Grandchildren in Paris - NOT amateur radio

This afternoon both sets of grandchildren are in Paris. The "Kent" ones are just there for a few days holiday and the "London" ones are there visiting their grandparents. Both sets went by Eurostar train. The picture shows the "London" ones on the train with their mum. Centre of London to centre of Paris by direct train in about 2.5  hours. Wonderful.

10m DX on WSPR

EA8/DL9XJ (2981km) and KD0VWO (7412km) are the best DX so far on 10m WSPR today. No USA spots, although with fairly disturbed conditions I am not expecting much.

Sunspots and 10m - Wed Feb 17th 2016

We have had no internet most of the day, so I have been unable to check things and update blogs until now.

Solar flux today is 102 and sunspot number 49 (K=4). The 10m forecast is "poor" today. I am not expecting much today.

10m GDX

G4CUI (172km) has been spotted several times this evening. I assume this is tropo and aircraft reflection. There were no USA 10m WSPR spots here today although I was spotted in Brazil several times.

House quiet - NOT amateur radio

After 4 nights, the "London" grandchildren have been collected and have returned home. We enjoyed having them , but by the end I was exhausted. The house is quiet again - but tidy! We love having them though and will miss them.

10m not as good?

Although I have been spotted in Brazil several times, at the moment there have been no USA spots on 10m today. There have been a few short-skip spots as well.

Sunspots and 10m - Tues Feb 16th 2016

Solar flux is 107 and sunspot number is 48 (K=3). 10m propagation is expected to remain "poor".

QRP Club

From Oleg:

"Dear Club 72 members and friends,
"72 Net" weekly report (February 8 to 13, 2016)
This  week  QRP  Rendez-Vous  visitors:  UA1CEG, RD6MZ, UR7VT, ON6KZ,
RV3GM,  OE5WLL, OH6NPV, RU3NJC, UR0ET, OM6TC, TF/RA1M, PA3DEU, RW3AA,
OH6TX,  SM2FIJ,  UA1CEX,  9A0QRP,  R1OA,  UR5EFD, DJ8WO, EW1CY, G3UD,
UA1ADF,  UA0SBQ,  UA1AQC,  RN3RD, OH5LP, R2FAE, DL4HG, I4DOR, GM0GCO,
UT8NR, S57RT
R2FAE entered in the Honor Frequenters list - congrats!
See "soapbox" here - http://qrp-club72.blogspot.ru/
Full Visitors and Frequenters lists here - www.club72.su
Welcome all QRP stations on the "72 Net" QRP Rendez-Vous round tables.
See schedule on the Club 72 web page.
72! Oleg RV3GM / KH6OB "Mr. 72" "

Snow - NOT amateur radio

We had our first real snow of the winter briefly this morning. It was on the ground, but soon went. Our "London" grandchildren thought it was magical and enjoyed eating the snow, having a snowball fight and making a very small snowman. Like childhood itself, the snow was soon gone.

10m to the USA again

Yet again, spots were exchanged with the USA on 10m WSPR.  Some spots were very strong. It now looks like the USA will be spotted most days this winter and spring. As I have said before, next autumn could be more difficult, although on present trends we might see the USA for another autumn. It is entirely possible 10m will open to the USA this summer by multi-hop Es.