Sunspots and 10m - Monday June 19th 2017

Solar flux is 74 and sunspot number 27. A=10 and K=2. There is already Es about.

QRP and QRP Club

From Oleg:

Dear Club 72 members and friends,

Weekly QRP Rendez-Vous Report (June, 18, 2017)
First  of  all  I  thank  all  Reporters  (Journalists) for comments,
pictures  and reports. Personally thanks my new reporters Peter G3JFS
and  Wim  PA0WDW, also Victor RU3NJC reported from hospital (wish you
fast recovery, Victor)!
Visitors of the week: UR7VT, US5ERQ, DK1HW, RV3GM, ON6WJ, UF6V/UA1CEX,
UR5FA,  G3XJS,  TF/RA1M, RU3NJC, 4X1KS, OH6NPV, UR0ET, G4HOM, SP9NLI,
R4NX,  PA0WDW,  OH6NW,  SV2BBK, UA1CEG, UR5EFD, EA2EFI, ON6KZ, G3JFS,
DL7MA, RX3PR/p, LA8BCA/p
Congrats!
RX3PR and LA8BCA became Frequenters (regular visitors)
New visitors - 4X1KS, SP9NLI, OH6NW - you are welcome!
See full Frequenters and Visitors lists on the Club 72 web page.
Some comments and picture...
see full version of the WQR Report with comments and pictures -
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.

Geostationary amateur satellites

We are used to geostationary satellites which carry TV signals from a fixed point: aim the dish in the right place in the sky and that is it. By contrast, amateur satellites are in a low and moving orbit, so they only stay in range for a short time and they have to be tracked in the sky.

All this could change next year when 2 satellites (containing amateur radio transponders) are placed in geosynchronous orbits. Aim your antennas once and fix them in place. A lot can go wrong - date slippage, failure on launch, failure to reach the right place in space, equipment failure etc. If these all go to plan, amateur radio could be quite different in a few years' time.

As we are approaching a period of very poor HF conditions, these satellites could be a godsend. One is aimed to give good coverage over the Americas. The other covers Europe, Middle East and Africa mainly.

Old FT817

Looking through some old photo albums, I spotted me with an FT817 in the garden dated 2001. This means I first bought the FT817 at least 16 years ago. I was probably working OX (Greenland) at the time, with 2.5W and a telescopic whip on SSB. It seems amazing that it has been around all that time with effectively no competition.

Another thing that struck me was how young and thin we looked back then!

10m WSPR

As usual, I am on 10m WSPR TX (500mW) with my WSPR beacon. Plenty of Es spots from across Europe today.

UPDATE 1314z: 20 unique spots of my 10m 500mW WSPR so far today.

UPDATE 1640z: 59 unique spots of my 10m 500mW WSPR in the last day (34 in last 12 hours).

UPDATE 2008z: 52 unique 10m WSPR spots of my 500mW beacon in last 12 hours - a good day. Going QRT shortly on 10m.

House martins (birds) - NOT amateur radio

A few days ago I saw my first house martins this year in the UK. This is much later than usual, so I wonder if numbers are down? These were in a nearby village. I've seen none in our village this year.

There seem to be plenty of swifts  - there were about 20 feeding overhead last evening - but house martins and swallows seem to be fewer this year. This may be a localised thing, but I notice numbers seem down.

Anyone know the facts?

Hot and sunny - NOT amateur radio

Something unusual has appeared in the UK skies. I think it is called "the sun". 😊

Actually it has been hot now for several days. Today we even had breakfast in the garden. For us in the UK this is a rare treat. Summer time, the temperature is often pleasantly warm at 18-22 deg C, but it has been HOT in recent days. Even sitting in the shade at breakfast felt warm and comfortable.

This robin (see photo) preferred the fat balls to the mealworms (eventually).

Sunspots and 10m - Sunday June 18th 2017

Solar flux is 74 today and the sunspot number 28. A=15 and K=2. There is Es about on both 10m and 6m, but I have see no evidence here of F layer propagation on 10m for several days.

6m JT65

My 1W ERP 6m JT65 has been widely spotted today throughout Europe. At the moment, I am RX only on 6m.  Some stations are working the Far East. I am unsure of the propagation, but this looks different from the breakfast paths to Japan.

UPDATE 1315z: Best DX today on 6mJT65 RX is VR2XMT (9537km) in Hong Kong. He is being widely spotted around the globe, so I think this is genuine.

UPDATE 2015z: Absolutely loads of 6m JT65 spots given and received today. Best DX on TX was Iceland and the Canaries. Think I'll stay on longer, hoping for some real DX reports!

10m WSPR

Today 10m WSPR is nothing like yesterday. Although I have been spotted in Germany and by a local, 10m is nowhere near as good as Friday here. There is Es, but not like yesterday.