Getting older - NOT amateur radio

In December I am 71 years old. In some ways the teenage, carefree, days feel like just yesterday, although they were a long time ago.

I am aware of my age and that I can no longer do some of the things I once could. They say, "live in the moment", but that is sometimes hard to do. On the whole, I have had a good life. Yes, like everyone, there have been good times and bad.

All I can advise is do what you can. Milk life like there is no tomorrow. Be kind to people and consider how they feel whether 8 or 80.

FT-991A web page

I have owned the FT-991A for a few weeks now, so have created a webpage. As time goes by, I hope to add more stuff.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/ft991a

Sunspots - Wednesday July 17th 2019

Solar flux is 67 and the sunspot number 0. A=7 and K=1.

Hedge trimming time - NOT amateur radio

It is fair to say I am knackered! This year seemed far harder than last.

This morning, I trimmed the front laurel hedge, although I have still to do the far side and sweep up all the cuttings. Usually I do it once or twice a year. Although I have a cordless hedge-cutter, I find the mains powered one better for this job.

70cm threat?

Many do not realise it, but parts of the 70cm amateur band are shared with other services. Already there are some transceivers (licence free) that operate at low power at 70cm.

Southgate News has a piece about adding a transceiver module to a smartphone that gives communications at longer ranges than wi-fi . It operates at ISM frequencies at 433 and 915MHz.

The photo shows a typical 433MHz LORA module. There are plenty on the internet. The one on the Southgate link was 100mW.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2019/july/adding-lora-long-range-radio-to-smartphones-and-connected-devices.htm

UK pound losing value - NOT amateur radio

Perhaps this is to be expected with all the uncertainty over BREXIT, but the UK pound is losing value against major currencies.

My view is Boris Johnson will be elected leader of the Conservative Party and UK Prime Minister. He will try to get better terms from the EU and fail. There will be a vote of no-confidence in the government, which will be lost. There will be a general election with a coalition between Labour and the Lib-Dems. Another referendum will be held and we will vote to stay in the EU. Of course I could be very wrong!

Garden flowers - NOT amateur radio

From the sound of it, my brother in Devon has had far less rain than us. His lawns are already brown, whereas ours are still largely green. The photo shows the flowers on our patio earlier.

Rant time - NOT amateur radio

Recently my wife bought some granola from a local shop. Despite a good look we could see NOTHING about recycling. There was lots about birds and bees on the pack. In this day and age this is stupid and inexcusable.

In my view all supermarkets should tell their suppliers to make all packages compostable or recyclable or no business. They have the power and should use it.

6m FT8

In the last 3 hours 4 stations spotted on 6m FT8 this morning with best DX being YO7YM (1927km).

UPDATE 1032z: Widespread Es on 6m FT8 RX today with 72 stations spotted right across Europe.

UPDATE 1925z: Now 102 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX with best DX LA8ORF (2009km).

Sunspots - Tuesday July 16th 2019

Solar flux is 67 and the SSN 0. A=7 and K=1.