Beetles - NOT amateur radio

Saw these last night on a walk. At first I thought they were feeding or collecting nectar, but I think they were mating.

See http://www.uksafari.com/soldierbeetles.htm .
Apparently their nickname is "bonking beetles". 😉

Sunspots - Saturday July 8th 2017

Solar flux is 81 today and the sunspot number 25. A=5 and K=1.

There is a large sunspot growing. See http://spaceweather.com/ .

Home - NOT amateur radio

My family has been in this area for centuries. It s humbling to think my ancestors looked on much the same view in the reign of Henry VI in the 1400s.

Sunspots - Friday July 7th 2017

Solar flux is 80 today and the sunspot number 11. A=7 and K=1.

OFCOM

They have issued a statement about commercial multi-user gateways. Don't get too excited: it is not good for your heart!

See http://ofcom.cmail19.com/t/ViewEmail/i/A7E73F6AB9A1B7EB2540EF23F30FEDED/59D1BD3EA2F08127C67FD2F38AC4859C

Thunder - QRT!

There is some thunder about, so I have gone QRT and disconnected everything.

See https://www.lightningmaps.org/?lang=en#m=sat;r=0;t=3;s=0;o=0;b=;n=0;y=53.9231;x=-12.5879;z=5;d=2;dl=2;dc=0;

Rallies this weekend

8 JULY 2017 : LAMFEST in aid of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance
Elsecar Heritage Centre, Wath Road, Elsecar, Barnsley S74 8HJ Doors open from 10am to 4.30pm and admission is £2. Tables are free. Contact Clair Marsh on 226 361 700.

8 JULY 2017 : STOCKPORT RADIO SOCIETY RALLY
Walthew House, 112 Shaw Heath, Stockport, Cheshire SK2 6QS Doors open from 10am to 3pm. Admission is £2 and there will be catering on site. There will be trade stands, special interest groups and an RSGB bookstall. There will be a raffle held on the day. Contact: Heather Stanley, M6HNS on 07506 904 422 or by email to info@g8srs.co.uk

8/9 JULY 2017 : 2017 uWAVE ROUND TABLE
Finningley ARS, The Hurst Communications Centre, Belton Road, Sandtoft, Doncaster DN8 5SX A 2 day event with presentations, demos, test lab, and buildathon of a nanowave optical transceiver. Updates are on www.g0ghk.com and www.facebook.com/g0ghk

And STILL they wait....zzzzz

In the USA the FCC has still not released 137 and 472kHz to radio amateurs!! Frankly this is almost unbelievable. The FCC seems so unbelievably S L O W. At this rate many potential users will be dead i.e. those over 30 years old before these bands are released.😟 

I suspect most at the FCC know absolutely nothing about radio. This is demonstrable by the time taken to make radio related decisions. Come on FCC - get a grip!!!

I am losing all faith in the USA. First you elect Donald, seen by many in the world as a bad joke, and your main radio regulator appears useless to many of us in the rest of the world.

See http://www.arrl.org/news/band-plan-proposed-for-eventual-472-479-khz-use .

Sunspots - Thursday July 6th 2017

Solar flux is 73 today and the sunspot number 11. A=3 and K=1.

10m WSPR TX

Although I have been on 10m WSPR TX (500mW) since before breakfast, no spots so far.

Yesterday on 10m WSPR I was spotted 117 times by 12 unique stations, all Es around Europe.

UPDATE 1140z: Before going QRT about 30 minutes ago (storms) I had been spotted by no-one all day! Still thundering.