UK Elections - NOT amateur radio

A reminder that there are local elections, as well as elections for some mayors, in many parts of the UK today. There is a general election in June.

Use your vote!

If you do not vote and the wrong people get in, you can only blame yourself. It is no use moaning! Voting is your democratic right. You can vote as you want. Your vote counts as much as anyone else.

Sunspots and 10m - Thursday May 4th 2017

Solar flux is 74 today and the sunspot number is 15.   A=4 and K=2.

New QRP Club Member

This came in from Oleg yesterday:

Dear Club 72 members and friends,

SV8CYR op. Alexander became a new Club 72 member (certificate # 97)
Who's next?

72! Oleg RV3GM / KH6OB "Mr. 72"

10m WSPR beacon

A few years ago I bought a 500mW (TX only) WSPR beacon from W5OLF. It has been copied in every continent including Antarctica even with my poor 10m antenna. I am not sure if these are still being sold but I was very impressed. It is small, simple and works.

Once sync'd to time (either using a BC receiver or internet time) it is totally stand alone and does not need a PC or external audio. It means I can operate on 6m WSPR or other modes (with the FT817 and PC) at the same time as using the WSPR beacon on 10m.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/w5olf

UPDATE 0820z: The 10m WSPR beacon has just been turned on.

UPDATE 0932z: No spots, as yet, of my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon.

UPDATE 1630z: With 8 different stations spotting my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon, the Es season is definitely here! Best DX today, so far, is OH2VMP (1734km).

On 6m JT65 again

Actually I stayed on 6m JT65 overnight. At 0649z I was spotted by G1IDZ (182km). He is in the Worcester area. No other JT65 spots as yet on 6m.

Tomorrow onwards I shall probably swap to 6m MSK144 RX hoping to catch the Aquarids MS shower.

UPDATE 0816z: DC8RA (572km) has been spotted, probably by Es.

UPDATE 0850z: My 1W ERP 6m JT65 has been spotted by DK8NE (704km) in the last 20 minutes. Es definitely.

UPDATE 1114z: OF3DP (1702km) in KP10 square (Finland) spotted me earlier on 6m JT65. Definitely Es! Plenty of other 6m JT65 spots across Europe, but no WSPR spots on 10m.

UPDATE 2125z: Now gone QRT on 10m WSPR but have switched to transceive for a while on 6m MSK144 (was RX only).

Sepura and Hytera - NOT amateur radio

My old company is in the process of being taken over maybe by Hytera, which is a Chinese company. They are waiting on the UK government who are possibly concerned about security being compromised. Both the Spanish and Germans have said "OK".

It is OK to have our nuclear plants funded by the Chinese, but possibly not our public safety organisations like the police who use a system that is due to be replaced next year. Muddled thinking? 

There is also the small matter of a General Election next month. It is anyone's guess what the government will decide. Maybe they will delay until after the General Election? If they do, Sepura could go bust and lots of job losses in Cambridge. Politically, this would be bad.

6m MSK144

As you will have seen from posts over the last few months, this mode and band have proved very successful here, irrespective of conditions. Every day, I copy stations from all over western and northern Europe on 6m by this mode. I think my country count is in the low 20s, but I have not checked recently. Best DX is Spain, Balearics, Italy and Sweden. This mode just works.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/6m_msk144 .

Meteor shower

Peaking this coming weekend, the Aquarids meteor shower should bring some strong pings. I shall be on 6m MSK144 RX hoping for success.

The returns from just random meteors have amazed me. With a real MS shower, the pings should be longer, so I have a better chance of copying stations with my very simple set-up (V2000 vertical, lossy coax and FT817).

6m JT65

For a change, I started out on 6m JT65 today with 1W ERP in beacon mode, although I am looking for others 50% of the time and reporting all my spots to PSK Reporter Maps. I am hopeful of some G spots and maybe some Es.

UPDATE 0925z:  G8MIA (162km) spotted on 6m.

UPDATE 1100z: Now 3 G stations spotted on 6m JT65, but nothing from mainland Europe as yet on 6m.

UPDATE 1820z: ON4PG (342km) is my only continental today on 6m JT65, spotted here at 1706z. Tropo?

UPDATE 2100z: My first and probably the only spot on 6m JT65 was some 34 minutes ago when G1IDZ (182km) spotted me in  IO82tc square.

Sunspots and 10m - Wednesday May 3rd 2017

Solar flux is 76 today. Sunspot number is 25.  A=4 and K=1.