Merry Christmas

As this is Christmas Day may I wish all readers a very Happy Christmas and a good 2018. Having just watched Cinderella on TV may I wish everyone "to have courage and be kind". These two things are fine words which we do well to remember, especially when times are hard.

10m FT8 RX

All day, I have been on 10m FT8 RX. As it is Christmas, it is perhaps not surprising that nothing has been spotted at all.

UPDATE 2258z:  IW3AUT (1039km) was spotted earlier this evening. Surprise!

Sunspots - Monday December 25th 2017

Solar flux is 76 today. Sunspot number is 22.  A=12 and K=3.

10m FT8 RX

All day I have been monitoring 10m FT8 RX. Best DX today so far is DM1FL (495km). Apart from this and a couple of Gs, it has been a quiet day.

UPDATE 1620z: 10m FT8 RX has surprised me. VP8LP (12772km) in the Falkland Is has been spotted after a fairly quiet day. He was strong too.

Panto - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday we went to the panto (Beauty and the Beast) in Ely with our son and family. It was, as always, very good. The leading "lady" was particularly good. Costumes were very of a high standard. Altogether, good fun. I can definitely recommend this.

Sunspots - Sunday December 24th 2017

Solar flux is 76 and sunspot number is 22.  A=5 and K=2.

KW Days

Southgate News reminds us that KW Days are held in early January. At university in the late 1960s we had a KW2000 and later a KW2000A and linear. Probably my first experiences as a transmitting amateur were with these rigs. Looking back, we had some good times and good QSOs. Remember "phone patches" with USA stations?

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2017/december/kw-days.htm#.Wj4lBUx2tMs

10m FT8 RX

Overnight I remained on 10m FT8 RX rather than moving to 630m WSPR. No spots here during that period. Maybe there will be some later.

UPDATE 1426z: Still no 10m FT8 spots here today.

UPDATE 1652z:  Just 2E0XXO (120km) spotted today.

Ba humbug - NOT amateur radio

Surely I am not alone in finding Christmas stressful? For little ones it is a magic time, but I find the Christmas period hard work. The media portrays it as a time of unremitting joy, but everything seems more poignant at this time. When there is sadness, it seems 100 times worse.

Guess I need to chill and have another drink...

Sunspots - Saturday December 23rd 2017

Solar flux is 76 today and the sunspot number 18. A=2 and K=3.