Elm Hill, Norwich - NOT amateur radio

This picture (or one very like it) was in a collage yesterday. Elm Hill is a delightful cobbled street in Norwich. We went to Norwich on Saturday.

Gmail - NOT amateur radio

Gmail has changed its style.

At one time when you deleted mail, the advert mails disappeared too. Now you have to open them first before they can be deleted. I guess this is to guarantee the ads get read. Yet another "big brother" move?

10m FT8

Although I have been on 10m FT8 RX for a while, no spots as yet. Mind you, it is quite early.

UPDATE 1100z: Still no spots. An RA2 was spotted, but this did not upload to PSKreporter maps.

UPDATE 1326z: Just a couple of spots so far on 10m FT8 RX from RA2 and an I. Best DX is IK0NEP (1425km).

UPDATE 1723z: 3 stations in 3 countries spotted on 10m FT8 RX today so far. I wonder if we will see South Americans later?

2m activity contest tonight

The September leg of the RSGB's UKAC activity contest starts at 1900z and lasts for 2.5 hours. If I remember the contest is on (!), I usually come on for a part. Usually I manage about 30-60 minutes before my voice cries, "stop!". The contest is usually busy and friendly.

In the end, 9 contacts with my 5W and big-wheel omni antenna. Best DX was M0DXR/P on the Isle of Wight.

Sunspots - Tuesday September 4th 2018

Solar flux is 68 and the SSN still zero. A=5 and K=1.

Simple Regen RXs and Transceivers

You may be wondering just how simple you can make an effective HF receiver. You may like to try this.  It works remarkably well.

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

If you want an ultra-simple transceiver, try this:

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/feter-80m-qrpp-cw-transceiver

Record UK Summer - NOT amateur radio

It looks like England has just had its hottest summer since records began. The UK as a whole saw temperatures matching those seen in previous hot summers.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45399134

Google Analytics - NOT amateur radio

For some weeks the map showing me where the audience for the blog comes from during the day has not been working. This particular map is only available to the blog owner.

In the past sudden increases in visitor numbers always tied up with increased interest from eastern Europe and Russia. These "blips" seemed to happen about once a month. I assumed these were probing bots rather than visits from people with a genuine interest. With the map not working I cannot tell where visits are coming from.

Already today my blog visits are way up. Already I have well exceeded the number of visits on a normal day. Now, these visits could be genuine, but they look exceedingly suspicious to me.

Norwich Collage - NOT amateur radio

My wife created this collage of our visit to Norwich on Saturday. It includes 3 of the cathedral, Elm Hill, the market, Edith Cavell's statue and the river Wensum.

Autumn? - NOT amateur radio

We have had a long hot summer here in the UK.  The Met Office classes Sept 1st as the first day of autumn.

Already, there are some signs of autumn. Nights are a bit chillier and there is early morning dew on the grass. Soon we'll see migrant birds arriving here from Scandinavia.

These lanterns were spotted on a walk yesterday in the village.