Sunspots - Tuesday April 24th 2018

Solar flux is again 74 and the sunspot number 20. A=5 and K=1. So, much the same as yesterday.

Mud - NOT amateur radio

On our walk this morning bluebell hunting we were surprised by the quantity of mud on the paths after a week of hot weather. The photo shows me struggling! I was totally ill prepared with suede shoes and no stick.

2m FT8

2m FT8 in the first few minutes today

As I was getting nowhere on 10m FT8 today, I have QSYed to 2m FT8 instead.

A brief TX period saw my 2.5W to an omnidirectional big-wheel copied by several stations with best DX on TX being F6DBI (501km).

At the moment I am on 2m FT8 RX only with 10 unique stations spotted in 5 countries in just a few minutes.

UPDATE 1817z: Now 28 uniques in 6 countries on 2m FT8 in just a few hours.

UPDATE 2110z: Now 33 uniques in 8 countries today on 2m FT8. And I have only been on since teatime!

UPDATE 2140z: Now QRT on all bands

60m (5MHz) band

More and more countries are allowing their radio amateurs access to the 15kHz wide 60m WRC allocation. Apparently China is granting access from July 1st. This is a small band and hopefully later there might be a wider slot.

As the sunspot activity drops, this band could be quite useful. That is if noise levels allow!

First swallow seen - NOT amateur radio

Much later than last year, I saw my first swallow (migrant bird) here. Numbers seem to be down as by this date they are usually quite common.

See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/swallow

10m FT8 RX

After lunch, I went on 10m FT8 RX. As yet, no spots.

UPDATE 1630z: Still no spots today here on 10m FT8 RX.

Bluebell hunting - NOT amateur radio

This morning we drove to Waresley Woods (about 28 miles west of here) to see the bluebells. As the video shows, there were plenty. The paths were surprisingly muddy though. The video has no sound.

Last night on 472kHz WSPR RX

This may be my last outing on 472kHz WSPR RX this season. Last night just 4 unique stations were copied, suggesting most have now gone QRT on the band until the autumn. I may join them!

Sunspots - Monday April 23rd 2018

Solar flux is 74 today and the sunspot number 20. A=5 and K=1.

Rain stopped play?

This is a familiar phrase heard by cricketers in the UK.

Well, in my case not rain (yet) but thunder. For the first time this year my radio kit has been switched off and everything unplugged. At the moment, I think we will (just) miss the worst, but it is quite close. I shall consult the maps!

See https://www.lightningmaps.org/?lang=en

UPDATE 1548z: At the moment, the storms seem to be passing south of us.

UPDATE 1604z: As the storm seems to have passed, I have reconnected rigs and antennas.

UPDATE 1800z: No further DX spots on 10m FT8 RX, but things will be running for a few hours yet, so still a chance of South Americans. This, of course, assumes the storms don't return. F1ABL (963km) spotted very recently.