630m WSPR

As of a few moments ago I QSYed to 630m WSPR. I noticed several more European spots on 10m FT8 RX that did not upload to the internet. Usually it takes a little while for the 630m transverter crystal to settle, so early spots will show some drift.

The initial spots of me show this early drift. After about 15 minutes drift is usually zero.

The Peter Marks Blog

I read on Peter's blog that the Chinese version of the mcHF-QRP ships with FreeDV included. As far as I know this is a first. It is a pity they did not come to an agreement with the designer first. It looks a decent product at a decent price, but.....

See http://blog.marxy.org/2017/04/first-transceiver-with-built-in-freedv.html?utm_source=amateur-radio-weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter


UPDATE 1637z: I see this was on Peter's blog in April 2017. Ah well, they say things mature with age!

10m FT8 RX

Last night I remained on 10m FT8 RX. I am still on that band/mode this morning. A few spots this morning so far with best DX is DC4CP (436km) in or near Aachen.

Sunspots - Saturday December 30th 2017

Solar flux is 71 today and the sunspot number zero. A=4 and K=1.

Alibris: yet another "sale" - NOT amateur radio

Alibris, the book seller on line, is having yet another "sale". Hardly a week passes without one. Anyone who buys from them outside a "sale" must be stupid. As a marketing technique they need to see a psychiatrist as few now believe their "sales".

High Power Wireless Power Transmission

According to Southgate News the IARU is taking seriously the threat of RF pollution from this source.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2017/december/iaru-addresses-new-radio-spectrum-pollution-threat.htm#.WkZwNUx2vIU

Bringing back Martian samples to Earth - NOT amateur radio

Apparently there is a race on between the USA and China to bring back Martian soil samples to Earth.

See http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a14506608/united-states-china-racing-first-sample-from-mars/

Apple: whiter than white? - NOT amateur radio

Apple has admitted slowing down older iPhones saying the reason is aging batteries. As an owner of older iPod Touch devices and my wife has an old wifi-only iPad, this really annoys me. Now, this may be a legitimate move, but many suspect Apple's motives, allegedly. I cannot possibly judge. Based on personal experience I do not like built-in batteries and slowing down older devices. Others may be happy.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-42508300 .

Romanian Bots Again? - NOT amateur radio

Blog visits are high again and there are a lot of visits from Romania. Again, I suspect probing bots.

10m FT8

Although I stayed on 10m FT8 RX all night and am still monitoring this morning, nothing yet spotted today.

UPDATE 1136z: GI4ONL (549km) is the best DX so far this morning on 10m FT8 RX. Only UK stations so far spotted.

UPDATE 1640z: At some point my internet connection to the shack was lost. Several near Europeans were spotted, but not uploaded to PSK Reporter Maps. These were probably received by aircraft reflection.

UPDATE 2022z: Much to my surprise 10m FT8 RX was full of stations this evening from all over Europe from the Faroes, to Spain, Italy and Bulgaria. I assume this is mid-winter Es. This now makes 3 days in a row. The opening seems to have ended about an hour ago. In the last 30 minutes just a G station spotted. Some of the signals were very strong, supporting mid-winter Es.