10m Es

There has been some early Es on 10m JT65 this morning with spots of my QRP JT65 signal from Spain and Italy. It will be interesting to see how this develops and if I get copied in South America later. My theory is that my South American spots involve Es for the first hop(s) with F layer over the equator.

UPDATE 1125z: The 10m Es seems to be moving towards eastern Europe and Scandinavia now with my signal being spotted in Hungary and Finland and I have copied Ukraine.

UPDATE 1306z: It pays to check the PC as not everyone uploads to PSKreporter maps. Yesterday I copied EA6 and today I was spotted in Norway but neither showed up on PSKreporter.

Not after a sympathy vote - NOT amateur radio

Outwardly I look fine. Just about everyone who sees me says, "you do look well". Looks can be deceptive as I find speaking hard work, drinking difficult and I have felt giddy and sick for over 2.5 years. Outwardly I look fully recovered. On the inside I feel unwell. I remember how I was, which makes it worse. No, sadly I can do little of what I could before my stroke.

If you see someone who looks well, think how they might really be. Often disabilities can be deceptive: some you can see whereas others you cannot. Mine is the latter kind.

I am not after sympathy: it is a fact of life that I have to deal with. All I am asking is think and do not judge others prematurely.

Sunspots and 10m -Tuesday August 23rd 2016

Solar flux is 81 today and sunspot number 33. K=2. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor". We are all hoping for slightly better 10m conditions in the autumn, but don't hold your breath.

2m RSGB Contest - Sept 3/4th 2016

Not quite sure why, but I always seem to miss VHF contests apart from the UKAC sessions on Tuesdays!  I usually find out too late.

All being well I shall be on for some of this one, the weekend after this. At one time VHF NFD was the first week in September, but the RSGB did a change some years ago. This is just 2m now. It should be a good chance to work a few new squares.

Home? - NOT amateur radio

Soar Mill Cove, Devon

This is near where I come from in South Devon, UK. For several years my dad was running a job creation scheme maintaining the coastal path near here. He has 2 seats in his memory. This was probably his favorite spot on Earth.  It is a wonderful spot. I managed to see it again earlier this year.

There is a fabulous coastal walk from Hope Cove to Salcombe running through here. Cornwall is visible in the far distance beyond Rame Head.

QRP and QRP Club

More from Oleg:

Dear Club 72 members and friends,

Weekly QRP Rendez-Vous report (August 15 to 21, 2016)
Visitors  of  the week: OH6NPV, US3EN, UR0ET, Z35M/p, UA1CEG, HB9DAX, ON6KZ,  G3XJS,  RV3GM,  TF/RA1M,  RU3NJC, LA8BCA/p, OK/DL2DXA, DF6ZX, EW1CY,  EA7EGU, UA9MLY, RV3UF, IT9IFI, R2FAE, G0IIR, GW0EVV/p, EA8YV, DK3WX, R8WC, UR5EFD, OK1KW, SP9XCJ, DM2BRF/p, EA5AHN/p, I5OWT, IZ5IOU, DL5ZP, US5ERQ, UA1CEX, R4NX, UA1ADF, F8BJK/p, YO9CB/p
Full lists of all Visitors and Frequenters at the Club 72 page.

DL2DXA,  RV3UF,  EA8YV became Honor Frequenters of "rendezvous" round
tables - Congrats!

Enjoy Weekly QRP Rendez-Vous report including comments and pictures -
http://qrp-club72.blogspot.ru/

72! Oleg RV3GM / KH6OB "Mr. 72"

5MHz allocations

Several administrations have now granted access to the WRC15 15kHz wide amateur allocation at 5MHz. Eventually this will be a worldwide allocation.

In CEPT countries, I really wish they would allocate a contiguous 100kHz wide band. 15kHz is very narrow and I for one am confused by the multiple narrow "channels". A 100kHz wide band would be so much better.

End of the Es Season

We are now seeing days with little or no Es (sporadic E) propagation on 10m and 6m. The "season" is all but over. As years go, this has not been great, but most days have seen openings to somewhere in Europe.

It never actually ends, but the number of openings declines dramatically and it is easy to miss the times when they do occur. This is where WSPR and JT modes would prove so useful as long as people stay on the bands and don't go to lower bands for more easy pickings. There is a small peak around New Year (I don't know why) but we'll have to wait until May 2017 for Es to really get going again. With 10m F2 in decline these Es openings will be the lifeblood of bands like 10m.

As I have said before, don't dismiss 10m for local contacts. A small vertical, a few watts, FM and you will reliably work 30km. On SSB,CW, or even better modes like JT65 or JT9-1 and you will work 100km or a lot more. In the quiet years 10m behaves more like a VHF band, but there are wide open spaces, so almost any mode is possible.

UPDATE 0815z: It is still very early for Es, but nothing seen here yet today on 10m JT65.

UPDATE 1246z: Just one Es spot of me today, so far, from IZ0AIS (1506km). We are definitely seeing less Es than in the last few months.

UPDATE 1617z: With just a single Es spot all day today, so far on 10m, I think it unlikely I shall be spotted outside Europe on 10m JT65 today. I wonder what 10m will be like this autumn? Will there be much F2 propagation? It is a battle between declining solar conditions and improving HF conditions as we leave summer. I am pretty sure there will be far fewer USA openings on 10m this year than in the last few years. There will be the odd opening, but we cannot expect things to be "humming" exactly.

Sunspots and 10m - Monday August 22nd 2016

Solar flux is 76 today. Sunspot number is 11 (still falling). K= 1. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".

Butterfly - NOT amateur radio

A picture of a brimstone (?) butterfly on the sweet peas. Taken a few weeks ago at Anglesey Abbey, a National Trust house a few miles to the east of Cambridge, UK.