40m FT8 RX

Overnight, I remained on 7.074MHz FT8 RX.

North and South America, Caribbean, Asia , Africa and loads of Europeans spotted. Overall, quite amazing.

Even North America spotted in the last few hours.

In the next few hours I shall probably go QRT and download the latest version of WSJT-X.

Sunspots - Thursday April 19th 2018

Solar flux has risen to 71, although the sunspot number is still zero. A=6 and K=1.

Diss - NOT amateur radio

Today we visited Harleston and Diss.

In our view Harleston was a dump, but Diss was a charming old town on the edge of a mere. People in Diss that we came into contact with were helpful and kind.

Suddenly, the sun was out and it was hot: the best day this year so far.

40m FT8 RX

As a complete change, I am on 40m FT8 RX this evening. There are lots of stations being received. Best DX spotted so far is A45XR (5794km). Considering my antenna (very low) I am amazed.

UPDATE 2012z: Best DX spotted on 40m FT8 RX is XV3GMI (9739km) in Vietnam.

UPDATE 2035z: Now PY6HD (8101km) spotted on 40m FT8 RX this evening.

Spring? - NOT amateur radio

It has seemed a never ending, dull winter with no spring. Yesterday was different: warm sunshine and the first real day that felt like spring. The next few days are promising too. The collage shows nearby Anglesey Abbey bursting out with fresh green leaves.

Super VHF/UHF/SHF DX via noctilucent clouds?

In the next few months noctilucent clouds are often seen. There is a possibility that these are responsible for the very long 6m paths that regularly open from western Europe to Japan in the early summer. These openings are as regular as clockwork in the early summer, and then they just stop. It is a very long way on 6m and the conventional wisdom that this is multi-hop Es to me seems very unlikely. Last June, several Japanese stations were spotted on 6m JT65, even on my omnidirectional vertical.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/noctilucent

Digital mode frequencies (Region 1)

If you are like me, you will be unsure of the commonly used frequencies in Region 1 for various digital modes. I found this link helpful as a reminder.

See http://www.qsl.net/sv1grb/psk31.htm

Sunspots - Wednesday April 18th 2018

Solar flux is 68 today and the sunspot number 0.  A=4 and K=2.

2m UKAC Results

The results are out for the 2m UKAC activity contests organised by the RSGB. In the low power section I am 66th out of 132 places. Considering I only use 5W to an omnidirectional antenna and usually stay on for around 30 minutes, I am quite happy.

Beetle - NOT amateur radio

This very iridescent beetle was seen earlier today at Anglesey Abbey, near Cambridge, UK. It is probably a very common sort.