Sunspots - Wedesday March 20th 2019

Solar flux is 70 and the SSN 13. A=3 and K=1.

2m FT8

This mode never fails to amaze me.

With 2.5W to the big-wheel omni I get spotted at distances I could only dream about on SSB. Not only that, but my poor voice can have a rest. OK, QSOs tend to be basic exchanges and FT8 is not a mode for long chats. Nonetheless, for a QRP station like mine, it is a game changer.

A brief CQ (2.5W to the omni) earlier was spotted by 9 stations with best DX a spot by GI6ATZ (478km). Already a station in Germany has been spotted on 2m FT8 RX. The Hepburn tropo forecast seems to indicate that conditions are flat.

Stations that spotted my 2.5W 2m FT8 CQ just now.

UPDATE 2255z: Bedtime!  In all, 23 stations in 6 countries spotted on 2m FT8 RX this evening.

Stations spotted this evening on 2m FT8 RX.

BREXIT - NOT amateur radio

We are meant to be leaving the EU next week. Yet UK politicians are behaving like a bunch of school children squabbling over a piece of chocolate. Whatever your views we have made a right mess of leaving. No wonder the EU officials are frustrated.

What I fail to understand (2 years after the referendum) is why we did not agree before we triggered Article 50 what we could all agree on! The UK Prime Minister, Mrs May, seems to be very stubborn. Surely she must realise that her deal will only get approved as people are totally fed up and see us delaying BREXIT for possibly years.

The last straw will be a bribe for the DUP (more money for Ulster?) if they support her deal. Sorry, but the last 2 years has destroyed my faith in our representatives in the UK parliament. They are all, it would appear, like pigs in a trough. Whatever happened to consensus?  Bring back the stocks and let us throw rotten tomatoes at them.

Gearbest data breach?

An old work colleague has reported that users of Gearbest are at risk of a data breach. As far as I know, I used PayPal. Even so, they have my other details on file.

See https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/03/18/gearbest_data_breach_1_5m_customers_affected/

Alboran Island - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday I mentioned the Alboran Sea. This was completely unknown to me, so today I went looking more closely at this area. It turns out the Soviets tried to occupy Alboran Island back in the 1960s prompting the Spanish to station a garrison there.  There is a page about this small, remote islet.

See http://www.evs-islands.com/2008/02/isla-alboran-sp-isolated-mediterranean.html  .

10m FT8

For a couple of hours I have been calling CQ on 10m FT8 (2.5W). Unfortunately not a single report! On 10m FT8 RX 2 stations spotted so far. One was a G and one an MU. No great DX. These could have been tropo or aircraft reflections. There was another G spotted, which did not get uploaded to PSKreporter.

UPDATE 1638z: Still just 3 stations in 3 countries spotted today on 10m FT8 RX. Judging by the strength of PD1DL (328km), I suspect this was aircraft reflection.

UPDATE 1926z: I eventually went QRT on 10m at about 1900z. When I went QRT 5 stations had been spotted here.

Red Legged Partridge - NOT amateur radio

We often see these around and there were 2 in our back garden earlier. You cannot deny that these are good looking birds.

472kHz WSPR overnight

Poor!

472kHz WSPR overnight

This was probably the worst night this season with no new spots through the night that I had not already spotted in the evening. Likewise all the spots of my 10mW ERP were received before bedtime.

2m activity contest (UKAC) March 2019

The results of the March 2m activity contest organised by the RSGB have been published. I entered the Low Power section (AL) and my position has risen. Contests are not my thing, and I run very low power and omni antennas. Nonetheless, this is a very friendly affair and there is no compulsion to submit a score. Because of my poor voice I rarely stop on very long.

See https://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/readcal.pl

Oscar 100 - still not very busy

OK, it is still early days, but I am surprised that Oscar 100, the geosynchronous amateur satellite, is still not busy. I know some are still getting their gear set up, but by now I was expecting dozens of stations to be fighting for space. A casual listen on Monday afternoon and there were maybe 5 QSOs on SSB at most. Like many, I listen on the Goonhilly web SDR.

The advantages over other amateur satellites are the fixed dishes and wide coverage. It seems to work really well. And, of course, the DX is available day and night and totally independent of the solar cycle. Once aligned on the satellite it just works.

See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/