Sunspots and 10m - Wednesday February 15th 2017

Solar flux is 74 today and the sunspot number 15. A=2 and K=1.

Recording 6m MSK144 pings

David G0LRD  has told me that WSJT-X V1.7 allows me to record MSK144 6m spots as WAV files so I can go back and examine them later. I have turned on this feature now, allowing me to check these tomorrow, assuming I get some spots!  Today I spotted 5 different countries on 6m with MSK144.

UK Commercial Radio - NOT amateur radio

Southgate News reports that UK Commercial Radio stations are freed from the shackles of OFCOM. Am I surprised? No.

See https://www.gov.uk/government/news/radio-released-from-shackles

Rugby on TV - NOT amateur radio

I am not a great rugby fan, but my son is. His son plays for his school and he likes to watch. The picture shows him this weekend watching rugby on the bedroom TV, complete with beer and crisps. When his family comes to stay, he certainly makes himself at home.

Sunspots and 10m - Tuesday February 14th 2017

Solar flux is 75 today and the sunspot number 16. A=4 and K=0.

70cm UKAC contest tonight

A reminder that the second 70cm leg of the monthly UKAC activity contest organised by the RSGB is tonight from 2000-2230z. Although I only have a 2m halo fed with lossy coax as an antenna on 70cm (it matches well) I try to go on briefly and work a few stations, mostly locals.

See http://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/contest_rules.pl?year=2017&contest=70cmsukac&seq=

This is preceded by an FM activity contest.
See http://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/contest_rules.pl?year=2017&contest=70cmsfmac

UPDATE 2045z: 5 contacts made with 5W, 2m halo in 30 minutes. Best DX G4CLA (105km).

6m MSK144 this morning

SK0TM (1156km) in JO86 square was the best DX on 6m MSK144 this morning. I was spotted by M1BXF/SDR (14km) when I was briefly on 6m MSK144 TX a few hours ago.

I am also on 10m WSPR TX (500mW 100% TX), but no spots yet.

UPDATE 1135z: DK8NE (704km) in JO50 square was spotted on 6m MSK144.

UPDATE 1922z: EI7BMB (462km) spotted on 6m MSK144 earlier. All quiet on 10m WSPR.

10th country on 6m MSK144 RX

ON4BCV (325km) marks the 10th country spotted so far on this band/mode. I suspect this was aircraft reflection rather than random MS. This mode amazes me as it allows DX to be copied at any time on a dead VHF band with a very simple set-up.

East Cambs 2m FM Net

This is on 144.575MHz FM (yes 144) at 2000z Mondays, vertical, and is open to anyone. Regulars are G4NUA (Cambridge) and G3KKD (Quy). The chat covers anything and we usually finish about 2030z. This started life as an AM net.

If there is QRM we usually QSY downwards in 25kHz steps to find a clear channel. When there is a lift we can sometimes hear stations in the Midlands.

Jigsaw - NOT amateur radio

This 1000 piece  jigsaw (of a world map) took us over a week to do. The most difficult parts were the flags and the oceans. There is no doubt that our geography knowledge improved.