Sunspots - Wednesday August 16th 2017

Solar flux is 74 and the sunspot number 21. A=4 and K=2.

6m FT8 QSO with Spain

Earlier this morning, I worked EA5WU (1381km) on 6m FT8. I have worked a few stations before using this mode, but mostly I am RX only. On 6m my ERP is about 1W.

UPDATE 0910z: 8 countries spotted so far on 6m FT8 RX. Es good today.

6m FT8 RX spots today

UPDATE 1620z: 14 countries spotted on 6m FT8 RX so far today.

UPDATE 1856z: With 24 countries spotted here on 6m FT8 RX today, this is a personal record. This mode certainly has "taken off". Good 6m Es again today.

PSK Reporter Maps - working again?

When I tried PSK Reporter Maps, it was working again. All my 6m MSK144 and FT8 RX spots for the last day appeared. I hope they have fixed it.

UPDATE 2004z:  These are the FT8 RX spots on 6m today as reported by PSK Reporter Maps. It seems it is fixed.

Sign of the times? - NOT amateur radio

Apart from getting cash from a machine, we rarely use our local bank these days. Not surprisingly, it is closing on November 10th.

There is a Post Office just across the road where you can pay bills to any bank, get foreign exchange and cash.

To be honest, I am surprised the only bank in the village has lasted as long as it has. We've been in the village since 1975 and the bank has been here all that time. I expect they will build yet more posh houses on the plot!

72 Group (QRP)

In the last hour I received an invitation to join the 72 group.

See https://groups.io/g/72/topics

UK Pound versus Euro exchange rate - NOT amateur radio

As I write this, the UK pound is close to its worst exchange rate in the last 12 months against the Euro at 1.096 Euros to the UK Pound. Instinctively, this "feels" wrong. Maybe the Euro is stronger than it was, but this feels untrue. Surely the Euro still has all its inherent issues that have not suddenly gone away?  No, I think this is a blip. Time will tell.

UPDATE 1525z: My personal view is the UK pound will rise in value against the euro. As I have said very many times, I am no expert and time may prove me totally wrong! My prediction was this would happen before the end of the year.

Blog visits up again

Even without the "probes" from a certain eastern European nation, visits to this blog have been up in recent weeks. Content is much the same, so I have no idea why this should be.

10m WSPR TX (500mW)

About 2 minutes ago I started my 10m WSPR beacon producing 500mW. If I get any spots at all, it usually takes about 15-20 minutes for things to settle. As the Es season is waning now, I may get no spots all day.

UPDATE 0925z: Surprise! Already been spotted in Poland and Spain on 10m WSPR.

UPDATE 1042z: 4 unique 10m WSPR spots of me so far.

UPDATE 1052z: With spots from Italy just in, this brings the score to 6 unique spots of my 500mW 10m WSPR today. All Es I assume.

Return to 6m FT8 RX

This morning, I switched to 6m FT8 RX from 6m MSK144 RX. I think PSK Reporter Maps are still not working, so I  have to monitor WSJT-X on the shack PC to see what is being spotted.

I may try 10m WSPR RX later as this uses no PC, a separate rig and a separate antenna.

UPDATE 0906z: Best DX on 6m FT8 RX is Germany.

UPDATE 1340z: Best DX on 6m FT8 RX today is EA8 in the Canary Is. PSK Reporter Maps still looks in trouble.

Sunspots - Tuesday August 15th 2017

Solar flux is 73 today and the sunspot number 12. A=5 and K=1.