Lightning maps

See https://www.lightningmaps.org for information on lightning in Europe. As I write, there are storms in Europe but not in the UK.

Solar activity sliding

If you look at the trends, we are definitely on the slide down from the last solar peak. Solar flux has regularly been in the 80s of late. Sunspot numbers are much lower than last year. It will be interesting to see how propagation is on 10m this autumn compared with last autumn.

It is quite likely we will see years and years of poor solar conditions as the forecast for the next peak is not good. This will mean the lower bands will become more important. It is a pity that man-made noise is so much worse these days on the lower HF bands in particular. This is a problem in urban areas especially. Luckily Es does not seem to be affected by solar conditions.

See http://www.solen.info/solar/ .

"Upcoming" - NOT amateur radio

On a recent Facebook posting I was criticised for using this word ("upcoming") as being an "Americanism" of the English language. I have used this word for years and years and certainly did not believe it was American English.  If I am mistaken then I am happy to be corrected. My grammar has never been a strong point and my use of the language often poor. Often spelling mistakes are due to my keyboard, although I do make mistakes!

Sunspots and 10m - Wed June 1st 2016

Solar flux is 86 and the sunspot number 40 (K=1). The forecast for 10m F2 propagation is "poor" again.

Back to 10m WSPR and 6m WSPR

As of a few minutes ago I am back on 10m and 6m WSPR. Overnight I was on 40m WSPR but just one DX spot from K9AN (6505km) in the middle of the night.

UPDATE 0912z:  DL4MFC (914km) has spotted me on 10m WSPR. This is early for Es, so bodes well.

UPDATE 0920z:  I am now being spotted widely on 10m WSPR across great swathes of central Europe.

UPDATE 1108z:  Still plenty of Es on 10m WSPR but no spots so far on 6m WSPR.

QSYed to 40m WSPR

As of about 2120z I went QRT on 10m WSPR and 630m WSPR and started up on 40m WSPR (2W TX 20%, 80% RX). Best DX from the first TX session was SV8RV (2269km). My antenna is far from ideal on 40m.

House quiet again - NOT amateur radio

Our "London" grandchildren were collected by their dad this afternoon. Once again the house is quiet. It was lovely to have them.

The picture of the body was by our little granddaughter aged just 5. She copied it from a book, which was a birthday present. Like her slightly older cousin, she enjoys drawing and painting.

Tonight - what band?

OK, I think I am wasting my time during the late spring and summer on 472kHz WSPR. So, the question is what band, if any, do I WSPR on this evening and overnight? 40m is usually a good bet and it is a few months since I have tried this band. Maybe I'll try 40m this evening.

New HF band Plan

See http://www.iaru-r1.org/index.php/downloads/Documents/HF/IARU-Region-1-HF-Band-Plan-2016/  .

Southgate News has a link to the new Region 1 HF band plan.

10m WSPR - some Es

EA1FAQ (1249km) spotted my 10m WSPR 4 times this morning. So, there was Es about, but not a lot. Reports weren't bad but localised.

UPDATE 1906z:  Several more spots from EA1FAQ as late as 1902z. I shall stay on 10m WSPR a little longer then QSY to 40m WSPR.