How to lose £39 billion? - NOT amateur radio

According to Michel Barnier, the EU will not re-negotiate the so-called "backstop". Me thinks this is brinkmanship as, on the face of it, the EU stands to lose out on £39 billion in funding, and lots of trade, if we leave without a deal. It is as much to the EUs benefit as the UKs to reach a deal.

As a "remainer" I can quite understand why so many voted to leave this "club".

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47061650

Still on 160m FT8 RX

All day today, I remained on 160m FT8 RX. So far an Italian and a couple of Germans spotted this afternoon.

UPDATE 1625z: Now 8 stations spotted in 5 countries this afternoon on 160m FT8 RX.

Beautiful music - NOT amateur radio

On May 4th my wife is singing in Trinity College Chapel as part of the Cambridgeshire Choral Society. Among the pieces is a work by Faure - Cantique de Jean Racine. There is a sample linked below.

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB_3rG7KZyU
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Fauré
See http://www.cambschoral.org.uk

160m FT8 RX overnight

Stations spotted here 

overnight on 160m FT8 RX

Quite a decent night on 160m FT8 overnight with 9 North Americans, 1 Caribbean and 1 South American who was widely copied, so I think is genuine. Best DX spotted was VP8EME (12773km).

Snow - NOT amateur radio

A thin coating of snow, but bright and sunny here.

Sunspots - Wednesday January 30th 2019

Solar flux is 75 and the SSN 15. A=2 and K=0.

Electric cars - NOT amateur radio

Let me start by saying I want to buy an electric car, however I think the technology is not quite there yet.

As with flat screen TVs and digital cameras, I am sure there will be a tipping point when most people will opt for electric and forget cars powered by fossil fuels. Personally, I think this will happen when realistic ranges exceed 300 miles and the price drops. At the moment, you have to be an early adopter or do mainly local driving. I guess if fast charging was very common and plentiful that would help. Although most of my journeys are short, the range today would require me to recharge once even to travel to north Norfolk and home again. This is just too stressful.

No, my view is this is a "not yet" technology. Maybe in 5-10 years?

160m FT8

After a dismal day on 10m FT8, I have now QSYed to 160m FT8. After a brief CQ Call (2.5W) in which I was spotted by M0NPT (124km), I am now RX only.

At the moment, the band is quiet, although I expect this will dramatically change in the next hour. As before, still using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. S57U (1294km) spotted on 160m.

UPDATE 1620z: It has started! RZ6LY (2943km) is currently the best DX with 6 stations spotted on 160m FT8 RX so far.

UPDATE 1725z: Now 47 stations spotted this evening on 160m FT8 RX, all over Europe.

 

Stations spotted on 160m FT8 RX 

so far this evening.

UPDATE 1850z:  Best DX so far this evening on 160m FT8 RX is RU8W (3643km).

Ice - NOT amateur radio

Although we had no signs here of a frost, there were frozen puddles at nearby Wicken village where we did a walk earlier.

10m FT8 RX

Although I have been on 10m FT8 for about an hour, no spots as yet.

UPDATE 1540z:  Still no 10m FT8 spots today. At the moment, today looks like a bad day on 10m. Time to QSY to 160m FT8.