The UK Pound - NOT amateur radio

At the moment, the UK pound seems to have stabilised since we voted to leave the EU. The value (about 10% lower) should work in favour of exporters, although less so if their raw materials are imported.

Imports become more expensive. Does this mean we will buy more UK food like UK bacon? Much of our food is imported. We could eat more UK grown food and this would help our balance of payments.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business/market_data/currency/default.stm .

Slowly declining solar activity

Sunspot numbers (smoothed) are now about a third of their value at the last peak. Slowly, but surely, the solar activity is falling away. It will be some years to the next minimum (2019/2020?) and the next peak is expected to be poor or even non-existent. We wait and see.

Certainly the lower bands will become more important, although there is still propagation on the higher bands despite people going down the bands. I advocate WSPR or JT modes when the higher HF bands are quieter.

In years gone by I was surprised how useful 10m was with 10W SSB inter-G. In RSGB 10m contests at night I could always work stations on the south coast and Yorkshire despite just using a dipole. WSPR or JT modes should be far better.

See http://www.solen.info/solar/ .

6m JT65 and 10m WSPR

Well, it is now 1045z and I am still unable to access the WSPRnet database, so I have no idea what is happening on 10m WSPR.  Meanwhile, 6m JT65 continues apace with lots of spots from the UK and lots of Es from across Europe. I like JT65 but am disappointed with WSPRnet as every few weeks it just falls over.

The times I have tried JT65 on 10m I have reached South America every evening. Although it is not quite as good theoretically as WSPR, the higher levels of activity seems to more than make up for this. To be honest, I get better results with JT65 than WSPR.

UPDATE 1302z:  WSPRnet is still unavailable. This is hopeless.

UPDATE 1954z: WSPRnet came back briefly, but when I last looked it was still down.

HF digital audio and video

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEO9qcg3eyk

Southgate News reports on HF DV with video. Impressive.

Sunspots and 10m - Sunday August 14th 2016

Solar flux is 89 today (not too bad) and sunspot number a respectable 73. K=1. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".

Although there is Es around early on 6m I have been unable to access the WSPRnet database to check on 10m WSPR. This database does seem prone to failure frequently. Like many who use it, I have offered some small financial help as it is run for free and needs some professional help I think. In contrast, PSKreporter has never failed in all the time I have used it. WSPRnet is so useful and I just wish the owner would get help. Without it WSPR is no good, in my view.

QRP and QRP Club

Another newsletter from Oleg:

Dear Club 72 members and friends,

QRP Rendez-Vous weekly report (August 8 to 14, 2016)
Visitors  of  the  week:  US5ERQ, HB9WG, UA1ASB, US3EN, DK3WX, DF9QV, UR5EFD, UA1CEG, OH6NPV, UR0ET, UA1ADF, SM2FIJ, UR7VT, HB9DAX, OK1FAO, IZ5GHG,  G4SSH,  Z35M/m,  F6ACV/p,  PD7CJT,  4O3RAB,  UY0IF,  RU3NJC, RA1M/mm, OE5HIL, DJ2MX/p, R2FAE, ON6KZ, F6FAI, R4NX, UA1CEX, UA4NU
op. Oleg R4NX became Honor Frequenter of the "rendezvous? round tables
See full Visitors and Frequenters lists on the Club 72 page -
www.club72.su
All weekly reports and Club 72 news on the blog page -
http://qrp-club72.blogspot.ru/
Thanks all for activity and comments!

72! Oleg RV3GM / KH6OB "Mr. 72"

Plymouth Argyle - NOT amateur radio

As football goes you could not wish a worse start. Plymouth Argyle were in serious promotion contention last season but this season they have lost their first 2 games and they are the lowest placed professional team in the entire football league. A lot can, and must, happen if they are not to be out of the league next season. What usually happens is they start by sacking the manager. I certainly hope they have a major turn-around. It is early days.

Plymouth Argyle used to be my nearest club. Although not a football fan, I always look to see how they are doing.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/teams/plymouth-argyle .

WSJT-X v1.7

There is a new version of WSJT-X available in pre-release. Quite a few stations are using it. It was announced on a Yahoo group a few days ago. I am still using V1.6, but may upgrade and give it a try. WSJT-X brings together WSPR with JT modes. V1.7 I believe is better still and adds some more modes I think.

10m WSPR - same old, same old?

There is a difference between 6m JT65 and 10m WSPR. On 10m WSPR I am often spotted by the same stations over and over again. On 6m JT65 there seems more activity and a greater variety of stations.

It is a pity there are not more users of WSPR on 10m. I guess people want it easy so go to lower bands when things get tougher? On 6m JT65, I expect activity will drop after the end of the Es season which is a pity.

WSPR and JT65 are good modes when conditions are marginal or variable as all stations are in a small part of the band and the station can run in the background. With JT65 you can have real 2-way QSOs too.

Rio Olympics - NOT amateur radio

It seems hard to believe that the London Olympics were 4 years ago. At the moment, the UK is 3rd in the medal tables, which is very good.

Preparing for the Olympics takes hours and hours of dedication and very hard work. To all Olympians from any country my thanks and best wishes. There is no place for cheats. For those who perform at their personal very best, my praise. Thank you.

We will blink and it will be time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.