Sunspots and 10m - Thursday June 9th 2016

Solar flux is 79 again today and sunspot number 15. K=1. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".

Low low cost Baofeng Dual Bander

This came in yesterday from Steve G1KQH:

Just over a Tenner inc P&P and it is yours!

http://www.409shop-two-way-radio.com/products/baofeng-uv-5rb-136-174400-480mhz-5w-two-way-radio-problem-no-beep-off-funtion-1

73 Steve

G1KQH

The price is just insane! No wonder the Japanese manufacturers are having a hard time. It would not surprise me if at least one went bankrupt unless they find a way to compete.

472kHz transverter article in QST

At long last it looks like my article for QST in the USA will be published soon. They were waiting for the band to be released, but I wrote this a very long time ago, before my stroke. The stroke was Sept 2013!!

By the way, QST do not pay much. I think we do these things more for love!

USA President - NOT amateur radio

It is not for me to get involved in the race for President in the USA. The people will vote and they will get the president they deserve.

What amazes me is how old all the candidates are. Mrs Clinton is 68. Her husband is 69 as is Donald Trump. Bernie Sanders is 74. I am 67 and there is no way I would want to be active in politics, even if I was fit and well.

SPAM? - NOT amateur radio

Today I got an email purporting to be from Microsoft saying that they think my email address was compromised.

Now, this may be a SPAM, but if you have received any suspicious emails supposedly from me, please accept my apologies. As always DO NOT open links you do not trust or know to be safe. If you have received anything odd, purporting to have been sent by me, please let me know.

Hopefully the issue has been dealt with and you should not get further trouble. If this is a SPAM please let me know too as my mail account did not see this as SPAM.

Acoustic DXing?

This morning I awoke early and could hear a distant church bell tolling at 6am. It could not be heard at 7am. Acoustic conditions must have been perfect - quiet, maybe a mist? The nearest church other than our local church is 2 miles away. It could have been from much further away. The sound was heard in bed and came from the west I think.

In WW1 the guns on the front in France could sometimes be heard in England over 100 miles away.

Back on 10m WSPR and 6m WSPR

The risk of thunderstorms has passed for now, so I have reconnected rigs and antennas and I am back on 10m WSPR and 6m WSPR. Things went back on at around 0850z. Let hope Es brings some results on both bands today.

UPDATE 1010z:  Plenty of 10m Es on WSPR from central Europe but all quiet on 6m WSPR here.

UPDATE 1136z:  Now there are 10m Es spots from GM too. Some of the reports from Germany are incredibly strong. This is often the case with Es. So far, all very quiet on 6m WSPR.

UPDATE 1450z:  Still plenty of 10m Es, but 6m WSPR is still dead here. I notice G3WKW has managed some Es on 6m WSPR. His ERP is higher than mine, but I am surprised to have copied nothing on 6m WSPR so far.

Sunspots and 10m - Wed June 8th 2016

Solar flux is still low at 79. Sunspot number is now 12, but it has been zero for a few days. K=2 and the forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".  We have to hope that Es livens up 10m and 6m.

2m UKAC

2m QRP QSOs this evening

This evening was the June 2m UKAC organised by the RSGB. Best DX was 221km to the west country. I had to stop after 9 QSOs after about 50 minutes as my voice was done in and there was lightning getting nearer. Several locals were absent. These were stations I'd normally work very easily.

OFCOM

OFCOM (as you know, I love them) has just released an update for June.

See http://ofcom.cmail19.com/t/ViewEmail/i/3DBC5797D772786F/59D1BD3EA2F08127C67FD2F38AC4859C