Greenland on 6m JT65

OX3LX (2570km) copied me on 6m JT65 earlier this evening. As far as I remember this is the first tine I have reached Greenland on 6m.

I remember working Greenland from the garden with 2.5W SSB and a whip antenna on 10m some years ago. I am pretty sure both these were Es.

UPDATE 0754 June 15th 2017: He spotted me again late yesterday.

Sunspots and 10m - Wednesday June 14th 2017

Solar flux is 73 and the sunspot number 11. A=8 and K=1.

70cm UKAC missed

This RSGB 70cm activity contest was last night, but I had to give it a miss as we had visitors. Usually my far from ideal antenna and 5W SSB reaches the Midlands (over 100km). I use a 2m halo fed with lossy coax on 70cm. I am amazed how well this works on 70cm. Match is good, but I have no idea of the radiation pattern.

6m JT65 super DX?

Once again, I spotted a station in Indonesia on 6m JT65. 7A5FHZ (11934km) was spotted very early. I am suspicious as this is a very long way on 6m and the signal was very strong. There were quite a few Es spots around Europe.

UPDATE 1700z: The same Indonesian station was spotted at lunchtime - suspicious? I am highly doubtful.

Old charabang - NOT amateur radio

We had some visitors who arrived at our local museum in this old coach. This is it parked outside the windmill.

The word charabanc is from French 'char-bancs', meaning a carriage with benches, so I read.

Our home is on the left in the picture.

Sunset - NOT amateur radio

In the UK we are blessed with seasons. In mid-winter it is dark at 4pm, but in mid-summer it is light until 10pm. Every season has something good about it. This shot was taken from our garden at 12 minutes to 10pm on Sunday, June 11th, 2017.

Sunspots and 10m - Tuesday June 13th 2017

Solar flux is 75 today and the sunspot number remains zero. A=8 and K=2. There is Es on 10m, but no F2 propagation seen here.

Back on 6m JT65 transceive and 10m WSPR TX

Since breakfast, I have been active as usual on 10n WSPR TX (500mW) and 6m JT65 transceive (1W ERP). On 6m G spots only so far but some early Es on 10m WSPR.

UPDATE 0934z: Now some Es on 6m JT65. EA5/G3XGS (1581km) has spotted me. Most 10m WSPR spots have been from Northern Europe so far.

UPDATE 1334z: although I am being widely spotted across Europe on 6m JT65, my own spots of others are not appearing on PSK Reporter Maps. Maybe it has forgotten the tick box for some reason or my internet upload is not working?

QRT

As the DX appears to have stopped, I am about to go QRT and turn off the PC.

Bird table visitor - NOT amateur radio

Every day we get jackdaws on our bird table. They are quite big birds, but quite fun. This one is busy tucking in to kitchen scraps. We now get quite a variety of birds. I think they know there is free food on offer! The starlings love the fat balls. A refill on Saturday was totally empty on Sunday.