Family clock - NOT amateur radio

This clock, recently restored, has been in my wife's family since the 1700s.

It is not worth much, but it is good to think it has been cherished all that time.

Sunspots and 10m - Sunday July 2nd 2017

Solar flux is 71 today and the sunspot number 11.  A=11 and K=4. Although I am not active on 10m currently, there is plenty of Es in evidence on 6m.

For the longr term solar slide see http://www.solen.info/solar/ . Actually, June was slightly better than expected, although overall there is a gradual slide.

6m JT65

At the moment, I am on 6m JT65 transceiver (1W ERP). I am being widely spotted in Europe by Es. Nothing seen further afield. I have been on since about 1045z.

UPDATE 1542z:  My most distant report on 6m JT65 today is from OH4SS (1805km) in Finland. Nothing outside Europe.

UPDATE 1900z: EA8DBM (3015km) spotted my 6m JT65 just over an hour ago. I think this was Es.

They are back! - NOT amateur radio

Even though I was away a couple of days, at least a couple of my blogs have had a monthly visit from hackers in a certain country in eastern Europe looking for vulnerabilities and seeing if the blogs are worth hacking. Welcome back!

This seems to be a monthly "probe" when visits go through the roof. This blog is of little interest I suspect and next week numbers will return to normal. Sad! I take a look at the visit numbers and the countries and I can always tell.

From what others tell me, I am not alone. Sad people, just go away.

Away - NOT amateur radio

There have been no blog updates since Friday as we were away at my brother-in-law's 50th wedding anniversary in Cheshire. It was an occasion for my wife to meet up with her cousins and relatives at an occasion other than a funeral! Luckily the sun shone and everyone had a good time.

Wasting my time?

Most of this Es season, I have been on 10m WSPR TX running 500mW from my little W5OLF WSPR beacon. It is on the same antenna that I used a few years ago on 10m WSPR when I was spotted in every continent.

Although I have been widely spotted across Europe and once in South America, I feel I am wasting my time. Although I know HF conditions are far worse than a few years ago on 10m, there seems to be a general lack of activity on 10m WSPR: I get far better results on 6m JT65. So, I shall probably stop 10m WSPR soon.

More Ely Cathedral - NOT amateur radio

A few days ago we went to Ely with one of my wife's college friends. The photo shows Ely Cathedral across the fields in winter. It is stunning at all times of the year.

Es past its best?

Although there has been Es about on 10m and 6m in recent days in Europe, it does not seem quite as good as a few weeks ago: openings seem later and smaller. This may be just a blip. In the past, I have seen 6m Es as late as September. In past years, I seem to get more northern spots later in the season.

It would be interesting to know what others think.

Certainly the earlier weeks were very good, although I remain to be convinced the longer distance openings were "sporadic" E. E layer maybe, but I am unconvinced by the conventional wisdom these are multi-hop Es. Some maybe, but the USA, South America, Japan and the Caribbean I feel sure are a different mechanism.

More from OFCOM

This time, I did get an email from OFCOM.

They are updating their policy on DECT guard bands. Not of direct interest to radio amateurs.

See http://ofcom.createsend1.com/t/ViewEmail/i/4A22066B841A4D852540EF23F30FEDED/59D1BD3EA2F08127C67FD2F38AC4859C

Rally on Sunday July 2nd

2 JULY 2017 : BARFORD NORFOLK RADIO RALLY


Barford Village Hall & Green, Barford, Norwich NR9 4AB Doors open 9am (traders from 8am) with Talk in on S22. There will be trade stands, car boot sales, a Bring & Buy, raffle, repeater groups, catering and free car parking. Entry £2 per person / under 16s free. Pitches £8, indoor tables £10 Contact radio@dcpmicro.com www.norfolkamateurradio.org

A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/