Sunspots and 10m - Monday March 6th 2017

Solar flux is 72 today. Sunspot number is 11.  A=16 and K=3.

Trump - NOT amateur radio

Opinions vary widely over Donald Trump who was elected US president recently. He may do some good for the USA, but looking in from the outside he seems irrational and unstable. Time and the US people will be his judge.

The latest controversy seems to be about Obama wire tapping Trump Tower. In this age of "false news" it is hard to separate what is factually correct from what is made up. As far as I can tell, President Trump needs to back up his claim with evidence.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39172719 .

Nicholas Parsons - NOT amateur radio

Unless you are in the UK you probably have never heard of this name. He hosts a weekly programme on the radio (BBC Radio 4) called "Just a Minute". What I did not realise was his age: 93. Yes, ninety three!! He sounds like he is 40 years (or more) younger. I guess he enjoys the programme and the public enjoy him and he will go on until he drops.

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

OFCOM and interference to amateurs

Sorry, but I have a dislike of quangos that do not do a good, useful job.

OFCOM seem to have come in for recent criticism for not investigating interference suffered by radio amateurs properly. Unless there is money involved, I guess they have no interest.

Sadly, our government and its quangos seem only interested in money and profits. Nothing much else matters. I understand that money is short, but that is no excuse. In "the good old days" the GPO would have helped.

OFCOM - mice or men/women?? If you cannot do a decent job then it is time to "get on your bikes" and look for real jobs and replace OFCOM with something that works.

My son's jazz gig this Friday in Kent - NOT amateur radio

This Friday, March 10th, my son is performing in Broadstairs, Kent. He plays jazz piano professionally, mainly in London. He has been on the radio including the BBC.

See https://www.canterbury.ac.uk/arts-and-culture/event-details.aspx?instance=62201

Sunspots and 10m - Sunday March 5th 2017

Solar flux is 75 today although the sunspot number is zero. A=22 and K=3.

See http://www.solen.info/solar/ for the recent trends in solar activity. Although the solar activity is slowly declining, it is very slow and conditions are often better on the higher bands than people expect. On some days the higher bands are still very good.

6m DX

Just before breakfast I started to monitor 6m MSK144. IN4FFN (1030km) in northern Italy in JN56 square is the best DX so far. Random MS?

I continue to be impressed that such a rubbish system here copies so much on 6m. As I have said before, if I can copy 16 countries I am pretty sure anyone can on 6m - outside the Es season. Random MS and aircraft reflections are there to be exploited.

Just replacing my coax is probably worth 2dB for starters. A small Moxon wide beam aimed Europe is probably another 3dB, although I seem to copy quite a lot with my V2000 omni vertical already. Please give it a go as you are very unlikely to be disappointed. All software is free.

UPDATE 1342z:  4 stations in 3 countries (I, G, GM) so far on 6m MSK144 RX so far today. The decoded signals are very strong. I guess the bursts are good, if short.

UPDATE 1715z:  5 countries spotted today so far on 6m MSK144 (I, G, GM, GJ, GD).

472kHz WSPR RX

As I had zero spots on 10m JT65 today, I have now switched instead to 630m (472kHz) WSPR RX.  This was at 1825z this evening. Already I have spotted one German at 983km.

Unique 472kHz WSPR RX spots this evening so far

10m JT65

It is interesting that I have had no spots so far today on 10m JT65. Most days in the last week or so I have seen South Americans on 10m JT65.

There are several monitors shown as active in South America on 10m JT65, but nothing yet seen here today. Maybe conditions are too disturbed?

I'll stick with 10m JT65 until this evening nonetheless. Then I'll probably look on 630m (472kHz) WSPR RX.

Signs of spring - NOT amateur radio

After a long, damp, mild winter here in East Anglia, UK there are now signs of spring. There are fresh buds on the trees and bushes in the garden, daffodils are now out and today we saw our first lambs.

Won't be long now to lighter evenings and cutting the grass!