Night off

After the excitement today on 2m FT8 and the 70cm activity contest this evening, I am now QRT on all bands. At this moment I am unsure what I'll try tomorrow.

70cm activity contest (UKAC)

Tonight is the 70cm leg of the RSGB's activity contest starting at 1900z. It lasts for 2.5 hours. As usual, I shall be on briefly using 5W SSB to my 2m halo. Despite this being a poor 70cm antenna, it matches well and I usually make a few contacts. My voice usually asks me to stop after about 30-45 minutes, HI.

UPDATE 2002z: Just a single QSO with G4CLA (105km). Heard a few others but I could not hang around.

472kHz WSPR overnight

Last night was very average for me. In all, I spotted 7 unique stations and my 10mW ERP was spotted by 4 unique stations. I have seen much better!

Conkers - NOT amateur radio

Do kids collect fewer conkers these days? There were loads on the ground in our churchyard at the weekend.

Debuginnovations - NOT amateur radio (mostly)

My rally information comes via a member of the Cambridge Radio Club. I am not a member these days as I detest night driving.  I post on (and read) their Facebook page most weeks. At one time I was on the CDARC committee.

I think the member must work at  http://www.debuginnovations.com/company_info.htm 
which is in Swavesey, near Cambridge, UK. I think this must be a start-up company, but I have no connections.

USA Microwave Meeting

11-14 OCTOBER : MICROWAVE UPDATE 2018

Holiday Inn Dayton, Fairborn, Ohio (near Dayton), USA. 

An international conference dedicated to microwave equipment design, construction, and operation. Hosted by The Midwest VHF/UHF Society, go to www.microwaveupdate.org/ for more information.

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

2m FT8

Yes, this is 2m!! It seems hard to believe that this is 2m. Already 9 countries spotted on 2m FT8 RX this morning and dozens and dozens of stations spotted. Best DX is DF5VAE (902km).

Yet again my 2.5W CQ on FT8 to an omni was spotted in Cornwall as well as in lots of other places.

2m FT8 works!

Stations spotted on 2m FT8 RX today at 1622z

Sunspots - Tuesday October 9th 2018

Solar flux is 68 and the SSN is zero. A=21 and K=3

472kHz WSPR

The DX on 10m FT8 seems to have stopped, so I have QSYed to MF WSPR (10mW ERP from earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground).

So far, just a spot from M0XDK (80km).

African migrant birds - NOT amateur radio

The African migrant birds seem to have gone. Swifts went several weeks ago and house martins and swallows seem to have largely gone. There may be the odd straggler. It is just possible that one or two might try to stay over the winter near the coast. 

It is some weeks now since I last saw a swallow. Come next April, they will be back. In the meantime, safe journeys! 

Soon we might see migrants from the north, who think it is mild here!