Return to 6m and resync'd 10m WSPR

At around 1035z I turned on the PC and FT817 and returned to 6m WSPR. At the same time I reset and resync'd the 10m, stand alone, WSPR 10m 500mW WSOR beacon. So, I am back on WSPR on 10m and 6m for the day. Earlier I was being spotted by an RZ6 station on 10m WSPR so the sync was good overnight, although I was spotted by no-one through the hours of darkness on 10m.

Still on 10m WSPR

Although my chances of being spotted are low, I am staying on 10m WSPR overnight.  100% TX (500mW) but with randomised transmit frequency. My best hope is some GDX -  perhaps a bit of tropo/aircraft reflection. There is an outside chance of some out of season Es. I think the chance of any F2 propagation is almost nil overnight.  Anyway, look out for me.

F2 and Es on 10m WSPR?

KK1D (5455km) was the first USA spot on 10m WSPR today at 1304z. There have been several USA spots since. As well as Africa, West Indies and Russia, I have had several 10m WSPR spots from "near" Europe. These could, I guess, be F layer backscatter or possibly Es?

UPDATE 1730z:  KC1AWS (5308km) is spotting me still. 

UPDATE 2035z:  KC1AWS (5308km) was the last USA station to spot me on 10m WSPR at 1812z. I went QRT on 6m many hours ago but am still active on 10m WSPR and may stay on overnight.

Amazing prices on Beofeng portable transceiver

Amazon is currently selling Baofeng UV-5RE dual band handies for £19.92 with free delivery. This is an amazing deal. This radio has had mostly 5 star reviews.

See http://www.amazon.co.uk/B00EYYVEH6/dp/B00EYYVEH6/ref=as_sl_pc_tf_til?tag=thesouthgatam-21&linkCode=w00&linkId=&creativeASIN=B00EYYVEH6  .

UK Rallies

Sunday 1 NOVEMBER : NORTH WALES RADIO RALLY
CANCELLED

Sunday 1 NOVEMBER : BUSHVALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB RALLY (new event)
United Services Club, 8 Roe Mill Rd, Limavady, Co Londonderry BT49 9DF. TI S22, free CP, OT 11am, £3. TS, B&B, DF, C. www.bushvalley-arc.co.uk.

A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

Grandchildren - NOT amateur radio

As we have 2 of our very young grandchildren staying for a few nights, these take priority over amateur radio. At the moment, the elder grandson (aged 7) has gone shopping with his grandma and I am at home with the granddaughter (aged 4) playing Lego. I am not feeling too brilliant today.

Sunspots and 10m - Fri Oct 30th 2015

With a solar flux of 112 and a sunspot number of 101 (K=0) we should expect some decent 10m WSPR results today, yet the forecast for 10m remains "poor" today.

UPDATE 1150z:  As well as lots of Russians spotting me on 10m WSPR, I see FR1GZ (9724km) and EA8/LA3JJ (2870km) are spotting me. I get the feeling 10m WSPR will be good today.

Low cost QRP rigs

There is little doubt that the Elecraft KX3 is the very best QRP radio on the market, but it is very expensive here in the UK. The most popular QRP radio is the FT817 and the price of this has dropped considerably. It is rumoured that an FT817 replacement will be announced at Dayton next year. The IC703 is no longer produced and there is a scarcity of good priced QRP radios in the UK. Yes, there are a few Chinese radios appearing and there are a few QRP radios covering single bands or a very limited number of bands. I find it amazing that ICOM do not propose to market the IC7300 10W version outside of Japan or that the big Japanese companies never tried to produce an FT817 beater. It has taken Yaesu all this time to think about an FT817 successor.

Grandchildren - NOT amateur radio

We have our young "London" grandchildren here for a few days. "We always spend Halloween at Granny's". Hide and seek in the dark, pumpkins, blind man's buff, cooking, Halloween hats etc. These days it has become very commercialised sadly, but we will do our best to give them a good time. My health is not as good as it could be.

Halloween is the eve of All Hallows Day (All Saints Day). Some believe the celebration of Halloween dates back to Pagan times.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween .

QRT

The internet has not been reliable today. It comes via cable and is normally fast and reliable. I sync'd the 10m beacon after lunch when I could get accurate time off the internet. I have now gone QRT for the day. There have been lots of 10m WSPR spots today again and the last USA spot was at 1702z.  6m has been quiet again here today, although the 6m station (which depends on the PC for audio and timing) was off air some of the day.