6m band

Many countries in Region 1 have allocated the 6m band, but this is at the discretion of individual administrations. At WRC19, according to Southgate News, the amateur service may get a Region 1 "real" allocation.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2017/november/iaru-notes-progress-toward-50-mhz-region-1-allocation.htm#.WhsYELp2tMs  .

Volcanic Ash? - NOT amateur radio

A few years ago we had severe airline disruption as a result of volcanic ash over Iceland. Now it seems we may have a problem brewing near Bali from Mount Agung which last erupted in 1963.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-42126284 .

PSK Reporter Maps - a problem?

Earlier this morning PSK Reporter Maps showed I had copied a German station on 10m FT8. Now this is not shown and it shows me copying just a G station. I tried refreshing the page and altering the time over which I was looking (right out to 24 hours). I also looked in the log. Still no sign of the German. 

All I can conclude is PSK Reporter Maps are less reliable than I thought. This is a pity, as I have found PSK Reporter Maps  much more reliable than WSPRnet.

Last night on 630m WSPR

Overnight, 12 unique stations spotted my 10mW ERP QRP. Best spot was again by LA2XPA (1310km). I am amazed that anyone copies me, let alone way up the coast of Norway!

Sunspots - Sunday November 26th 2017

Sunspots! Solar flux is 74 today and the sunspot number 13. A=7 and K=1.

10m FT8 RX

Since mid-morning I have been on 10m FT8 RX. Only station so far copied is DG1RUG (557km). I guess this could have been aircraft reflection?

Edging - NOT amateur radio

Birds in our garden love to scrape the soil for creatures to eat. I can't tell you how many times I have had to sweep up! So, this autumn, I am adding edging stones in an attempt to reduce the summer workload. I have done one bit, but have still to do along the path, which is about twice as long.

Commercial optical communications

Many years ago, before my stroke, I did some work at 481THz, red light. I used LEDs as the TX element, but I see that there are some commercial optical links using LASERS. Light has the advantage of being very secure. I expect these commercial units are expensive. My own optical kit was very inexpensive and great fun.

At some point I hope to get back to this work. Amateur optical work is both fun and inexpensive. It is certainly at the frontier of experimentation.

See http://www.lightpointe.com/laser-radios.html .
See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/optical .

Trump and faking it - NOT amateur radio

Allegedly  President Trump tweeted that he was "probably" going to be named TIME magazine's Person of the Year, but he apparently declined. TIME has disputed this. It is also reported that the president has a fake TIME cover showing his golf clubs and him.

TIME has also disputed a claim, allegedly, that Trump has appeared on its front cover more than anyone. I am reporting this, I hope, as it appears on the BBC website, which I believe is NOT fake news.

The media portrays the present president as a fool. "I could not possibly comment", to use a phrase from Yes Minister.

The good people of the USA elected President Trump to run their nation and "make America great again".  Let us hope the next president represents the people well and has them at heart.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42121402 .

10m FT8 RX since breakfast

Since just before breakfast, I have been monitoring 10m FT8 RX. Already, quite widespread European activity, which is encouraging so early.