Yet again on 6m MSK144 RX

6m MSK144 RX is easy and ideal to monitor in the background whilst dealing with a houseful of people. So far today PSK Reporter Maps shows 10 stations spotted in 7 countries, but at least one more nation has been spotted that was not uploaded.

UPDATE 1450z: 17 stations in 9 countries so far today on 6m MSK144 RX.

UPDATE 2120z: 20 stations in 10 countries on 6m MSK144 RX in last day. The system is still running and will be left on overnight, although I seem to spot most stations in the period between 0600 and 1000z.

Sunspots and 10m - Friday April 14th 2017

Solar flux is 73 today and the sunspot number is 12. A=5 and K=3.

Old QTH

We moved to the present QTH a few years ago. This is an aerial photo of the old QTH. We moved 300m!

USA amateur numbers up (again)

According to the latest FCC figures, the number of amateur licences in the USA is up again. I think this contrasts with the numbers in many countries where amateur radio is seen as an "old man's" hobby with few youngsters entering and staying in the hobby.  I have said this many times, but we need to understand the dynamics or our hobby will simply die out in the next 20 years. What got us into the hobby is not the same today.

See http://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/Emergency-Communications-Driving-Increase-in-Amateur-Radio-Operators.html

Stables visit - NOT amateur radio

Our younger grandson (aged 8) enjoys riding and today was given a tour of one of the best stables in nearby Newmarket. He had a great time. They have a pool for the horses which cost £1M. There are only 3 of these in the whole country.

Solar storm?

Southgate News reports that we might get a glancing blow from the results of a solar storm. This may hit us over Easter.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2017/april/easter-storm.htm#.WO8_H4WcHIU
See also http://www.solen.info/solar/

Sunspots and 10m - Thursday April 13th 2017

Solar flux is 72 today and the sunspot number 13. A=6 and K=2.

6m MSK144

Once again I am on 6m MSK144 RX where 9 stations in 6 countries have been spotted in the last 12 hours (EI, GD, G, F, LA, HB9). This band/mode never fails

UPDATE 1442z: 2 new countries today on 6m MSK144 RX including 4O6AH (1788km) in Montenegro. So far today 20 stations in 11 countries on 6m MSK144 RX.

UPDATE 1629z: 23 stations in 11 countries today on 6m.

Baking - NOT amateur radio

We have 2 of our grandchildren staying this week. They are a handful, but it is usually "clean mess". They enjoy baking as the photo shows. This is them making a cake. The floor loves it :-)

OFCOM consulting again

OFCOM is again asking for inputs.

See http://ofcom.cmail19.com/t/ViewEmail/i/4A7BC273EB8C8121/59D1BD3EA2F08127C67FD2F38AC4859C