10m JT65

For the day I have returned to 10m JT65 (2W), but no spots as yet. I have been active for about 30 minutes.

UPDATE 1052z: A spot from DG0OPK (730km) of my signal. Winter Es I think.

Is that it? - NOT amateur radio

We had some snow this morning here, but it has stopped now. Barely a covering on the ground! In some ways I am pleased, but it was nice to see a snow covering for a week or so. Not these days.

If people tell you the climate is not warming on average they must be blind or stupid. The evidence is that this is largely due to us. A Maunder Minimum may help in the short-term, but only a bit. The trend is a warming world. That this is just due to natural fluctuations is a myth and the sooner we wake up the better.

UPDATE 1246z: It has all gone and the sun is shining in a cold, blue sky.

472kHz overnight

My theory is surely correct: the MF noise floor is rising and my 5mW ERP signal is becoming much harder to see unless the RX station has a low noise level, either as a result of  optimising antenna and antenna position or good luck. G8LCO (58km) who always gives me a good report uses a well positioned E-field probe antenna. Overnight best DX on TX was LA3EQ (769km) but his report was -30dB, so "only just".

I am seriously thinking of abandoning 472kHz TX until I can get the ERP well up by getting a better antenna up in the air. I shall try 472kHz RX without the SMPSU. Turning this off gives me a 7 S-point improvement on RX!! Without the SMPSU charging it, my PC battery should manage a night. Certainly several hours.

472kHz WSPR

I decided to return to 472kHz (630m) WSPR at 1756z. The transverter is still settling, so it may be a few minutes before I start getting spots.

UPDATE 1804z: G0VQH (15km) spotted me, even though I am still drifting.

Snapes Point (Near Salcombe) - NOT amateur radio

Our latest National Trust (2017) Handbook has just arrived. We were amazed to see Snapes Point near Salcombe is not shown on the map of Devon and not listed. It is about a 2km walk with some of the best views in Devon! Every time we go back to Devon we do this walk.

See https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/east-soar/features/snapes-point .

Chinese satellite

There is probably an English version of this page. Perhaps someone will point me to it?  There is a fairly new Chinese amateur satellite BY70-1. It has been in orbit for a few weeks.

See http://lilacsat.hit.edu.cn/ .

Snow? - NOT amateur radio

Usually when the Met Office predicts snow here we get rain. We may get snow here tonight or tomorrow, but I'll believe it when I see it!

Last winter we had just one day of snow and our "London" grandchildren made a tiny snowman. I think this was the first time they had seen snow on the ground. Years ago we had several days of snow each winter, but things have changed. The climate is, on average, getting milder and wetter here. Mind you, we have had more frosts this winter than last season, so who knows?

New Zealand blog - NOT amateur radio

My wife was cleaning a shelf and came across a photo album of our 2009 trip to New Zealand. In those days I was fit! Now, I seem to be tired a lot of the time.

It is amazing what you forget. Luckily, I did a blog and we can look back and recall the visit.  It is a magical place, although I doubt we'll ever get back there.

If you get a chance, do go. At every turn it is beautiful and the people are warm and welcoming. It is NOT like the UK. Yes, the people speak English and lots of the birds in towns are English ones, but the wild places are different with wild tree ferns and many trees quite different. 4 million people instead of more than 60 million helps!

See http://roglap.blogspot.co.uk/

10m JT65

For about 25 minutes now I have been on 10m JT65 rather than 40m WSPR. So far, no spots.

UPDATE 1802z: Although I have now gone QRT on 10m, I see I spotted EU7FBB (1931km) in Belerus this afternoon several times.

40m WSPR overnight

As mentioned in an earlier blog post, I was on 40m WSPR all last evening and overnight. Nothing outside Europe spotted or spotting me.