OFCOM and mobile repeaters

OFCOM is consulting on mobile repeaters.

See http://ofcom.cmail19.com/t/ViewEmail/i/26E022FC8AA20F74/59D1BD3EA2F08127C67FD2F38AC4859C

Tawny mining bee - NOT amateur radio

For several days now, I have seen little mounds of soil with a hole in the middle in my grass. For a while I thought this was ants then I saw a bee. Further research has pointed me to Tawny Mining Bees. These are solitary bees that don't live together. They are small bees with ginger hairs.

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

10m JT65

Although no spots seen as yet, I have been on 10m JT65 today. We are nearing the start of the Es season which should see 10m and 6m open to lots of Europe from the UK even with QRP SSB.

UPDATE 1920z:  No spots all day, at least not showing on PSK reporter maps. Still running overnight, so might catch some aircraft reflections later?

UPDATE 2032z: PY2RSA (9473km) spotted me on 10m JT65 not too long ago. Not shown on PSK reporter maps was a spot of an N0. This may have been because I lost internet connectivity for a period. I have since gone QRT.

Sunspots and 10m - Wednesday April 5th 2017

Solar flux is 93 today and sunspot number 75. A=20 and K=2.

OFCOM Update

Every month, OFCOM produces a "Communications Update". This is the latest version.

See http://ofcom.cmail19.com/t/ViewEmail/i/8EAFA4273AD97B72/59D1BD3EA2F08127C67FD2F38AC4859C

St Johns, Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

The colleges at Cambridge University are always worth a visit, but they look so good in spring. This was the view of St Johns this afternoon. We just missed the rain.

Sunspots and 10m - Tuesday April 4th 2017

Solar flux is 106 today. Sunspot number is 97.  A=4 and K=3.

See http://www.solen.info/solar/ for a summary of the latest solar data. Last month, the smoothed sunspot number declined to 22.6, but this month has got off to a promising start.

2m UKAC this evening

A further reminder that the RSGB organised 2m leg of its activity contest is this evening from 8pm(1900z) UK clock time. The contest runs for 2.5 hours. Activity levels are good on SSB and it is a great way to work new squares. Although a contest, I have always found people very friendly. I usually stay on for well less than an hour because of my poor voice.

See http://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/contest_rules.pl?contest=2mukac

UPDATE 2032z: Just a few QSOs as my granddaughter was in the next room so I stayed on even less than usual. Best QSO was 183km (with my 5W QRP and omni), but I heard further and could have worked more if I had stayed on a little longer.

10m JT65 transceive

As conditions were quite decent yesterday, I stayed on 10m JT65 and am still on that band and mode. No spots this morning so far, although it is very early.

UPDATE 1635z: DL5XL (567km) spotted me this morning. Es?

QRP and QRP Club

More from Oleg:

Dear Club 72 members and friends,

Weekly QRP Rendez-Vous Report (April, 2, 2017)
Reminder about new Rendez-Vous schedule:
Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays
9.00 UTC - 14060 kc
18.00 UTC - 7030 kc
alternative 10116 kc if QRM or poor condx
+/- QRM, QRL, keep RIT for xtal QRPers
Strongly recommend to use QRP Chat during "rendezvous"!

Visitors  of  the  week:  R1OA,  US3EN, UR5EFD, RV3GM, DK1HW, US5WAF,
G3XJS,  OH6NPV,  UR0ET,  UA1CEG, DL6YYM, US7IB, RU6UR, UR7VT, OK1DNZ,
R1CAN, IK2RGV, UA0SBQ, HB9CBR/p, R2AJA, RU3NJC, R2FAE, DJ5RE, UR5LEH,
ON6KZ, UA4NU, US5ERQ, RD2A/p, R4NX, UR8QV, DL7YY/p
Congrats!
RU6UR and RD2A became Honor Frequenters (regular visitors)
New Visitors - US5WAF, DJ5RE - you are welcome!
Some comments...
See full WQR Report on the blog page - http://qrp-club72.blogspot.ru/

72! Oleg RV3GM / KH6OB "Mr. 72"

This is a periodic Newsletter of the Club 72. Don't reply to Newsletter address! Send any requests or news to mr72@club72.su please.