10m FT8 RX

Since breakfast, I have been on 10m FT8 RX.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, no spots yet. I was hoping to see a few Gs maybe. At this time of year there is a small Es peak, although I do not know why.

UPDATE 1326z: DG5HR (721km) spotted.

Sunspots - Tuesday December 19th 2017

Solar flux is 70 today and the sunspot number is still zero.  A=.17 and K=1

Bath repeaters to lose university site

Southgate News reports that the Bath repeaters are being evicted from their university site next month. I do not know if there are plans to re-site them.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2017/december/bath-repeaters-lose-university-site.htm#.Wjgqr0x2vIU .

Amateur TV

There is always something in our hobby that we cannot do. One of these is ATV, which despite being interested, I have never tried. The BATC streams many TV repeaters, so you can take a peak without investing in TV gear.

See http://batc.tv/multi_screen.php .

Daffodils and snowdrops

Most months we visit Anglesey Abbey, which is about 4 miles away. The daffodils, which were out in November 2015, are just coming. Another 2 weeks and these will be out. We saw the first snowdrops out. Things seem much later this winter. Blink and it will be spring though!

Return to 630m WSPR

After a disappointing session on 6m FT8, I have returned to 630m WSPR (10mW ERP, 20%) for the evening and overnight.

UPDATE 1706z: M0NKA (154km), G4ETG (44km) and G4FGJ (44km) have copied my 10mW ERP.

UPDATE 1756z: Now PA0RDT (243km) has spotted me.

Fuel prices upwards? - NOT amateur radio

Looking at commodity prices, it looks like the wholesale price of oil is moving upwards. At the moment prices are well below prices a few years ago, but the trend seems to be upwards. Expect higher pump prices in 2018.

630m WSPR overnight

My 10mW ERP WSPR reached LA3EQ (769km) again last night, but overall it was disappointing as only 4 stations spotted me and I only spotted 10 uniques.

Sunspots - Monday December 18th 2017

Solar flux is 70 today and the sunspot number zero. A=24 and K=4. Not promising on higher HF.

6m FT8

After a brief try on 6m MSK144, I am now on 6m FT8 RX for the day. As yet, no spots.

UPDATE 1302z:  Just M0HUI (122km) spotted so far today.

UPDATE  1600z: A very quiet day. ON5LGS (264km) is the only other 6m spot today. I assume this is aircraft reflection rather than tropo.