UK Conservative Party Election - NOT amateur radio

I have never voted Conservative in more than 40 years but I am very pleased that Michael Gove has been eliminated. In the last few weeks he has, in my view, acted really badly and he has been hosted by his own petard. In my view he deserved all he got. Let us hope he is not in the new Cabinet.

Although not a great supporter of Theresa May, I think she is the best choice for Prime Minister of the UK as we move to leave the EU. She voted to remain in the EU, but is likely to unite the Conservatives.

Interesting times.

AES closes

A large USA dealer has closed according to a message from Steve G1KQH. As I have said many times, we are (in the main) an ageing population of radio amateurs and it is quite likely other dealers will close within the next few years. I fear for some UK dealers and some magazines. Unless more young people are attracted, the dealers will go, the magazines will get less revenue from adverts and the magazines will shrink and go too.

What attracted many of my generation into the hobby does not hold true today. To young people today video messaging around the world is commonplace. Young people get "turned on" by different things.

Our hobby will be very different in 20 years.

10m WSPR

As yet, no spots of my 10m 500mW WSPR beacon, although it is very early. Certainly no Es spots on 10m as yet. No G spots either. It is a pity I cannot use JT65 on both 10m and 6m at the same time.

Sunspots and 10m - Thurs July 7th 2016

Solar flux is 77 today. Sunspot number is 11 (K=3) and the forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".

No luck on transatlantic 6m DX

Overnight, I see that some Europeans were answering Canadian CQs on 6m JT65. Nothing was copied here sadly on 6m and I was not spotted "over the pond".  The gear is still running and I remain hopeful. So far this morning just G spots on 6m and no Es as yet.

UPDATE 0925z: A 6m JT65 spot of me by MM0AMW (520km) is unusual. This seems too close for Es and too far for tropo or aircraft.MM0AMW Loc IO75EJ

10m Es - nothing special today (so far)

All of the 10m Es spots have been scattered around Europe, with nothing remotely "DXy" here so far. No signs here of spots from the Americas for example.

I'll leave things running on 10m WSPR and 6m JT65 just in case. Sadly, I cannot listen with the 10m WSPR beacon, well not on the same rig. The FT817 and PC are tied up with 6m JT65 and WSJT-X V1.6. The stand-alone 10m WSPR beacon (500mW) randomises TX frequency, but is 100% TX. On 6m it is looking for others half the time.

More 6m Es

JT65 is showing there is Es on 6m this evening (see map). I am still amazed by the spot of UN7TW (5214km) this morning. It is such a long way!

JT65 on 6m today

Yahoo oddity

Recently I had great difficulty approving members of my VHF AM Yahoo Group. I was using Firefox, which I'd been using for years. Changing to Microsoft Edge and I had no problems at all and they were approved in seconds. I am using Windows 10. I wonder if anyone else has had similar issues? Odd.

Best DX on 6m JT65 for some years

UN7TW (5214km) in southern Kazakhstan (MN52 square) was spotted on 6m JT65 earlier today. This is a very long way for a VHF band!  A reminder that I am just using a V2000 vertical omni antenna, so nothing special. It bodes well for transatlantic 6m reception. I assume this was some form of Es.

Early morning 6m JT65

It is now 0926z. Already I have had several G spots of my 1W ERP 6m JT65 beacon and I have spotted several G stations here. I assume these are either tropo or aircraft reflection. Best DX on 6m RX here is G0VUH (157km). Best DX on 6m JT65 TX is G1IDZ (182km). As yet, no Es seen here on 6m.