10m WSPR

Odd, but no 10m WSPR Es spots here since breakfast, whereas 6m JT65 has produced quite a lot, mainly this morning. I assume there was Es on 10m and this shows a lack of activity on 10m WSPR?

Shortage of RF Engineers? - NOT amateur radio

Southgate News has a link on this subject. When I was in the RF business most RF engineers were getting older and close to retirement. There were few RF engineers coming through leading to a crisis in the near future. A shortage of RF engineers is a real issue in any nation. In my youth, RF was magic: these days it is not seen this way.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2016/july/looming-rf-engineering-age-crisis.htm .

UPDATE 1512z:  In a recent look in our local shop I counted 15 train magazines, but not a single radio magazine. No, RF (radio frequency) is not the magic it once was. When there are as many radio magazines as train magazines RF will again be seen as interesting! It goes without saying that gaming and PC mags are everywhere.

WSJT-X versus JT65-HF software

On 6m JT65, I have reverted to WSJT-X v1.6 from JT65-HF. For some reason, I seem to RX more stations with WSJT-X. A few days ago I had some locals reporting a "ghost" TX signal some 700Hz HF but I have not heard again, despite asking, so I am carrying on with using WSJT-X V1.6. For those not familiar with WSJT-X V1.6 it combines JT65, JT9-1 and WSPR into one package.

For those not familiar with it, JT65 allows basic QSOs and is not that much worse than WSPR. Activity on 6m is far higher than WSPR.  Software is free.

6m JT65 and 10m WSPR

Plenty of early Es about and lots of 6m spots already.  Today could be a good day, but still to catch a transatlantic Es opening here on 6m JT65. Most 10m WSPR spots have been local.

UPDATE 1055z:   Best DX on 6m JT65 TX was a spot by SV1NZX (2421km) in the early hours of the night. On 6m RX I have spotted Ukraine on JT65.

UPDATE 1842z:  Still to see any transatlantic Es DX on 6m JT65. I keep looking, but no luck as yet on TX or RX. I am sure the chances are better than on 6m WSPR. I shall be on overnight again, ever hopeful.

Sunspots and 10m - Sat July 16th 2016

Solar flux is 101 today and the sunspot count a respectable 73 (K=2). The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor". Yet again, Es comes to the rescue on 10m and 6m.

Kazakhstan (again) on 6m JT65

UN7TW (5214km) was spotted on 6m JT65 this afternoon. This is a very long way on VHF. Although the considered view is this is multi-hop Es, I think some sort of chordal-Es is more probable.

UPDATE 1702z:  Still UN7TW as the best 6m DX.

6m JT65 spots

Rally in the Reading area

Sunday 17 JULY : McMICHAEL RADIO RALLY
Reading Rugby Football Club, Holme Park Farm Lane, Sonning Lane (B4446), Sonning on Thames, Reading RG4 6ST. The venue has free car parking and a talk-in station will be on air. Doors open at 9.30am and admission is £2. There will be trade stands, a car boot area and special interest groups. Catering and a licensed bar are available on site. A raffle will take place on the day. Details from Min Standen, 0771 577 1665. www.mcmichaelrally.org.uk.

A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

I get sent these notifications and reproduce them in good faith.  It is worth contacting the organisers before travelling any distance to check the data is correct.

Nice, France - NOT amateur radio

My heart goes out to the people of France who suffered another nasty terrorist attack last night. This was an act of pure evil. There is no way that those who carry out such acts will be rewarded in an after-life.

The people who are encouraged to carry out such attacks on innocent men,women and children may have genuine grievances, but acts of evil are evil. Losing ones life to carry out acts of evil cannot be rewarded.

2m UKAC Results

See http://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/vhfresults.pl?Contest=144MHz%20UKAC&year=2016 .

It was gratifying to see I am more than half way up the AL section at 73rd out of 162, despite just using 5W, a small omni-antenna and only being active for about 40% of the time because of my poor voice. There are multipliers I know I could have worked, but did not. As you can tell, I only enter a few contests a year and go on the air because of the activity, not to seriously enter contests. I am definitely a "fair weather" contester. I am the same with my bird watching!

Re-sync

6m JT65 spots in last 12hrs (1W ERP)

At about 0655z I re-synced my PC to internet time. I also rebooted and re-synced my 10m WSPR beacon. So, I should be perfectly set up both on 10m WSPR and 6m JT65 for the rest of the day. It could be a while before my 10m WSPR beacon settles: this can take up to 20 minutes.

UPDATE 1000z:  So far this morning all the 6m JT65 spots have been from G stations with the best DX 219km. No Es seen here as yet on 6m. At this distance this is either tropo or aircraft reflection. On 10m just one Es spot so far at 0938z by EA1FAQ (1249km) in northern Spain.

UPDATE 1208z:  Plenty of Es about now on 6m and 10m.