Openreach - NOT amateur radio

If you live in the UK and get broadband you probably get your service via BT's Openreach which provides the fibre and wire backbone. We get our broadband via Virgin Media with speeds up to 100M. We rarely get downtime and, overall,  they provide a good service. In rural areas where no cable is available, broadband speeds can be very poor.

Today, BT agreed to make Openreach a separate legal entity, so the hope is the broadband services will improve for many. Openreach is still part of BT but legally separate. I'm not quite sure how this works.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39228115 .

Sunspots and 10m - Friday March 10th 2017

Solar flux is 71 today and the sunspot number remains zero. A=15 and K=4. 10m today? Anyone's guess. On the face of it not promising but 10m, like 6m, has a habit of throwing surprises!

Rallies this weekend

MARCH 12th 2017 : DOVER RADIO CLUB RALLY

Whitfield Village Hall, Sandwich Road, Manley Close, Whitfield, Nr Dover CT163LY Talk in on GB3KS, doors open from 10am to 2pm, entry £2. Auction starts at 12.30pm. Aaron Coote, 2E0FQR, 0771 465 4267 or aaroncoote@hotmail.co.uk.


MARCH 12th 2017 GRANTHAM RADIO AND ELECTRONICS RALLY NOTE

Grantham West Community Centre, Trent Road, Grantham, Lincs NG31 7XQ There is car parking and disabled facilities at the venue. Doors open 9am and entry is £3. There will be trade stands, special interest groups, an RSGB bookstall. Catering is available on site. Kevin Burton, G6SSN, 07793 142 483, g6ssn@btinternet.com.

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

Spring? - NOT amateur radio

It is really hard to think we are already a third of the way through March already. Time flies!

Yesterday I cut our lawns for the first time this year. It really felt like spring had come: it was mild, sunny and pleasant outside. We have had a long, damp, mild winter and I am now looking forward to lighter evenings again.

Every season has something good, but I like the spring best of all as it is filled with hope.

This morning on the air (6m MSK144 RX, 10m WSPR TX)

At the moment I am monitoring 6m MSK144 RX on 50.280MHz and on 10m WSPR TX (100%, randomised frequencies, 500mW). As yet, no spots on either band.

UPDATE 1225z: Still nothing on either band.

UPDATE 1420z: GM4UYE (507km) spotted on 6m MSK144. Aircraft?

UPDATE 1506z: Now 3 countries spotted on 6m MSK144 (F, GW and GM).

UPDATE 1812z: No further 6m spots and nothing all day on 10m here.

University of Liverpool - NOT amateur radio

"As a graduate from the department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology you are invited to share your career insights with students at an informal careers event on Tuesday 21 March 2017, from 5pm to 7pm at the Liverpool Campus....."

From LinkedIn.

No, I actually did Honours Electronics! If I talked they might be a bit confused.

OFCOM - more space for wi-fi at 5GHz

OFCOM has announced more 5GHz spectrum for Wi-Fi.

See http://ofcom.cmail20.com/t/ViewEmail/i/DA9A0AB341F05077/59D1BD3EA2F08127C67FD2F38AC4859Chttp://ofcom.cmail20.com/t/ViewEmail/i/DA9A0AB341F05077/59D1BD3EA2F08127C67FD2F38AC4859C

Sunspots and 10m - Thursday March 9th 2017

Solar flux is 70 today and the sunspot number remains zero. A=12 and K=2.

20m JT65

I remained on 20m JT65 and am still on that band/mode presently, although I intend to QSY soon. So far just lots of European spots of my 2W. My antenna is poor (and very low) for 20m.

UPDATE 1005z: Still just European spots on 20m JT65.

Slowly declining solar conditions

We are now on the slow slide down to the next solar minimum. Those with memories of the last minimum will remember the long spotless periods. The next could be even worse.

Luckily the slope is quite gradual and often there are days where solar activity is higher.  On better days, the higher bands support N-S DX.

As I have said before, I have worked QRP SSB real DX on 10m in periods with no sunspots. WSPR and JT65 should be even better.

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