The SLOW road to 136kHz and 472kHz operation in the USA

Some things are just unbelievable. Take for example the USA which still has no general access to the 136 and 472kHz bands, which many nations have had for years. This is supposed to be the greatest nation on earth.  Not if the FCC has anything to do with it.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2016/march/2200_and_630_metre_operation.htm .

As my own limited tests with very low ERP have proved time and time again, even a very low ERP limit would be useful on these bands. No, the FCC has blocked all general access to these bands. I have had an article for QST accepted awaiting the release of the 472kHz band in the USA. At the last count, they have held this for 3 years already! No, I am not impressed with the FCC. Like OFCOM over here, they seem to be a bunch of bureaucrats who are afraid of doing anything.

Sunspots and 10m - Sat March 12th 2016

Solar flux 94 today. Sunspot number 61 (K=4) and 10m propagation is forecast to be "poor" again.

Early inter-G on 10m WSPR

I QSYed from 630m WSPR to 10m WSPR at breakfast time. Already G4CUI (172km) has been spotted on 10m WSPR 2 times. No DX stations as yet, but it is quite early.

Artist at work - NOT amateur radio

My "London" granddaughter, age 4, busy with her paints. She comes home from school and just entertains herself, just like her cousin. I think they both love art and can just turn off and concentrate.


The second photo shows me on their settee with both the London grandchildren.

New reporter on 630m WSPR

We are now home again after 2 nights in London.

G4GIR (53km) has already spotted me 4 times on 472kHz WSPR (5mW ERP) even though I only went on the band since we arrived home. It is good to see a few new people on the band.

UPDATE 1840z:  G4GIR has now spotted me 6 times so far tonight on MF.

10m WSPR so far today

As you can tell, I am not currently on 10m WSPR but should be back on the band on Saturday again. I hope to go on 630m WSPR tonight after dark (5mW ERP). Often when HF is not so good, MF is better.

On 10m WSPR, KD0VWO monitoring in Brazil is copying EA5 and EA1 this morning, but not further north as far as I can tell.

UPDATE 1212z:  I see that GM4FVM (7592km) has been spotted by KD0VWO monitoring in  Brazil.

More FTSE 100 - NOT amateur radio

This morning, as I write, the UK FTSE 100 share index is up 1.64% on yesterday as mining stocks recover.

As Hugh warns in an earlier post, are we in for a shock soon? I am still left thinking we are living in cloud cuckoo land. At some point,we are going to see a massive crash.

Parakeets - NOT amateur radio

We are "grandchildren sitting" in Stoke Newington, London, but are back home today. One difference is hearing parakeets first thing in the morning. There are lots of these in nearby Springfield Park. I see these Australian birds have now reached Plymouth. They are becoming naturalised and spreading widely. At one time these escaped cage birds would have been rare indeed here in the UK.

It is hard to believe that collared doves first appeared in the UK in 1955. Little egrets were virtually unknown in the UK before the late 1980s and now they are all over the place.

There are different species of parakeets, but I think those spreading are from the same core stock, but this may not be the case: several escapees may have survived and bread in the wild in the UK.

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

More from OFCOM

OFCOM has allocated new spectrum for programme makers and special events. I suppose we should be grateful that OFCOM has done something useful.

See http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/new-spectrum-audio-PMSE/statement

Sunspots and 10m - Fri March 11th 2016

Solar flux is 95 and sunspot number is 61 (K=3) and 10m propagation is again expected to be "poor". We will see how 10m WSPR turns out later. On the face of it, 10m looks like yesterday but with more disturbed conditions, so I am not that hopeful.