2m FT8

An early CQ (2.5W to the omni) resulted in another QSO with G8ALS and a QSO with an M/EA1 on 2m FT8. As usual, I was spotted again by G7RAU (461km) in Cornwall. This never seems to fail.

This morning 23 stations spotted on 2m FT8 RX in 4 countries. Best DX, so far, is DL5EBS (479km).

UPDATE  1130z: Now 48 stations spotted on 2m FT8 RX, so far today, in 7 countries. Incredible.

UPDATE 1517z:  Now 53 different stations in 8 countries spotted on 2m FT8 RX today.

Little egret - NOT amateur radio

Until the late 1980s, the little egret was rare in the UK. Now they are everywhere. Yesterday we went to Lakenheath Fen and saw this one on one of the lakes. We also saw a hobby as well as many other birds, but no cranes that breed here.

Sunspots - Thursday September 27th 2018

Solar flux is 68 today and the sunspot number 0. A=8 and K=2.

472kHz WSPR

After a dismal day on 10m FT8 (no spots), I decided to QSY to MF WSPR. For about 5 minutes I have been on 630m (472kHz) WSPR with 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. Only spot so far is from M0XDK (80km).

Rallies

28 & 29 SEPTEMBER : 10th NATIONAL HAMFEST

Newark & Nottinghamshire Showground, Lincoln Road, Winthorpe, Newark, Nottinghamshire NG24 2NY. Brought to you by the RSGB in association with the Lincoln Short Wave Club. The venue has free car parking and has disabled facilities. There will be trade stands, a Bring & Buy, car boot area, flea market, special interest groups and RSGB bookstall. There will also be representatives from the RSGB Services and committees. Morse proficiency test will be available. The venue has catering outlets and a seating area. www.nationalhamfest.org.uk.

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

Electric cars - NOT amateur radio

At the moment, people are pushing electric cars (Tesla, Nissan, etc). To me, who would be keen to buy one, they are expensive, limited range and a technology that is not quite there yet.

My main gripe is range. Other than local journeys a charge (or more than one) is required. Published range figures probably assume summer, no lights on, no air con, fresh batteries etc. i.e. not realistic conditions. As the batteries age, capacity is likely to decrease. I could do without the stress of finding a charging point that is available.

When batteries get cheaper and the range is much better on a single charge they will take off. Until then, they will remain a niche product.

I suspect they are like digital cameras and flat screen TVs: at some point they will be the ubiquitous mode of transport. We are not there yet.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_car

FCC gets tough

Not sure if this is all part of President Trump getting tough on China, but Southgate News reports that the FCC in the USA is getting tougher on cheap Chinese transceivers entering the USA. I also heard this from Steve G1KQH.

At this stage I am not sure what effect this will have on rigs like the uBITX,  Baofengs,  Pixies and the like.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2018/september/fcc-enforcement-advisory-on-two-way-vhf-uhf-radios.htm#.W6tCqfZFzIU

10m FT8

For a change, I decided to try 10m FT8.

Earlier I called CQ, but got no spots. So far today after a couple of  hours no spots at all on RX or TX. Dire.

UPDATE 0910z: No spots still.

Sunspots - Wednesday September 26tht 2018

Solar flux is 68 today and the SSN still zero. A=11 and K=1

472kHz WSPR

At 1950z I went QRT on 2m and 10m and switched to 630m (472kHz) WSPR. As previously, I am using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground with 10mW ERP.

On RX first spot was F6GEX (590km) in IN97 square. I'll probably stay on overnight.