Sunflowers out - NOT amateur radio

This morning I noticed that our sunflowers were out. In the accompanying photo you can hardly see them! "Our" windmill is in the background and the red berries on one of our rowan trees are visible on the left. The sunflowers are just visible (if you look hard!) towards the right.

Trump - NOT amateur radio

So Donald has now been in office for 6 months. In an electoral system such as that in the USA you get the person voted for by most. What amazed me was that so many voted for him. Let history be his judge.

Storms coming?

A quick look at the lightning map shows that storms are still some way away. I have decided to leave my 10m WSPR and 6m JT65 systems connected, but will review this later.

UPDATE 1300z: At the moment the local weather forecast shows no storms are likely here.

Hamsphere Virtual Amateur Radio

Already, I have posted that I prefer "the real thing" to virtual amateur radio.

As conditions worsen I expect more people will turn to systems like Hamsphere. Earlier this week I got an email offering Hamsphere membership for 15 Euros for returning users. This is quite tempting.

See http://www.hamsphere.com/ .

Grandchildren coming later, so less amateur radio

Our "London" grandchildren arrive after lunch. It means that amateur radio takes a back seat for a few days, although I can still go on 10m WSPR and 6m JT65 RX or beacon mode. My usual Monday night sked on 2m FM is out as one of them sleeps in the bedroom near my shack.

Sunspots - Saturday July 22nd 2017

Solar flux is 69 today and the sunspot number still zero. A=14 and K=2. Luckily there is good Es in Europe.

6m JT65

As it was busy with Es from all across Europe, I decided to stay RX only on 6m JT65 for now. Already I have spotted stations from all over Europe by Es. At the moment, this is the best day this year for 6m Es. At the moment I have not spotted any stations beyond Europe on 6m.

UPDATE 0924z:  XT3TCD (4423km) in West Africa has been spotted. This station has been spotted by others so is not a false decode. Of course, it could be a pirate! It is possible by Es.

10m WSPR TX - early Es

As usual , I turned on my 10m WSPR beacon (500mW) just before breakfast. It is now only 0845z and already I have had 10 unique reports, mostly Es. This is very early.

UPDATE 1108z: The photo shows the spots received for my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon so far today.

UPDATE 1357z: Been spotted again by SP9LJE (1261km). On all his reports (not others) the drift is bad.  I presume this must be his end.

Blackberries - NOT amateur radio

No, not the personal organisers, I'm talking about fruit.

There is a wild blackberry bush just outside our garden. When they come to stay these next few days, our "London" grandchildren will really enjoy picking the ripe ones and eating them. These are wild fruits and they taste delicious.

"Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness" - well almost!

Swifts - NOT amateur radio

This morning I saw no swifts. Usually in August you just realise they are not there any more. Screaming swifts in the skies are part of a UK summer. It saddens me when they go, but they will be back next year.

See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/s/swift/

UPDATE 1530z: Spotted a few swifts lunchtime.