Sunspots - Saturday November 11th 2017

Solar flux is 70 and the sunspot count is still zero. A=21 and K=2.

630m WSPR

In the end I gave up on 10m FT8 and QSYed to 630m WSPR. So far, my 10mW ERP has been spotted by 4 unique stations and I have spotted 6 uniques.

10m FT8 - another bad day?

Although I have been monitoring 10m FT8 RX all day, I have spotted absolutely no-one so far! Unless things change, this will go down as another bad day.

UPDATE 1730z: Still no 10m FT8 spots all day! Another hour and I shall QSY to 630m WSPR.

Real or Fake?

Supposedly this guy worked 2m transatlantic in 1982 on FM. I find it hard to believe this was genuine. It seems amazing that this was not well publicised at the time. Make up your minds.

Sunspots - Friday November 10th 2017

Solar flux is 65 (low) and the sunspot remains zero. A=20 and K=4. Not at all promising for the higher HF bands.

Bank closing - NOT amateur radio

Like many branches, the only bank in our village closes tomorrow. Our nearest bank is 4 miles away. Like many, we bank online and get money from a cash machine. It is closing because of lack of use. We are to blame.

Wireless Charging

There has been a fair bit of concern in recent weeks about the spectrum pollution that may result in future from the wireless charging of devices and vehicles. Spectrum for this may be allocated at the next WRC in 2019. Now, wireless charging is probably a "good thing" and may help with fossil fuel use reduction, but this needs to be done in ways that minimises RF spectrum pollution. Once the genie is out, there is no going back.

10m FT8 RX

Since breakfast I have been on 10m FT8 RX.  As yet (0937z), no spots on 10m.

UPDATE 1335z: Still no spots at all on 10m FT8. Very quiet.

UPDATE 1628z: Just G4YBI (83km) to the east of London. Tropo or aircraft? Quite the worst day on 10m for quite a while.

Overnight on 630m WSPR

Not the greatest of nights with 6 unique stations spotting my 10mW ERP and in turn I spotted 12 unique stations on MF. It has been much better!

Sunspots - Thursday November 9th 2017

Solar flux is 67 today and the sunspot number still zero. A=47 and K=4. On the face of it, not too promising.