136kHz WSPR RX overnight

Last night, just 2E0ILY (209km) spotted on 136kHz WSPR. His signal is pretty consistent at -17 to -21dB S/N using my poor antenna and deaf receiver.

Sunspots - Sunday December 3rd 2017

Solar flux is 70 today and the sunspot number again zero. A=4 and K=0.

136kHz WSPR RX

As it is now dark, I have decided to QSY to 136kHz (USB dial) WSPR RX. As you know, my antenna is poor and my RX deaf on 136kHz and I am unable to TX on that band currently.

UPDATE 2140z: There is only a single station shown active in Europe on 136kHz WSPR TX this evening, so my chances of spotting anyone are low. At the moment no spots. I shall be on RX overnight. You never know!

"Our" windmill - NOT amateur radio

The windmill right next door has appeared on this blog several times.

It is about 200 years old, fully restored and grinds corn occasionally. We see this every day when enjoying breakfast.

They tend to have the sails turning when the local museum is open.

630m WSPR overnight

In all, my 10mW ERP was spotted by 8 unique stations with my most distant spot by LA2XPA (1310km) again. I spotted 11 uniques in 6 countries on 630m overnight. Not a bad night considering my setup!

Sunspots - Saturday December 2nd 2017

Solar flux is 70, but the sunspot number is zero. A=8 and K=0.

I see that http://www.solen.info/solar/ has been updated with November's solar data. Solar flux and sunspot number's were way down.

10m FT8 RX

Following my usual pattern, I have been on 10m FT8 RX since breakfast. A couple of EUs spotted so far, but nothing else yet.  SP5XMU (1401km) is currently the best DX.

UPDATE 1010z: 8 stations in 5 EU countries spotted so far.

UPDATE 1312z: 20 EU stations spotted so far. Not a bad haul so far today.

365project - NOT amateur radio

For some years now I have done something called "365project". Don't confuse this with Microsoft. The idea is to take a picture every day of the year. If you want total privacy it costs $19.99 a year. Otherwise it is free. Some use it to show how good they are at photography, whereas I just take photos as a sort of visual diary. Few of my shots are great artistic works! Google it.

630m WSPR

Since teatime I have been on 630m WSPR again (10mW ERP, 20%). So far 5 unique stations have spotted me with best DX a spot by PA0DRT (243km). On RX I have only spotted 1 unique station DH5RAE (995km).

Slowly declining solar activity

In the next few days, there will be a report on solar activity in the last month and past years. Although we get blips, the trend is slowly downwards for the next few years. Last month there were quite a few spotless days.

"As of April 2017 the strength and trend of the southern polar field hints at a cycle 25 with a magnitude close to that of cycle 24. " -  according to the website below.

See http://www.solen.info/solar/ .