G3RJV Silent Key - Mr QRP

Sadly, as reported elsewhere, the Rev George Dobbs G3RJV who helped start the GQRP Club in 1974 has died. He had had dementia for some while, but this is sad news. I am sure he will be greatly missed in the amateur community. He certainly inspired me.

See https://www.amateurradio.com/ .
See also http://southgatearc.org/news/2019/march/rev-george-dobbs-g3rjv-silent-key.htm#.XIjpcPZ2u00

Clunch outhouse - NOT amateur radio

Clunch is a kind of chalk. Many walls and buildings around here are made of clunch. The out-building in the photo was badly cracked in the heat last summer, so they decided to rebuild it. The old roof timbers are propped against the wall, which is also clunch I think.

Plymouth Argyle - NOT amateur radio

So I am not a big soccer fan, but I still look to see how my old local team is doing. As last season, they were lingering at the very bottom of their league, whereas they are now way up the table. Not being an avid follower, I am not sure why they are doing so well again after their poor start. At this rate they should be safe and avoid relegation to a lower league.  

See https://www.pafc.co.uk/ .

160m conditions changing?

Many times in the past I have said that I am definitely no expert on 160m!

Last night the only North American spotted on 160m FT8 RX was V31MA (8300km) in Belize. The other station copied from "across the pond" was KV4FZ (6764km) in the Caribbean.

In all, 242 stations spotted on 160m FT8 RX overnight with the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. Now, this could be conditions changing or just a bad night.

160m FT8 RX spots overnight

Sunspots - Wednesday March 13th 2019

Solar flux is 69 today and the sunspot number 11. A=7 and K=1.

That BREXIT vote - NOT amateur radio

My gut says that the UK Prime minister is going to fail to get her EU withdrawal bill approved tonight when the House of Commons votes. If this happens, I suspect the UK pound will fall heavily against the Euro and the US Dollar. I may be wrong and frequently have been in the past.

If we do not accept her deal, we will be in a constitutional crisis, probably the biggest since WW2. Why does Mrs May not seek compromise? To my mind she seems an obstinate woman. I am a floating voter and have voted for most UK parties in the past.

At the moment, the UK parliament seems unable to govern. The sad thing is, I see no good leaders in any party.  Will we see good leaders in my lifetime?

UPDATE 2132z: The government lost the vote again. Will the UK Prime Minister never learn?

QSYed to 160m FT8

About 10 minutes ago I QSYed from 10m to 160m FT8. I called CQ (2.5W) at first (no spots, which I was surprised at) and now I am RX only. As yet, no RX spots.

UPDATE 1645z: Europeans are starting to appear now.

UPDATE 1700z: Now 5 stations in 4 countries spotted so far this afternoon on 160m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 2155z: Now 231 stations spotted on 160m FT8 RX. As yet, most are Europeans.

Stations spotted this evening so far on 160m FT8 RX 

using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground.

70cm activity contest this evening

Although I use my 2m big-wheel omni on 70cm and just 5W, I usually try this friendly, once a month, contest. I often work over 100km. This is in the UKAC contest series organised by the RSGB. Although the contest runs for 2.5 hours, I am rarely on for even as much as an hour. If you are in the UK or other parts of western Europe, you may want to give it a try, even if you don't send a log in.

As I have said before, these UKAC contests are friendly and good fun. Even if you don't usually "do" contests they are, in my view, worth entering.

UPDATE 2150z: Just 2 QSOs but one was G4CLA (105km), which is a respectable distance on 70cms with 5W to a 2m omni antenna!

New Sepura products adopted by Met Police - NOT amateur radio

In a previous life (well it feels like that, having been retired for almost 11 years!) I worked for Sepura. Their latest products have been adopted by the Met Police, which must be good news.

Sepura specialises in TETRA terminals with an emphasis on public safety users.

See

https://www.sepura.com/news/metropolitan-police-service-invests-in-sepura-tetra-terminals-in-force-wide-refresh

10m FT8

After a few minutes calling CQ (2.5W) I am now on 10m FT8 RX only. I have been active on 10m for about an hour. So far, no 10m spots here today.

I see John EI7GL has spotted a couple of Europeans on 10m FT8 today.

UPDATE 1600z: Still no 10m FT8 spots here today. Soon be time to QSY. I think I'll try 160m FT8 RX (1.840MHz USB) this evening and overnight.