Yesterday, Steve G1KQH mentioned in a comment how he missed my projects. I do too!
As many will be aware I suffered a stroke 2.5 years ago. I expected to make a full recovery, but it has not worked out that way. Even now, although people tell me how well I look, I still feel giddy most of my waking hours and I tire easily. My voice is poor and I have trouble with drinks. My fine motor skills are not good. Basically, I have struggled with things that were easy in the past. I really miss just fiddling and building. Life is much harder.
3 Apr 2016
Sunspots and 10m - Sun April 3rd 2016
Solar flux is 81 today and sunspot number 11 (K=3). Conditions look a little worse than yesterday. The forecast for 10m propagation remains "poor". Although I am expecting little, this band has a habit of throwing surprises.
10m WSPR
For the last 30 minutes I have been back on 10m WSPR. I hope 10m is as good as yesterday, which was very good on WSPR despite the low sunspot count and declining solar conditions.
WSPR is excellent in the declining 10m conditions. If there is a brief opening it will be found on 10m as long as people continue to use the band and mode. 10m is often open when the band seems dead. My strong recommendation is use WSPR. It only needs low power and can be run in the background. Using 10m WSPR really helps radio science.
UPDATE 1035z: No 10m spots as yet.
UPDATE 1220z: Still no 10m WSPR spots.
UPDATE 1900z: Just G8VDQ (93km) spotted lunchtime aided by aircraft reflection. No DX at all today here on 10m. After yesterday, a really disappointing day.
WSPR is excellent in the declining 10m conditions. If there is a brief opening it will be found on 10m as long as people continue to use the band and mode. 10m is often open when the band seems dead. My strong recommendation is use WSPR. It only needs low power and can be run in the background. Using 10m WSPR really helps radio science.
UPDATE 1035z: No 10m spots as yet.
UPDATE 1220z: Still no 10m WSPR spots.
UPDATE 1900z: Just G8VDQ (93km) spotted lunchtime aided by aircraft reflection. No DX at all today here on 10m. After yesterday, a really disappointing day.
2 Apr 2016
A brilliant day on 10m WSPR
Despite the low solar activity, today turned out to be a good day on 10m with spots of stations in North and South America as well as European short skip. I was spotted in the USA. And I was expecting to copy nothing today!
UK Football - NOT amateur radio
See http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/tables .
The English Premier League seems more to do with money these days with many players and managers from outside the UK. I can understand this but feel sure we have untapped talent. The lower leagues are less glamorous and get far less TV coverage.
When it comes to football I admit to being a "fireside fusilier" in that I'm gunner do this or that, but rarely go to a match. I follow the fortunes of Plymouth Argyle and my local team Cambridge United and check where they are in their League (League 2). At the moment Plymouth are doing quite well and have a chance of automatic promotion at the end of the season. Cambridge are also doing pretty well too.
UPDATE 1557z: 71 minutes in Argyle were 0:1 up. In the end they lost 2:1. Had they won, they would have had a very good chance of automatic promotion, but they threw it away. Football!!
The English Premier League seems more to do with money these days with many players and managers from outside the UK. I can understand this but feel sure we have untapped talent. The lower leagues are less glamorous and get far less TV coverage.
When it comes to football I admit to being a "fireside fusilier" in that I'm gunner do this or that, but rarely go to a match. I follow the fortunes of Plymouth Argyle and my local team Cambridge United and check where they are in their League (League 2). At the moment Plymouth are doing quite well and have a chance of automatic promotion at the end of the season. Cambridge are also doing pretty well too.
UPDATE 1557z: 71 minutes in Argyle were 0:1 up. In the end they lost 2:1. Had they won, they would have had a very good chance of automatic promotion, but they threw it away. Football!!
Cambridge Concert Tonight - NOT amateur radio
A final reminder that my wife's concert is at the Leys School, Cambridge
at 7.30pm tonight, April 2nd 2016. The venue is a new one and tickets
are available on the door if you don't already have any.
Thunder later?
I plan to stop TXing and RXing on 10m WSPR later this afternoon. Thunder was forecast and as a matter of course I prefer to disconnect things to minimise risks. At the moment, no thunder is shown on the forecasts, but I prefer to edge on the side of caution. 10m WSPR can be done at any time, so I'll not miss much.
April 2nd - NOT amateur radio
Although I quite enjoy the humour is some April Fools articles I am quite glad we are now April 2nd: any articles today are serious and could be true, whereas on April 1st one can never be quite sure.
Many of the great ideas turn out to be jokes if published on April 1st. All I can say is caveat emptor. It is quite common to be caught out with many serious replies to obviously spoofs. The trouble is you are often not quite sure.
In the past I have been taken in and sometimes good ideas are taken as spoofs.
Many of the great ideas turn out to be jokes if published on April 1st. All I can say is caveat emptor. It is quite common to be caught out with many serious replies to obviously spoofs. The trouble is you are often not quite sure.
In the past I have been taken in and sometimes good ideas are taken as spoofs.
Sunspots and 10m - Sat April 2nd 2016
Solar flux is 81 today (low). Sunspot number is also low at 11 (K=1). The forecast for 10m propagation remains "poor". On the face of things, conditions are slightly worse than yesterday, and that was a bad day on 10m WSPR here.
Return to 10m WSPR
I reconnected the 10m WSPR kit at 0900z, but may turn it off later if there are storms. Thunder is a possibility tonight.
UPDATE 0933z: No 10m spots so far, although I am not at all surprised. The best I can really expect is Gs and maybe some early short skip.
UPDATE 1350z: Still not a single spot given or received on 10m WSPR. Dire indeed!
UPDATE 1628z: Still not a single spot on 10m WSPR all day. Soon be going QRT.
UPDATE 1645z: A late surprise on 10m WSPR: PU3WSF (10416km) has been spotted a couple of times. Even with a very low sunspot number and low solar flux the band still comes to life if you look. 10m is another "magic band" that throws surprises.
UPDATE 0933z: No 10m spots so far, although I am not at all surprised. The best I can really expect is Gs and maybe some early short skip.
UPDATE 1350z: Still not a single spot given or received on 10m WSPR. Dire indeed!
UPDATE 1628z: Still not a single spot on 10m WSPR all day. Soon be going QRT.
UPDATE 1645z: A late surprise on 10m WSPR: PU3WSF (10416km) has been spotted a couple of times. Even with a very low sunspot number and low solar flux the band still comes to life if you look. 10m is another "magic band" that throws surprises.
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