Window shopping? - NOT amateur radio

Perhaps they should lower the windows so gulls can get a better view?

My dad's house - NOT amateur radio

Salcombe Devon Home

100 years ago, my dad lived here. At that time these houses were small, dirty and with an outside shared toilet. Nowadays they are posh holiday lets.

In 1959 my mum and dad sold our house in Salcombe for £1.9k. It now is for sale for £625k!! No doubt the buyer will be a yuppy banker who will use it for a few weeks a year. Salcombe these days is a very up-market town.

Back then - in fact when I was young - it was a thriving all year around community.  These days the wintertime population is a fraction of that in the summer. The main street is almost exclusively posh clothes shops catering for the rich yachters. Already the only bank has closed. To me, it is a society that cannot survive unless it evolves again into a 365/7 community again.

Realtime HF predictions

Southgate News reports on a website that gives near realtime HF predictions.

See http://www.bandconditions.com/

Radioworld will NOT be stocking the r828plus SDR transceiver

I contacted Radioworld about this HF SDR 10W radio to ask about their guarantee and was told:

"We will not be stocking the 928plus. as we feel that it is bad move for the original inventor."

Another supplier respecting the original inventor M0MKA.

Kits for the mcHF original are available from http://www.m0nka.co.uk/

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Sunset - NOT amateur radio

The sunset in the west last night in Devon.

The island is Burgh Island, made famous by Agatha Christie. King Edward VIII and Wallace Simpson stayed here too. There is a famous art deco hotel there and a sandbar which gets covered when the tide is in.

Rare square activation

This is probably more of interest to USA readers? According to Southgate News there is a DXpedition to a small island off New Orleans in square EL58hx. This is a very small uninhabited island that can only be accessed via a boat. No doubt the IOTA hunters will be pleased (NA-168).

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2018/may/el58hx-grid-expedition.htm#.WvHi2ExFzIU

2m WSPR

Although I have tried 2m WSPR it is not recommended. FT8 is much better.

On WSPR you are monitoring just a 200Hz window and most signals drift more than this.

On FT8 you are looking in a much wider window and the TX periods are just 15 seconds as opposed to nearly 2 minutes with WSPR. WSPR is theoretically able to work with weaker signals, but I find far more DX on FT8 than on 2m WSPR.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/2mwspr

Trump and the Iran nuclear deal - NOT amateur radio

OK, I am an outsider looking in, but I find President Trump hard to follow on the international stage.

Exactly what does he expect to achieve? Most in the world think the Iran nuclear deal should carry on.  President Trump does not.

So what will Iran do? Further destabilise the Middle East? No, my personal view is this man is dangerous and is a loose cannon on the world stage. Does he ever listen to advisors?

Why did so many in the USA voted him into office? "America first"? Recreating the America of 1950 is a dream, not a reality. The world is an interconnected place in the 21st century.  King Canute tried to stop the tides and failed. Trump will fail and sooner or later and the good people of the USA will realise this.  Building a wall with Mexico? Stopping steel from China? At the moment the US government and president are the butt of jokes around the planet.

Where are the values that really make America great?

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44049532

Wool - NOT amateur radio

A few days ago we did a walk at Snapes Point near Salcombe.

We had to cross a field with several sheep and lambs. There was a lot of wool on the grass. Of course, this is raw wool. There was lots of wool on the fencing too.

HF Conditions

As mentioned yesterday, the next solar peak is likely to be similar to the last one, although these are just educated guesses at this stage. In a few years time, we may have a better idea.

Es is often a good second best and some really long paths are worked on 6m every year by Es. 6m JT65 was very good last year and this year 6m FT8 should be worth a try.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/hfcondx