Sunspots - Sunday May 20th 2018

Solar flux is 70 today and the sunspot number 0. A=3 and K=2.

6m FT8 RX today

So far today, 19 different stations in 9 countries with best DX LZ2FP (1995km).

UPDATE 1609z: 35 uniques in 13 countries so far today on 6m FT8.

UPDATE 2115z: Time to go QRT. 38 different stations in 13 countries today on 6m FT8.

Es and thunderstorms

Some say there is a correlation between thunderstorms and sporadic-E, possibly sprites going upwards from thunderclouds. A good source of data on spaceweather is http://spaceweather.com/

Dunstable Downs Boot Sale Sunday

This came in by a different route from my usual rally alerts.

http://www.dunstabledownsradioclub.org/

Summer migrant birds - NOT amateur radio

Here in East Anglia, UK, summer migrant bird numbers are definitely down. Although I have seen swallows and swifts up here, there appear to be fewer. In S.Devon there seemed to be quite a few.

Dayton disapointment

So it looks like, better late than never, Yaesu and Kenwood are joining the SDR club.

However, what I see looks like a couple of expensive transceivers aimed at those with deep pockets rather than those with more modest budgets to spend on the hobby.

Will we ever see the Japanese produce a low cost SDR (portable?) transceiver? The Chinese are coming up fast and will soon have truly competitive products in terms of performance and build quality at much lower prices. Unless they are very careful, the Japanese will be too late to the party.

6m FT8

Yet again, after a very brief TX period before breakfast (2.5W, 1 local spot), I have been RX only ever since. So far, 12 different stations in 3 countries spotted with best DX spotted F5NBQ (746km).

UPDATE 1000z: Now 17 different stations spotted in 3 countries.

UPDATE  1840z: Countless stations in 14 countries and 2 continents on 6m FT8 RX so far today.

Royal wedding - NOT amateur radio

OK, I am not a great royalist and I hate the wall to wall coverage of this event, especially the hats people will be wearing and the food to be eaten at some remote street party. This is especially galling when "real" news is relegated to insignificance.

However, the last 12 months (and more) have been difficult and people are looking for light relief. The royal wedding is a good distraction and generally makes people feel better. This I do understand.

Sunspots - Saturday May 19th 2018

Solar flux is 68 today. The sunspot number remains zero. A=4 and K=2.

USA and Climate Change - NOT amateur radio

It appears that the US House Committee on Appropriations may have re-instated NASA funding for climate change research that the US president quietly withdrew.

See https://thinkprogress.org/nasa-vote-house-climate-science-97ad7bc62c01/