Sunspots and 10m - Tues Nov 17th 2015

Solar flux is 105. Sunspot number is 44 (K=1 so relatively undisturbed today). The forecast for 10m propagation remains "poor" today. We'll see!

I QSYed back to 10m and 6m WSPR a few minutes ago and turned off 630m RX until tonight. I usually takes about 10-15 minutes for the 10m 500mW WSPR beacon to stabilise after being off all night. I think the reference has to stabilise.

QSYed

My 10m and 6m WSPR stations have now been closed down. I have turned on my 630m (472kHz) RX kit on for the evening and overnight, this time I am RX only with the preamp. My antenna is again the earth-electrodes in the ground. My view overall is the preamp helps with weak signals but most stations are not too weak!  In theory it would be good to have some very weak stations active on 472kHz WSPR. Really, I should give OPERA another try.

My 630m (472kHz) RX was turned on about 1945z.

Winter projects

At this time of the year I like to set out some project objectives for the months ahead. Sadly, my poor health means I cannot do that much without getting very exhausted. The only project I can possibly manage is the erection of a MF loop antenna at some point. Even this will really tire me but I shall have to try. Maybe my son can help me with the ladder work?

5MHz band

This is from the RSGB pages:

"5MHz: An allocation at 5351.5-5366.5 kHz was agreed with regional variations in power between 15 W eirp/20 W eirp and 25 W eirp. In Region 1 this equates to a power output of 60 W. This was passed up to the next stage to Committee 4B where it was approved with minor changes to which geographical areas have what power limits. The next stage is for approval by Committee 4 which should take place on Monday and finally by a plenary meeting next Wednesday. While not an ideal solution, it has at least obtained an international allocation across all three Regions which is common or close to a number of national assignments. Everyone is equally unhappy, which is usual for a World Radio Conference."

Assuming this is approved, this is a tiny harmonised band and much smaller than we wanted. I am not sure if this is "it" or whether there is still a chance of larger harmonised bands in each region which is far from ideal but would be better than nothing, or a only a very small band.

Death - NOT amateur radio

This remains a total mystery. Many religions talk about "life after death" and who knows? With talk of multiverses who knows, maybe the universe is unique to us only and everyone else experiences something different. Maybe what we experience when we die is a total absence of life, much like we before we were born. The only thing we can say with any certainty is no-one really knows.

USA again on 10m WSPR

It was a late start on 10m WSPR today with KK1D (5455km) being the first USA station to spot my 500mW WSPR beacon at 1446z. Since then quite a few other USA stations have spotted me including KD6RF (7571km) who I think is in Texas. At present, this is my best DX report from the USA today.

UPDATE 1730z:  Best DX (from the USA) today is K5XL (7660km).

UPDATE 1922z: The last USA 10m WSPR spot was WB2TQE (7097km) at 1604z.

Cooking - NOT amateur radio

Before the orzo added

On Mondays, my wife goes to her U3AC course in Cambridge and I have her lunch ready when she gets back. My "speciality" is orzo, which is a pasta that looks like rice. I just throw it in a frying pan for 8 minutes onto anything that has cooked, like bacon, peppers and mushrooms. You add boiling water and some cheese and seasoning. Usually there is too little pasta.

See http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipes/tag-3951/orzo-recipes.aspx  .

Sunspots and 10m - Mon Nov 16th 2015

Solar flux is 107. Sunspot number is 63 today. K=3 and 10m propagation is again expected to be "poor". This morning on 10m WSPR there were single hop F2 spots from Eastern Europe including Russia. No sign of 10m WSPR spots (yet) from further afield.

On 6m, just the usual spots of G8VDQ (93km) and nothing else.

Return to 10m and 6m

About 15 minutes ago I went QRT on 630m and returned to 10m and 6m.

WSPR

As we went to London for our grandson's 8th birthday party I have only just started up on 630m and 10m WSPR. I am probably too late to catch any 10m WSPR DX but the best DX on 472kHz WSPR RX so far (earth-electrode "antenna" and no preamp) is DK7FC (669km).

UPDATE 1758z:  Best DX on RX is now DH5RAE (995km).

UPDATE 1815z:  My best DX so far on 472kHz WSPR TX (5mW ERP) is a spot by PA3ABK (306km).

UPDATE 1825z:  As I seem to have missed the DX on 10m WSPR, I shall go QRT on 10m WSPR shortly and save the (small) electricity that the beacon takes. It will be back on tomorrow.

UPDATE 1835z:  Now QRT on 10m but will be on 630m (472kHz) WSPR this evening and overnight (5mW ERP TX 20%, 80% RX, earth-electrode "antenna", no preamp).