Trump - NOT amateur radio

Lesson:  Engage brain, then speak.

His recent pronouncement on a possible UK-USA trade deal speaks volumes.

History - NOT amateur radio

Parts of our village are very old. We are quite close to this cemetery.

10m FT8

After a night on 160m FT8, I have QSYed to 10m FT8. Yesterday 10m was truly dreadful - perhaps the worse day here in many years, so today can hardly be worse! As of 1040z there were no spots.

UPDATE 1045z: OH6NEQ (1860km) spotted on 10m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1222z: Now 4 stations in 3 countries spotted so far on 10m FT8 RX today. Not exactly brilliant.

UPDATE 1314z: Now 5 stations in 4 countries spotted on 10m FT8 RX.

Sunspots - Tuesday November 27th 2018

Solar flux is 68 today and the sunspot number 0.  A=2 and K=1.

IC7300 sometime?

My XYL said, "why don't you buy a new radio?"

My favourite is the IC7300, although I am in no great hurry. I was hoping the price would drop, but at the moment there are no signs of this happening.

Quite a few dealers are offering "deals" with cashback, free covers or low cost PSUs. It feels like they want to compete on price, but they fear for their profits. Maybe ICOM is stopping the price dropping? Maybe the dealers have had a quiet word and have agreed to keep the price high? I have no evidence for this, just a gut feeling. Perhaps ICOM wished they had priced the IC7300 higher? Even with guarantees and VAT it is far less expensive in France.

The next stage is to get a cash price and guarantee details from the suppliers. At this rate, my target is to buy in the new year sometime, before the Es season. I am not really interested in dust covers: I would like a lower price for cash - no trade ins, with free delivery.

160m FT8 overnight

In all, 9 USA and Canadian stations spotted on 160m FT8 RX overnight.

Warming UK (and USA) - NOT amateur radio

The latest range of expected temperatures in the UK have just been published. In the USA, there were warnings on Saturday about the impact on the economy of climate change. President Trump seems wrong.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46343103  .

Early QSY to 160m FT8

As 10m was so dire today, I have QSYed to topband using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. This happened at around 1330z. I am currently on TX every 15 seconds with 2.5W.  So far, no spots given or received.

UPDATE 1357z: Just a couple of spots of my 2.5W FT8 signal from M0RTP (116km) and G8VR (76km). Just SM0MDG (1348km) on 160m FT8 RX so far.

UPDATE 1622z: 25 stations in 11 countries spotted on 160m FT8 RX today.

UPDATE 1630z: Just calling CQ again. 11 stations spotted me with best DX SM0MDG (1348km).

UPDATE 1755z: Best 160m FT8 RX DX today is R9YC (5247km) in Asiatic Russia.

UPDATE 2117z: Right on time WU1ITU (4831km) was the first USA station spotted on 160m FT8 this evening. This station is always the first I spot from the USA on 160m. Earlier, a station in Greenland was spotted.

Stations spotted on 160m FT8 RX so far tonight using earth-electrode "antenna" in ground

5MHz in the UK

OK, I do not use 5MHz much presently. We have some quite generous 5MHz slots in the UK with power limits greater than in the 15kHz wide international allocation released in some countries.

Personally, I'd prefer us to have the international, narrow, allocation with lower power. Many will strongly disagree!

As long as noise levels are low, the 60m band is quite important when solar conditions are not good.

One year on - NOT amateur radio

About a year ago, the only bank in our village closed. It has still not sold. The plot is central and I am quite surprised it wasn't snapped up.