Grandsons - NOT amateur radio

Our two grandsons playing outside our house this weekend.

10m WSPR TX (500mW)

Already I have received 20 unique spots on 10m WSPR TX. One report was an excellent +4dB S/N. Unless I am mistaken, this is the best day this year so far, proving that Es is far from over!

As far as I came tell Es varies (see comment below) from day to day. As we move further from the peak months (May, June, July in northern hemisphere) it will get more infrequent.

6m FT8

Today is already excellent with lots of 6m FT8 Es spots. At this stage it seems at least as good as any day earlier in the season. Earlier I had a very solid FT8 QSO with G1IDZ (182km) when running 2.5W to the V2000 vertical omni antenna.

Sunspots - Monday August 27th 2018

Solar flux is 69 today and the sunspot number 26. A=76 and K=2.

Ely - NOT amateur radio

Today it rained. The weather is so different from a few weeks ago when it was very hot.

This afternoon we went to Ely to Oliver Cromwell's house and to the Almonry Tea Rooms which has been serving refreshments since the 1200s! Thankfully the scones were not that old.

This is my wife and 2 of our grandchildren looking bright on a dull day. In the background is Ely Cathedral.

10m WSPR TX (500mW)

Although I have been on 10m WSPR TX since mid-morning, not a single spot all day. I get the feeling the main Es season has ended. Although we can expect some Es still, it is likely to be less common now until next spring.

UPDATE 1915z: Still no spots today.

6m FT8 RX

At long last I am back on 6m FT8 RX. So far just UK spots and no real DX.

UPDATE 1645z: Just UK spots today including some North Sea /MM spots from "wet" squares.

UPDATE 1807z: DX at last! TF3ML (1785km) in Iceland.

Sunspots - Sunday August 26th 2018

Solar flux 70 and the SSN 31. A=11 and K=7.

NOT on 6m and 10m

As we have grandchildren staying I have not been on 6m and 10m.  I may get a chance later.

UPDATE 1852z: No chance!

WWWB shutdown?

Amateur Radio Weekly reports that President Trump has announced the possible shutdown of WWWB next year. Perhaps he doesn't realise that about 50 million devices in the USA use this to synchronise time.

Another decision by a genius?

See https://swling.com/blog/2018/08/synchronizing-atomic-clocks-final-tock-time-may-no-longer-be-synchronous/?utm_source=amateur-radio-weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter