Sunspots and 10m - Mon June 6th 2016

Solar flux is 79 today. Sunspot number is zero again (K=6). The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor". Yesterday my 10m 500mW WSPR beacon was spotted by EA1FAQ (1249km) after teatime by Es. With summer conditions, a high K index it very unlikely 10m will be up to much. Es is the only real hope today.

472kHz WSPR last night

There are fewer active stations on during the summer but I was pleased to spot EA5DOM (1525km) as well as PA3ABK/2 (306km). I was spotted by just one station G4GIR (53km).

Chipsats

Southgate News reports that a second attempt is to be made to deploy tiny satellites from the ISS. These are "disposable" satellites operating around 437MHz and weigh just 5g.

See http://www.nature.com/news/tiny-chipsat-spacecraft-set-for-first-flight-1.20006 .

QRP and QRP Club

 More from Oleg:

Dear Club 72 members and friends,
72 QRP Net (Rendez-Vous) weekly report (June 1 to 5, 2016)
Visitors  of  the  week:  OH6NPV,  RA1M, RU6UR, US3EN, RV3GM, RU3NJC, UR7VT,  RV9CW,  F5POJ, SM2FIJ, UA1CEG, RX3DHR, SM7ETW, DJ8FO, UA1ASB, UA4NU, DJ2DW, SV2BBK, OE1VZ, OM6TC, UA1CEX/UF6
See full Visitors and Frequenters lists on the Club 72 web-page.
See 72 QRP Net schedule on the Club 72 web page - www.club72.su
72! Oleg RV3GM / KH6OB "Mr. 72"

All quiet?

Well since this early morning I have had no spots on 10m or 6m WSPR. Dead. Things may change but I was expecting the Es to be lively.

UPDATE 1352z:  Still very quiet here on 10m WSPR and 6m WSPR. even after re-sync.

OFCOM

Yet again I got notification by email from OFCOM. This time it is about licence exemptions for "white space" devices. The statement was dated April 16th but appeared June 3rd. The regulations come in to force June 9th.

See http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/TVWS-amendment-regulations-apr16/statement/?utm_source=updates&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=TVWS-amendment-regulations-apr16-statement .

Sunspots and 10m - Sun June 5th 2016

Solar flux is 80 again today. Yet again there are no sunspots (K=2) and the forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor". Thankfully 10m Es is good.

630m (472kHz) WSPR

Overnight and so far this morning I have been active on MF WSPR. PA3ABK/2 (306km) has been copied many times and he spotted my 5mW ERP during the night. G6AVK (78km) also spotted me. Although the band is noisier at this time, I think the biggest issue is too few active stations at this time of year. At one point I got really excited thinking someone in Sweden had spotted me on MF, only to realise this was on 10m. Doh! Overnight I spotted ON5TA (328km) who I think is new.

In a few minutes I shall be going QRT on MF and QSYing to 6m WSPR.

Pre-breakfast Es on 10m WSPR

It started very early today with several spots before breakfast from SM6WZI (1007km) and several a little later by DK6UG (633km). Local G4KPX (14km) is also spotting my 500mW WSPR beacon. I have the feeling today is going to be a good one for Es on 10m WSPR. I shall turn on the 6m WSPR shortly.

Back on 472kHz WSPR

As 6m was dead here on WSPR all day, I decided to return to 472kHz WSPR for the evening and overnight. I also re-synced the 10m beacon "just in case".

UPDATE 2100z: PA3ABK/2 (306km) was heard with in a few minutes. So far he has been copied 5 times this evening on MF but no-one has copied me.