Sunspots and 10m - Saturday September 10th 2016

Solar flux is 91 today and the sunspot number 65. K=2. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation is (yes you guessed!) "poor".

Waters and Stanton taking orders for IC-R8600 receiver

See http://hamradiostore.co.uk/ic-r8600-wideband-base-station-receiver.html

I see that Waters and Stanton is taking £25 deposits to secure this new wideband RX covering 10kHz to 3GHz. It is based on the IC-7300 transceiver but can receive a number of digital modes. I'd like to show a picture, but copyright prevents this. It looks a very interesting RX.

It would be good to know the cash price.

There is at least one YouTube video of this RX.

From the W&S site:

"The IC-R8600 replaces the IC-R8500 wideband receiver and will feature the technology incorporated into Icom’s best selling IC-7300. The IC-R8600 will be able to receive a wide frequency range from 0.01-3000MHz frequency in analogue and various digital modes (D-STAR, P25, NXDN and dPMR). The IC-R8600 will feature a larger 4.3 inch touch screen display which will feature fast moving spectrum scope and waterfall display"

Amateur Radio Blog

See http://www.amateurradio.com/.

There is usually something of interest on this blog, so I take a look most days.

Dame Sarah Storey - NOT amateur radio

Dame Sarah Storey has become the most decorated UK paralympian in history. Excellent and the result of lots of very hard work and dedication. I was friendly with her dad at university and he must be very proud of his daughter's achievements. She looks like John, her dad!

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Storey .

Supermarkets and plastics - NOT amateur radio

Have you noticed how much packaging, especially plastic, is used in supermarkets these days? When I was a child we had none, really.

Why is it so hard for supermarkets to make clear which plastics can be recycled? Why are not all plastics used in supermarkets recycled? They all have a lot of power over their suppliers and should insist on this.

Basically, I hate plastic packages for so much, especially when it cannot be recycled.

More rallies this weekend

Sunday 11 SEPTEMBER : TORBAY ANNUAL COMMUNICATION FAIR
Newton Abbot Racecourse, Devon TQ12 3AF. The event is indoors and doors open at 10am with disabled visitors gaining access half an hour earlier. Admission in £2. There is plenty of car parking on site. There will be a Bring & Buy and an RSGB bookstall. There is catering on site. To book tables call Pete, G4VTO on 01803 864 528 or email rally@tars.org.uk.

Sunday 11 SEPTEMBER : ANDOVER RADIO AND COMPUTER BOOT SALE
Tangley Village Hall, Wildhern, Andover, Hants SP11 0JE Doors will be open from 9am to 4pm with disabled visitors gaining access from 8.30am. Admittance will be £2. Tables in the hall are £10 and pitches in the field £8. There will be a Bring & Buy, Car boot area, as well as trade stands. Catering will be available on site and there will be a raffle held on the day. More details from Paul Phillips, G4KZY, 0777 573 8200, paul.g4kzy@gmail.com.

A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

Spelling mistakes (as received) corrected. Can no-one spell these days?

10m JT65

A South American was eventually spotted last evening on 10m JT65: PU3AMB (10431km) in Brazil. Today, I am sticking with 10m JT65 all day, but things are quiet so far with no Es and no UK spots as yet and certainly no F2. As we get more into autumn we may see some F2 on 10m in the daytime from Africa and even the USA.

UPDATE 1110z: Still no spots here yet on 10m JT65.

UPDATE 1215z: EB5AYE (1418km) was spotted at 1158z from IM99 square. I assume this is 10m Es.

UPDATE 1245z: No more 10m Es seen.

UPDATE 1450z: No further spots on 10m JT65 here.

UPDATE 1456z: I just re-synced the PC to internet time to be sure, although this should happen automatically every 1000 seconds. It was also a check that the WSJT-X software and PC were OK as things were quiet. All was fine.

Last 24 hours on 10m JT65

UPDATE 1652z: OH3NE (1737km) recently spotted me on 10m JT65 by Es.

UPDATE 2132z: F5RRS (819km) has spotted my 10m JT65 in the last 20 minutes, but no South Americans.

Sunspots and 10m - Friday Sept 9th 2016

Solar flux is 91 today and the sunspot number 49. K=1. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".

Windmill sunset - NOT amateur radio

The sun setting in the west last night. Note the reflection in the museum window. We are very lucky to have a windmill literally "over the garden wall". Last night and early this morning were splendid. This is the view from our lounge window.

Jupiter VLF - NOT amateur radio

On YouTube, recordings of Jupiter's emissions at VLF and LF as recorded by the Juno probe and some stunning images.