At Anglesey Abbey - NOT amateur radio

As we are having some new windows fitted, I took my brother for a walk at Anglesey Abbey this morning. Although cloudy, it was quite mild. Many of the daffodils there are dying now.

More nations get the WRC 5MHz band

The Netherlands is joining the growing list of nations gaining access to the 15kHz wide international WRC15 amateur allocation at 5MHz (60m) although, you will have read, the UK will not be joining the list anytime soon. We have non-contiguous bands at 5MHz that allow access to more spectrum with higher power. Personally, I'd prefer a contiguous allocation and the power limits do not bother me.

Solar storm

It looks like we are in a solar storm. Although this will pass, HF conditions will have been affected. Luckily modes like MSK144 on 6m are little impacted. I guess the chances of lower latitude auroras improves, but I am no expert.

See http://spaceweather.com/

Sunspots and 10m

Solar flux is 85 today and the sunspot number 51. A=28 and K=4.

Probing again? - NOT amateur radio

Yet again, 3 of my blogs have seen exceptional activity for a third day and yet again this coincides with much increased views from Russia. I have no problem with people from any country who genuinely are interested, but this looks like bots probing. Highly suspicious.

6m MSK144 RX overnight

The 6m MSK144 RX was left running overnight, but nothing until breakfast-time when F6ECI (811km) was spotted in JN05 square very strongly (+10dB S/N). The bursts may be short, but they are usually strong when they occur.

UPDATE 1132z: Currently 7 stations in 4 countries spotted today.

6m MSK144 RX

Although I have not been on long, EA2ARD (1010km) has already been copied.

Gardening - NOT amateur radio

The weather these last few days has been glorious, so it has been a chance to do some gardening. My brother John has been up for a few days and busy doing "odd jobs" which I used to be able to do, but struggle with these days. Here he is putting some new top soil in the garden.

Waters and Stanton move

The shop of Waters and Stanton is moving to Portsmouth on April 1st.

Sunspots and 10m - Tuesday March 28th 2017

Solar flux is 85 today. Sunspot number is 49. A=54 and K=3. 10m conditions are expected to remain "poor" but solar flux and sunspot numbers are quite decent.