Sunspots and 10m - Thursday July 21st 2016

Solar flux is 112 today. Sunspot number is 56 today (K=1) but 10m F2 propagation is expected to remain "poor" today.

6m JT65 today

Before having to turn everything off because of the storm, I copied quite a few European Es stations and G stations by tropo or aircraft reflection on 6m JT65. I hope my new audio lead arrives tomorrow so I can resume TX on 6m JT65. Results on 6m JT65 are so much better than WSPR. I am sure this is just down to higher activity on JT65.

Storms force QRT

Well, having cut my lawn, it decided to rain, with hail and thunder. The worse seems to have moved east but it forced me to turn off all rigs, the PC and disconnect all antennas.

www.lightningmaps.org

UPDATE 1900z: Since the storm passed,humidity levels have really dropped and it is a lovely, sunny, pleasant evening now. I shall go back on the air tomorrow.

Cordless lawnmower - NOT amateur radio

After some delay, I have invested in a cordless lawnmower, powered by LiIon batteries. I have charged the battery pack and will try it later. If I can only cut one lawn between charges it will not matter. I know of a few people who use cordless lawnmowers and they seem very happy.

UPDATE 1645z: Well I tried it out on two lawns. At the moment it took less than 15 minutes for each lawn. Although I recharged after doing the front lawn there seemed plenty of energy left in the battery. Next time I think I'll do both on a single charge.

Early Es

Both 6m and 10m have shown early Es propagation this morning. It bodes well for the rest of the day, although so far I have only seen, and been seen in southern Europe.

Sunspots and 10m - Wed July 20th 2016

Solar flux is 105 today. Sunspot count is 58 (K=5) and the 10m F2 propagation forecast remains "poor".

JT65 lead

I heard this evening that W&S has dispatched my SignaLink to FT817 lead. I hope this fixes the TX issue. In the meantime I am still on 10m WSPR TX and 6m JT65 RX.

6m JT65 today (RX only)

Hot day - NOT amateur radio

We have had the hottest day of the year so far with a temperature of 32 deg C, so we spent some of the afternoon in the garden. We had tea outside. There was a gentle breeze.

Here are a few images in our garden. The first is our Crocosomia "Lucifer" and the second a cobweb on our birdbath. The birdbath was being well used by the wasps today. There was a sparrowhawk chasing the young swifts high above us. The last but one picture is of a goldfinch on our neighbour's TV antenna.  The frog (?) appeared when we started watering.

JT65 issue

I "think" I may have a faulty cable from my SignaLink unit to my FT817. I shall get a new one to see if this makes it better. The PC sees the SignaLink unit, I have TX enabled, and the FT817 works fine on USB so the FT817 PA is OK. In days gone by I'd have tried to fix the lead, but not these days as I am still unable to manage fine motor skills as a result of my stroke. I do not think this is a Windows 10 issue as I can hear the TX if I select the PC's own speakers.

Luckily I am still able to be on 10m WSPR with the stand alone beacon.

Knowing my luck 6m will be wide open across the Atlantic these next few days!

UPDATE 0948z: New lead ordered from W and S. Should be here later this week.

Sunspots and 10m - Tues July 19th 2016

Solar flux is 107 today and sunspot number 68 (K=1). The forecast for 10m F2 propagation continues to be "poor".

I need to sort out my JT65 issue next! I shall be on 10m WSPR in a few minutes. This is "stand alone", so will work once synced to internet time.