Now QRT

At about 2115z I went QRT on all bands and disconnected the PC. All Es stopped here over an hour ago. Sometimes it comes back, but there will be other days. It matters not.

Trump's latest - NOT amateur radio

His latest thing (allegedly) is to ban all transgendered people from serving in any capacity in the US military.  One transgendered friend was once Mayor of Cambridge. At work no-one cared about it when this man became a woman. This person had a job to do and that was all that mattered.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40729996 .

Amateur VLF

Yesterday I had an enquiry about amateur VLF. I referred him to https://sites.google.com/site/sub9khz/ which has lots of data on what I did in the past. There are schematics of the receivers and transmitters I used as well as details from others. Most of my experiments were with "earth mode", although I also received several European amateur VLF stations by radiation. For receive you do not need a large antenna. Even on "earth mode" transmit the power and antenna requirements are quite modest.

Simple pleasures - NOT amateur radio

Well, some blackberries made it to the crumble, but quite a few got eaten! Simple pleasures to be for ever treasured long after the grandchildren have grown and flown. I hope they do this with their children and grandchildren.

Sweet peas - NOT amateur radio

Eventually, the sweet peas in our front garden are coming into flower. We have one white one and two pink ones about to flower. We have planted sweet peas in the front garden and on the patio in the rear garden. The latter have still to flower. Last year we had one set in the front garden but these were nibbled by muntjac deer. Later they flowered well.

10m WSPR

Since before breakfast I have been on 10m WSPR TX (500mW). Already I have been spotted in Germany many times by Es.

UPDATE 1357z: 12 unique spots on 10m WSPR, but all were this morning. Best DX was a spot from Sweden. I assume all these were Es.

UPDATE 1456z: Several Es spots in the last 30 minutes from Germany.

UPDATE 1730z: Best 10m WSPR DX, so far at least, is OE3BUB (1229km).

6m JT65

Until now, since before breakfast, I have been on 6m JT65 transceive (1W ERP), but I have just switched to RX only.

So far, spots have just been G stations either by tropo or aircraft reflection. It is now 0814z.

UPDATE 1402z: 4O6AH (1788km) is the best DX on 6m JT65 RX today so far.

Sunspots - Wednesday July 26th 2017

Solar flux is 70 and the sunspot number 12.  A=9 and K=2.

Parker's Piece, Cambridge, UK - NOT amateur radio

Wild flowers on Parker's Piece, Cambridge, UK. I think these were planted by the pupils at Park Side School.

Parkers Piece was the focus of a big celebration in 1838 to celebrate the coronation of Queen Victoria.

It is also acknowledged as the home of Association Football rules. It is a famous park in Cambridge.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker%27s_Piece

6m JT65

So far this morning I have only spotted G stations on JT65, with no Es yet. I suspect the Gs are by aircraft reflection. At the moment, I am RX only on 6m JT65.

UPDATE 0840z: SM5CEU (1170km) copied by Es.

UPDATE 2115z: More Es earlier from E and SE Europe.