Cattle Egret - NOT amateur radio

Until recently, cattle egrets were rare in the UK. The latest wildlifeindevon report show no less than five in South Huish. I have the distinct impression these will be the next "big thing" with them being a common sight in the UK within a few years.

Back in the 1980s little egrets were rare in the UK. Now they are all over the place.

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

Our village - NOT amateur radio

Burwell is about 10 miles from Cambridge. Most who live here work in Cambridge. Population is now about 6000, although it still feels like a village, with friendly people who say, "hello" in the streets.

USA and guns - NOT amateur radio

Yet again we hear about a mass shooting in the USA. This time it was a church and a kid as young as 5 was killed among the 26. The USA has a gun culture and a very high rate of killings. OK, gun ownership in Switzerland is high because of National Service, but they don't seem to have a problem.

Why is the USA so violent? Does gun ownership really make you safer?

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41880511 .

Low cost Chinese handhelds

I ordered a pair of Chinese UHF portables for just over £13 a pair. One arrived. I have still to chase the company for the second unit. It seems they had got the order wording wrong.

Sorry, but I ordered a pair and that is what I expect to get - in the end.

Gearbest - remember the name. We'll see how they do in the end.

10m FT8 RX

Just before breakfast, I switched (again) to 10m FT8 RX. I am amazed by what I spot. Although solar conditions are a lot worse than a few years ago, 10m FT8 seems to work.

So far, one German and one Russian RA6WF (3628km) on the Caspian Sea spotted.

UPDATE 1248z: Best DX so far on 10m FT8 RX is A45XR (5796km) in Oman. Although several Europeans and further spotted, 10m does not look as good as yesterday.

UPDATE 1910z: Just one South American on 10m FT8 today. Not a brilliant day.

630m WSPR overnight

As is usual, I was on 630m WSPR last night with my usual 10mW ERP for 20% of the time with the remaining time on RX. In all, 7 unique stations copied me and I spotted 13 uniques.

Herman the German - NOT amateur radio

On Sunday my wife and I did a walk around part of our village. We both commented that we'd not seen "Herman the German" in quite a while. We feared he might even have died.

Quite by chance we later bumped into him walking his dog. He is now 92, frail and not in good health. He was as pleased to see us as we were to see him. He was a prisoner-of-war in WW2 who stayed and married. He is a very nice man that we saw a lot at our previous house. He came to see us a few years ago at our new home. It was so good to see him.

Sunspots - Monday November 6th 2017

Solar flux is 71 today and the sunspot number again zero. A=2 and K=0.

Starlings - NOT amateur radio

We live right next to a 200 year old restored windmill. Although this is not a starling roost, it seems to be a place where they congregate on their way to somewhere else. Their favourite spot seems to be on the sails where they gather late afternoon. At one time a few years ago we saw few starlings, although we see plenty here!

QSYed to 630m WSPR

At 1740z I QSYed to 630m WSPR (10mW ERP, 20%) as I think 10m FT8 is "over" for today. OK, I may miss some DX on 10m FT8, but I have had a good day. There is always another day.

UPDATE 1746z: No spots given or received as yet on 630m.

UPDATE 1747z: LA8AV (1035km) has already been spotted on 630m WSPR.