Es

Both on 6m JT65 and 10m WSPR I am being spotted in Spain by Es early. This bodes well for the rest of the day.

Sunspots and 10m - Monday July 18th 2016

Solar flux is 112 today and the sunspot number 51 (K=1). The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".

Local Museum Summer Fete - NOT amateur radio

Today, in the sunshine and warmth, our local museum and windmill is holding its summer fete with free entry for all. It is good the sun is shining. The windmill and museum are well worth a visit at any time. There is always so much to see and do.

See http://www.burwellmuseum.org.uk/ .

JT65 on 6m and 10m WSPR - Early Sunday

So far, no Es seen here yet on 6m JT65 but 5 UK stations (best DX report 219km with 1W ERP) have spotted me, most in the last few minutes. This is either tropo or aircraft reflection. It is early (0910z). Meanwhile 10m WSPR is very quiet with not a single spot so far. I did a full re-sync to internet time before breakfast. The PC clock is automatically readjusted every 1000 seconds, so as long as the PC works JT65 timing should be very good. The stand-alone W5OLF WSPR beacon on 10m is re-synced every day, although this is probably not necessary.y

UPDATE 1230z:  Still 6 UK spots on 6m JT65 and no Es here on 6m. I see that 4X1RF has spotted at least one G today, sadly not me. Maybe my 1W ERP (vertical) is not enough?  Just LZ1UBO (2039km) has spotted me on 10m WSPR earlier.

UPDATE 1728z:  Now been spotted by 8 different UK stations on 6m JT65 toda. Have copied Cornwall, France and Belgium on 6m JT65 RX today, but this must have been either tropo or aircraft reflection. No 6m Es today and very little on 10m WSPR - just LZ1UBO this morning.

UPDATE 1814z:  6m Es at last today!

ON4KST chat

See http://www.on4kst.com/chat/start.php . This is probably the most well used chat facility for radio amateurs on the internet. It is set up with various "rooms". People tend to use it to arrange skeds from VLF to microwaves.

Sunspots and 10m - Sunday July 17th 2016

Solar flux is 106 (respectable) and the sunspot number 47 (K=2). Yet again, the 10m F2 propagation forecast remains "poor".

QRP and QRP Club

More from Oleg:

Dear Club 72 members and friends,
72 QRP Net (Rendez-Vous) weekly report (July 11 to July 17, 2016)
Visitors  of  the  week:  UA1CEG,  TF/RA1M,  OE7EHH,  UA1ADF, DL0DAB, SV5/M0VRW/p,  OH6NPV,  R2AJA,  RV3DSA,  G3XJS,  EA8YV, G3XVL, US5ERQ, RU3JC, UR7VT, US3EN,  UR0ET, RN4NAA, UA1CEX, RA7R
See full Visitors and Frequenters lists - www.club72.su
Welcome  all  QRP  stations  on  the  next week "rendezvous" at 9 UTC
Tuesdays, Thursday, Saturday on 14060 (alt 10116) +/- QRM, QRL
72! Oleg RV3GM / KH6OB "Mr. 72"

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.