6m JT65 today

Although there is some Es about my best report today on 6m is EI7IX (678km) in the west of Eire. This is probably Es but it could be aircraft reflection.

Sunspots and 10m - Mon August 15th 2016

Solar flux is 87 today. Sunspot number is 61 (K=2) and the forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".

As yet I have received no 6m JT65 Es spots but plenty from other G stations. I have spotted one IT9 by Es on 6m JT65. On 10m I see there is Es about but WSPRnet is very flaky yet again taking ages to load. Clearly this database needs help. I shall soon be moving to JT65 permanently on 10m in preference to WSPR.

Railways in Burwell - NOT amateur radio

Our local village museum has an exhibition about railways in and around Burwell. Passenger traffic ended in the early 1960s but freight traffic limped on for a few more years. They also had a video of the branch line to Mildenhall from Cambridge. If local, worth a visit.

6m JT65 and 10m JT65

Although I have spotted Asian stations at great range on 6m JT65 this summer,  I have failed to spot, or be spotted, by any North Americans on 6m. I shall stay on 6m JT65 for now, but may well move to 10m JT65 more. The trouble is I just know that there will be a huge 6m opening to the USA the moment I QSY! Sod's Law. Still I have been active on 6m JT65 most of the Es season, so it will soon be time to move.

I shall soon return to 630m (472kHz) WSPR.  Maybe I should try JT65 on MF?

6m  JT65 spots today

UPDATE 2015z: Today 6m has been more like 40m with plenty of Es right across Europe.

ISWL

For many years back in the 1960s I was an ISWL member. Years later I rejoined for a few years but left way before my stroke. I was saddened that no-one contacted me to persuade me to stay.  Although a friendly bunch, it was no longer for me.

At one time the ISWL had members from all over the world but when I left it was a shadow of its old self with not many members. I contributed to their magazine Monitor most months, but it had passed its "sell-by date". I am not sure how many members it now has but I'd be surprised if the number was much over 150.

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

This is a warning to us all. As radio amateurs (on average) get older we can expect several magazines to go. 20 years from now we might lose pages (or worse) in SPRAT, QST, and RadCom amongst others. Some well known advertisers/dealers may go out of business, there will be less revenue from adverts and a dwindling market for new products. I have said this before, but I fear for the future of our hobby unless we can attract and keep a younger generation.

Old Shack

Old shack in 2009

Facebook throws up memories and today was no exception with a photo of my shack in the old house 7 years ago. In those days I had to share a bedroom, but nowadays I have a dedicated shack. I appreciate this.

Several rigs and the PC have changed.

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.