.

On 10m WSPR no Es DX  since last evening. Late breakfast time I see Norwegian and German stations are spotting my 500mW WSPR. EA8BVP (2986km) is spotting me this morning, although this could well be single hop F2.

UPDATE 0935z:   Widespread Es now on 10m WSPR.  Also decent Es on 6m WSPR this morning.

England and storms

It looks, for now, as if the worst of the storms have passed but I am continuing to monitor the storm risks. The worst of the storms seem to be over the North Sea. I shall go QRT (again) if the risk looks too high. According to the maps, there is a higher risk of more storms in S.W. England and in the north. Maybe we'll see more storms this way tomorrow?

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

UPDATE 2210z:  10m Es evident until about an hour ago, since when just G4IKZ (18km) on that band. 6m has just been G stations so far.  Maybe I missed 6m Es earlier in the day?  At the moment, all the big thunderstorms seem to be missing the UK, according to this map.

Back home again - so back on 10m and 6m WSPR

With the XYL at a pub near Eyam

For a couple of nights we have been away at a sibling reunion at my brother-in-law's in Lichfield.  So my blogging activity has been very low.This was my longest drive since my brain bleed (about 110 miles each way).

I am now back on 10m and 6m WSPR.

Sunspots and 10m - July 2nd 2015

Sunspot number is 49 (K=1) and 10m propagation is "poor" again.

Thunder risks

This next few days we are at great risk of thunder and lightning. We are in the middle of a heatwave with hot, damp air moving up from the south. As a precaution I have disconnected the 10m and 6m WSPR rigs, PC, antennas and mains plugs.

Luckily I have never suffered a lightning strike but know friends who have. One was living in a very ordinary home, was not a radio amateur or SWL, had no big antennas, but his electrics were knocked for six and ruined. Earth's natural electrical activity should always be treated with respect. I don't like thunderstorms at all.  Even if not directly hit, the power surges can cause damage.

As I write this, Greece is having bad storms according to the maps.

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

Sunspots and 10m - Tues June 30th 2015

Sunspot number has little changed. Today it is 36 (K=2) and 10m propagation remains "poor". I am not expecting great F2 propagation but have gone QRT (storm risks) on 10m and 6m.

UPDATE 1025z:  There was early Es evident here on 10m WSPR (Italian spotting me ) but quiet on 6m WSPR

6m WSPR - just Gs here all day

What a disappointing day on 6m!  Quite a few WSPR spots given and received but all have been G stations with no sign of Es here. With thunderstorms close, I shall probably go QRT on 6m and 10m in the morning

EA8BVP (2986km) - 39 spots on 10m WSPR so far

EA8BVP (2986km) has spotted me 39 times so far on 10m WSPR today. There has been some Es on 10m but very little. I suspect some of these spots were Es but most, I think, were F2. EA8BVP has spotted me most days now for months.

JT9-1 on 20m and 10m

As 10m and 6m were doing nothing much, I had another outing on JT9-1 on 20m QRP.  There were several stations active.  A look on PSK reporter showed that my CQ signals were crossing Europe (see map), but sadly no-one wanted a QSO. With QRP, I think the best strategy is to call others calling CQ. There seems plenty of space on JT9-1 on 20m.

A CQ call on 10m JT9-1 was not successful, although I have used this mode on 10m in the past. Unlike WSPR, JT9-1 is a true 2-way digital mode, with QSOs taking about 6 minutes to complete. WSPR works with weaker signals but needs 2 minute periods, whereas JT9-1 overs are just 1 minute.