Back on 10m JT65 shortly

The danger from storms seems to have gone for now, so I intend to return to 10m JT65 shortly, although I shall watch and go QRT if the danger returns.

Last night the storms were very near but they seem to have moved away to the North Sea, for now.

UPDATE 0905z: The PC, antenna and rig went back on the air at about 0900z on 10m JT65. There is Es about as Italy and Belarus have already been seen on 10m JT65. This is early, so a good sign.

UPDATE 0912z:  DO2MPS (912km) has spotted me in southern Germany, in JN58 square, already.

UPDATE 1020z:  No further Es spots on PSKreporter map as yet apart from this German. We are definitely at the back end of the Es season. There are still openings. but not on the scale of the peak months.

UPDATE 1306z: Not a single Es spot seen on PSKreporter on 10m JT65 since that German when I first switched on. My PC had gone to sleep! I am unsure if I was uploading spots or indeed if I was actually on JT65 at all! I have now "woken it up" and checked internet time is spot on. Let's see if I get any Es spots now on 10m JT65.

UPDATE 1344z: Well certainly no spots since I checked sync and that the PC was awake, so I guess the 10m Es is "marginal" today.

Sunspots and 10m - Thursday August 25th 2016

Solar flux is 78 today (quite low). Sunspot number is 43. K=1. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation is again "poor".

Thunder, so QRT

With thunder clearly audible and now rain, I have decided to go QRT and disconnect all antennas, rigs and PC including unplugging the power plugs. I shall stay off the air until all danger has passed. I do not like storms! Thankfully we do not get many.

UPDATE 2152z:  Storm has passed through, but remaining off-air overnight. The rain will do the garden some good!

No South America again on 10m JT65

There was quite reasonable Es on 10m JT65 with my QRP signal being spotted widely in central and eastern Europe. Sadly, no South American spots again today. If this path on 10m at this time of year depends on Es and F layer I guess the Es was too far east?

FTSE 250 - NOT amateur radio

Many think the FTSE 250 share index is a good guide to the health of the UK economy. Well, it is up again to 18,016.59, which is a gain of 0.19% today thus far. I am not a gambler, but it has certainly not collapsed since the BREXIT vote to leave the EU in June.

Our future is not certain, but I have the feeling the UK will be OK. As for the EU I am less sure. By the way, I voted "remain"! No, in the medium term I think the outlook for the EU is far from certain. It would not surprise me if it all fell apart within 5 years.

10m JT65

As mentioned yesterday, not everyone uploads spots to PSKreporter. Last night, quite late, there was a TF (Iceland) calling CQ, but station he was not shown on the PSKreporter map. I could only see this by looking at my PC screen.

UPDATE 1015z: Belarus and Italy spotted on 10m JT65 this morning, but neither station appear on PSKreporter. Maybe I lost internet connection at these times and they did not get uploaded? There is clearly some early Es around on 10m JT65.

UPDATE 1232z: Several Es spots of my QRP JT65 now turning up on PSKreporter. We are late in the Es season, but there are still openings on 10m.

Thunderstorms?

Although we are having a spell of warm, dry, days (31deg C yesterday) and the grass is starting to turn brown in places, we have thunderstorms forecast for tomorrow.  A radio silence with rigs, antennas and PC disconnected will be needed. I do not like storms nearby. Once the danger has passed, I shall be active again.

See http://www.lightningmaps.org/?lang=en .

Sunspots and 10m - Thursday August 24th 2016

Solar flux is 87 today. Sunspot number is a respectable 47. K=3. The  forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".  At the moment, I have seen no sign of 10m Es.

No South America today on 10m JT65

Although there was some Es today on 10m (not much) I was not spotted in South America today. My theory is/was that I needed Es for the first hop or two, then F layer deep into South America.  I wonder what 10m conditions will be like tomorrow? It is now late in the summer so Es will get far less frequent but as we approach the equinox F layer propagation should improve. At the same time solar conditions are now declining.

Solar forecasts

It is some time since I looked in detail at the expert predictions for the rest of this solar cycle and cycle 25. The last time I looked the outlook was grim with a very small peak expected for cycle 25. I shall probably be around for the next maximum, although I doubt I shall see 10m really "humming" again in my lifetime. Of course, experts are often wrong!

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

I am no expert on climate change, man-made or natural. But, if the sunspot count is low, I think this is likely to mitigate any increase in global temperatures. It maybe the break the world needs.