Sepura shares (SEPU) - NOT amateur radio

Shares in my old company have fallen  a bit yesterday and this morning. They design and make TETRA and DMR radios, mainly where security is important.

Now may be a good time to buy? These days I have no connections with the company having long ago retired. In uncertain market conditions shares in a company involved in public safety may be a good bet?

Sunspots and 10m - Thurs Jan 21st 2016

Solar flux is 101 and sunspot number 59 (K=5). The forecast for 10m propagation remains "poor". These were the early spots:

DF1KZ still has problems knowing where he is! It should be EA8/DF1KZ or DF1KZ with a corrected QTH locator!!

QSYed to 472kHz WSPR

For the last 15 minutes or so, I have been on 472kHz WSPR with 5mW ERP, looking for others 80% of the time. DK7FC (669km) and G8HUH (250km) have been spotted and G0VQH (15km) has spotted me. The night is young still. I intend to stay on overnight.

RA3APW on 10m WSPR

Among the stations copied on 10m WSPR today was the 100mW beacon of old work colleague RA3APW who lives in Moscow.  Karen is really "into" amateur radio.

His homepage is at http://www.qsl.net/ra3apw/ra3apw/ .

Decent results on 10m WSPR

As I write this it is 1400z and results so far on 10m have exceeded expectations. This is the log so far today on 10m WSPR:

DF1KZ is either in the Canaries using the wrong callsign again or he is in Germany using the wrong QTH  locator. Either way, something is in need of attention! I am also puzzled by the large drift seen on most 10m WSPR stations today. I don't think the drift is at my end. Could it be moving clouds of Es or F2 layers?

Despite the "poor" forecast for 10m today, it is yet again saying, "Keep at it. I am a band that will always surprise you".

UPDATE 1518z:  Although no international DX seen since lunchtime, G4CUI (172km) has recently been spotted on 10m WSPR.

UPDATE 1730z:  G4CUI (172km), running 5W, has now been spotted 4 times so far today.  This suggests that 10-20W of JT9-1 would span this GDX at almost any time.

Overnight on 40m WSPR

It was quite a surprise to be spotted in South America so often, and even more so the various 40m WSPR spots by stations in the USA. My best DX on 40m was a spot by KD6RF (7575km).  I have now moved to 10m WSPR for the day.

Sunspots and 10m - Wed Jan 20th 2016

Solar flux is 97 today and sunspot number 55 (K=4). 10m propagation is expected to be "poor" again. I am not expecting conditions on 10m to be much good today, but in the past I have had a surprise.

UPDATE 1020z:  Although I am still on 40m WSPR, I shall be moving to 10m WSPR shortly.

Safari - NOT amateur radio

For no apparent reason, the Safari browser on my iPod Touch 4g has stopped displaying the graph of visitors to the various blogs I do. They appear fine in Firefox on the laptop. This has only recently happened. I used to check visits to the blogs when in bed, but am unable to do so now. I tried a complete reboot, but still the same. It is as if blogger.com has changed something. Anyone else had a similar issue?

QSY to 40m

In a few minutes I am going to QSY to 40m WSPR for a change from 10m WSPR. On this band, the antenna is very low, but I may leave the rig running overnight to find out what is possible. I shall be TXing at 2W for 20% of the time and on RX looking for others for 80% of the time. It may be a little while before things stabilise.

I shall be monitoring WSPRnet on a different PC in the lounge, with periodic visits to the shack to check all is well.

UPDATE 1924z:   I had to install Windows Updates on the shack PC, but I've been on 40m WSPR for a little while and have been spotted in Germany and Holland so far at 2W.   Even though the antenna is low on 40m, it gets out.
UPDATE 1938z:  These were the results in the first 30 minutes on 40m WSPR.

UPDATE 2135z:  So far this evening my best DX is FY5KE (7117km) in South America who has spotted my 2W on 40m WSPR 4 times. This is despite my antenna being very low for 40m. The reports were very good too. I have also spotted him on 40m WSPR this evening.

UPDATE 2300z:   Now W4MO (7272km) is spotting me on 40m WSPR.  Despite my antenna being very low for 40m, it has already reached 3 continents this evening.

UPDATE 2315z:   FY5KE (7117km) has spotted my 2W to a very low antenna on 40m WSPR 14 times so far this evening on 40m WSPR.

Good advice - NOT amateur radio

I found this on Facebook earlier.  Personally, I think it is good advice. I think it originated in the USA judging by the style.

Following Graham's link below, here is an earlier version (added 1918z):