Trump balloon - NOT amateur radio

President Trump is visiting the UK and many here do not want him. Apparently there is a balloon of him in a nappy (diaper blimp flying over London). He has already managed to upset the German chancellor by his remarks.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-44798408/donald-trump-baby-blimp-ready-to-take-first-steps

Echolink

For the first time in about 6 years, I had a couple of QSOs via distant repeaters using Echolink on the PC. It was so long since I used the system that both my email had lapsed and I had forgotten my password! I had to send a copy of my licence to get re-validated.

This morning I was listening to a repeater QSO in Christchurch, New Zealand and this afternoon I had a QSO with a hand-portable via a repeater near London and then a QSO via a repeater in northern Hungary with HA9OX. Quite fun.

The overall impression was repeater activity around the world is low: I had to work quite hard to find anyone to talk with. Maybe I should try Zello or IRN? Activity levels in the USA surprised me. I thought it would be quite easy to find activity in the local mornings on the urban repeaters over there, but all were quiet.

Now I know it works I can try again.

Double-yoker - NOT amateur radio

We have bought free range eggs for years, but today we saw our first double-yoker in ages when we had gammon and eggs for lunch.

6m FT8

Already plenty of Es on 6m. I am on 50.313 FT8, mostly RX. DX from Scotland, Italy, Hungary and Romania so far on 6m FT8 RX. A brief TX period (calling an HA) resulted in spots by S52D (1234km) 22 minutes ago. As usual, I am running 2.5W to my V2000 omni vertical antenna. ERP is probably about 1W as the CB coax feeding it is lossy.

UPDATE 1047z: So far today, 18 different stations in 5 countries spotted on 6m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1505z: Now 23 different stations in 5 countries on 6m FT8 RX. Es seems to have "gone off the boil".

UPDATE 2046z: At the end of the day, 24 stations in 8 countries on 6m FT8 RX. After a promising start, disappointment. Time to go QRT.

10m WSPR

As the antenna is free, I am again on 10m WSPR TX (500mW). Only one spot so far. This was EA1FAQ (1249km) in northern Spain. This was Es.

UPDATE 1507z: Just EA1FAQ spotting me and he has only spotted me twice this morning.

UPDATE 2048z: No more spots, so time to go QRT.

Sunspots - Wednesday July 11th 2018

Solar flux is 72 today and the sunspot number remains zero. A=7 and K=2.

Dart Valley Railway - NOT amateur radio

I love steam engines. The photo shows my brother last week watching a train on the Dart Valley Railway in Devon.

Late Es

In earlier years I seem to notice more northern Es spots later in the season.  This year seems to be similar with GM3POI in the Orkney Islands spotted already on 6m FT8.

70cm UKAC RSGB activity contest

After the World Cup football on TV this evening I went on the July leg of the 70cm UKAC activity contest. I did not stay on long (poor voice) and made 3 QSOs with G4CLA (105km) as the best DX. I was using 5W to a 2m halo.

Human Consciousness - NOT amateur radio

Human consciousness is perhaps the biggest puzzle we know. All of us have the gift of being able to contemplate ourselves and our universe. Some say we just expire when we die along with our bodies. Some say something of us lives on. The truth is no-one knows. It is the mystery all religions try to answer.

It is like living in a one dimensional world and trying to imagine a 3 dimensional world. Human consciousness is indeed the biggest mystery of all. I don't have the answers.