Surrey ARC newsletter

When I first saw this on Southgate News I assumed this was Surrey, UK. Actually it is Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.

See https://goo.gl/iBHyhE

Overnight on 630m WSPR RX

Not a bad night on MF, with a new station this autumn. ON7ZO (355km) is new I think. Best DX was IW4DXW (1190km).

10m WSPR TX (500mW)

Well, since before breakfast I have been on 10m WSPR TX with my 500mW beacon. EA8BFK (2880km) has been spotting me now for over an hour, but nothing else. I suspect the path to the Canary Is is F2 propagation and that Es will be much rarer now at this time of year.

UPDATE 1738z: EA8BFK (2880km) was spotting me again from 1728z. The reports are getting progressively stronger. This must be F2.

6m MSK144 RX

As I was told most European activity was still around 50.280MHz this is where I looked this morning. When I checked it said, "WSJT-X.exe has stopped working", so I'm not sure if my software has stopped or just that there were few stations! Anyway, I reset the software and have swapped to FT8 RX on 6m now.

OFCOM

OFCOM has just provided an update.

See http://ofcom.cmail19.com/t/ViewEmail/i/CB0BC07AFD24C6FF2540EF23F30FEDED/59D1BD3EA2F08127C67FD2F38AC4859C

Sunspots - Tuesday October 3rd 2017

Solar flux is 86 today. Sunspot number is 25. A=7 and K=3.

10m and 6m until this evening, then 630m WSPR RX

Even though both 10m and 6m have been poor here today, I'll probably stay on both until 1900z. At that time I join the East Cambs net on 144.575MHz FM. 10m WSPR uses a different antenna and rig, so could remain on longer.

At about 1930z, I shall probably switch from 6m FT8 RX to 630m WSPR RX.

There have been 12 unique 630m WSPR spots here in the last week.

UPDATE 1610z: Well unless things dramatically change in the next few hours, this is probably my worst day on 10m and 6m for some time. One station spotted all day and that was a G in SE London on 6m FT8. Absolutely no spots of my 10m WSPR 500mW beacon.

UPDATE 1800z: Lots of spots of my little beacon again by EA8BFK (2880km) at teatime. I think this is F2 as it seems to happen at the same time most evenings. At times, signals were very strong. Signals are still being spotted, but getting weaker in the Canary Is.. At the moment this opening has lasted over 2 hours. At 1810z I was still getting reports from EA8BFK.

UPDATE 2015z: The last spot of my 500mW WSPR beacon in the Canary Is. on 10m was at 1844z, so the opening was about 3 hours long! Since about 1900z I have been on 630m WSPR RX where the best DX is (again) LA8AV (1035km). So far this evening, no new stations on MF.

Hollyhocks - NOT amateur radio

Today I dug out our impatiens (busy Lizzy) in readiness to plant primroses there over the winter. Most of the impatiens were well past their best. Once the frosts come, that will be it. Primroses give colour all winter and need little attention.

Our hollyhocks did well this year and they are still flowering, so these will not be cut back just yet. Our tomatoes have done well too. Our sweet peas were disappointing.

Summer here in the UK started warm and dry. In later months it has been less great.

Slowly declining solar conditions

September was a bit of a surprise, with quite respectable solar flux and sunspots. Nonetheless, on average we are still very much on the downside of the solar cycle with some years before we hit the bottom.

It is some time since I last checked the predictions for the next peak, but they were disappointing, so we may not see much of a peak. Always remember these are averages and the odd day may be much better. The trouble is many desert the higher bands assuming they are no good, so DX gets missed.

See http://www.solen.info/solar/ .
See also http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-sten-odenwald/waiting-for-the-next-suns_b_11812282.html.

10m WSPR TX (500mW) and 6m FT8 RX

Although I have been active on these bands/modes since before breakfast, no spots on either band as yet.

UPDATE 1215z: Still no spots today.

UPDATE 1344z: Just 2E0CIT (94km) on 6m FT8 spotted today. Otherwise nothing.