136kHz RX yesterday evening

Yesterday evening I was on 136kHz RX again. On WSPR RX  2E0ILY, G4FTC and G8HUH (250km) were spotted. On OPERA RX the only station spotted was G3XDV (61km).

Sunspots - Monday February 5th 2018

Solar flux is 71 today and the sunspot 11. A=3 and K=2.

Return to 136kHz RX

About an hour ago, I QSYed to 136kHz RX. Both WSPR and OPERA are being monitored. As yet, no spots on WSPR. I need to look on a different PC to check OPERA.

UPDATE 1936z: So far G4FTC (123km) spotted on WSPR and G3XDV (61km) spotted on OPERA.

Painted Pebbles - NOT amateur radio

This seems to be all the rage right now. People hide painted rocks around the village which people (mainly youngsters) hunt and photograph. They then re-hide the stones somewhere else. So far I have seen one which my wife and I re-hid. Photos are posted on Facebook. Innocent fun.

How time flies - Philips Velo

Back in the late 1990s I had a Philips Velo handheld that connected (via a wire) to the internet. I think it was at 14.4k.

These days, many people have speeds of hundreds of MB over their tiny phones. I cannot remember what happened to this Philips device. At the time, it was "state of the art". How far we have come in under 20 years. What will the next 20 years bring?  Remember Windows CE?

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philips_Velo

Leather seats - NOT amateur radio

A trick I found several years ago was to use shoe polish to restore worn patches in leather furniture. Unbeknown to me, my wife was taking a photo of me through the window!

6m MSK144 RX

In times of poor solar conditions this rarely fails. At this time of year propagation is usually random MS or aircraft reflection.

Yesterday I spotted 5 unique stations in 3 countries. I decided to go on 6m MSK144 RX again today monitoring 50.280MHz.

My 6m antenna is just my triband vertical omni fed with poor coax.

No spots yet, although I've only been on for about 15 minutes so far.

UPDATE 1046z:  S59SV (1278km) in Slovenia spotted strongly - random MS?

UPDATE 1228z: Now IK4ISR (1170km) spotted as well as G0GGG (211km).

UPDATE 1607z: G1PPA (145km) spotted on 6m MSK144.

UPDATE 1732z: No further spots. After about 30 minutes I shall QSY to 136kHz WSPR RX and 136kHz OPERA RX.

Cambridge Concert - NOT amateur radio

Don't forget the CCS concert in April in Cambridge. Details on the website at www.cambschoral.org.uk .

136kHz RX last evening

As is my norm, I QSYed from 6m (sometimes 10m) to LF (sometimes MF). The shack PC was on battery power to keep the SMPSU noise to a minimum. I did not stay on overnight instead I was monitoring OPERA and WSPR RX during the evening hours. Best DX spotted on WSPR was 2E0ILY (209km) and G3XDV (61km) on OPERA.

Soccer - NOT amateur radio

Although not a great fan (it is years since I last went to a game), it is heartening to see my old local team (Plymouth Argyle) climb and climb. Not long ago they were firmly on the bottom of their table, but with a good win yesterday over the team 2nd in the league, they are now 11th. At this rate, they could even make the play-offs.