10m WSPR TX (500mW)

More in hope than expectation, I am again on 10m WSPR TX with my little beacon. As yet, no spots of me.

UPDATE 1220z: Several Es spots received from Italy and Denmark.

UPDATE 1422z: 6 unique stations have spotted my 10m WSPR today.

UPDATE 1600z: 10 unique spots today so far with 96 spots. Still seems to be plenty of Es.

Patio flowers - NOT amateur radio

For weeks, our lawns have been brown and parched, but they are at last recovering after some rain.  They may get a trim later, although it looks like more rain!

Surprisingly, the flowers in pots on our patio have done quite well as the photo shows.

6m FT8 and PSKreporter maps issues?

Since before breakfast I have been on 6m FT8 (RX and briefly TX) but nothing appears on PSKreporter. At first I suspected my internet connection but everything else seems fine. I even disconnected and reconnected yet still nothing. I stopped and restarted WSJT-X. I have spotted EA7 and I so I know 6m FT8 is good. Anyone else having issues?

UPDATE 1203z:  Up to now I was using WSJT-X V1.9 rc3. I have upgraded to the latest fully released version (v1.9.1) and all seems to be well. See comment from John below that my spots were appearing as 2m spots when I had selected 6m (50.313MHz FT8). Moral seems to be close the software and re-open if you change bands! Now getting Es spots from all over.

UPDATE 1424z: Everything is working now. My brief CQ calls (2.5W to the V2000 vertical omni) were copied widely in southern Europe and I worked several Balkan stations. A call to S01WS was not received, sadly.

Sunspots - Saturday August 18th 2018

Solar flux is 67 today and the sunspot number 11. A=13 and K=3.

Rally

19 AUGUST 2018 : THE RATS (RUGBY AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY) RALLY

Princethorpe College, Princethorpe, Rugby CV23 9PY. Doors open from 10am to 4pm (8.30am for sellers). Admission is £3. There is a car boot sale and catering is available on site. Steve, G8LYB, 0795 685 5816, rally@rugbyats.co.uk www.rugbyats.co.uk.

A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

Old friends - NOT amateur radio

Since university days back in the 1960s, we have known this couple. They live about 40 miles away and we usually meet up a few times each year. We went to their house for lunch today. When we meet it seems like just yesterday when we last met. In his working life he was a project manager responsible for putting a probe on a comet. He is very modest and talking to him you'd never guess. My wife is on the left.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_(spacecraft)

Visitor Map - NOT amateur radio

Usually I can see where visitors to my blog are from. This was very useful to see where hackers were located. This is a map visible only to me. For several days now, this has not been working. It looks like a Google issue, which I hope is soon resolved.

Lately, several things seem to be getting worse. Several of our famous high street shops have closed as we buy more and more online. Our only bank in the village has closed (similar reason). Picasa no longer allows me to send photos, etc. It almost seems we are going backwards!

No storms?

Looking at the lightning maps, it looks like we are in for a quiet day. The nearest storms are miles away. It is not too hot, but likely to remain dry.

See https://www.lightningmaps.org/blitzortung/europe/index.php?bo_page=map&bo_showmap=6
See https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/forecast/u121rkr90#?date=2018-08-17

10m WSPR TX (500mW)

Although active since breakfast, no spots as yet. It is still early.

UPDATE 0905z: Still no spots.

UPDATE 1944z: EA8BFK (2880km) in the Canary Islands spotted me 4 times this afternoon. Otherwise no spots at all. Soon be QRT time.

Sunspots - Friday August 17th 2018

Solar flux is 68 today and the SSN remains 12 (low but not zero!). A=11 and K=2.