USA - UK trade deal - NOT amateur radio

Oh yes.

And I am sure this will come with plenty of strings (China, Huawei and Iran being three) and a strong "America first" bias. Personally, I think we should tread very carefully of Americans baring gifts. If it is too good to be true, it probably is.

Every American I have ever met in the flesh has been kind and generous, but I do not trust President Trump or his team.

Sunspots - Tuesday August 13th 2019

Solar flux is 67 and the SSN 0. A=6 and K=2. Pits.

Exhaustion and giddiness - NOT amateur radio

To be honest, the after effects of my 2013 stroke are getting me down. In the last few years there has been no improvement.

Today, the loft ladder beckoned (not actually into the loft, where I've not been since 2013!).

All the time on my feet giddiness and exhaustion are the main issues. Compared with my pre-stroke days, there are many things that can no longer be done. Chatting is now hard! Thinking of the positives, much can still be done. In many ways my life is far better than that of many. For this I am grateful.

At some point I need to re-erect my HF antenna and this involves getting up a ladder to the flat roof of my garage. In the past, this would have been trivial!

Cape Verde Is on 70cm

According to a second hand report on Southgate News the Cape Verde contest group can now operate on 70cms. Does this mean yet more astounding DX records will fall?

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2019/august/d4c-contest-team-set-up-new-432-mhz-station-on-cape-verde-islands.htm

The original report came from John's excellent blog at https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2019/08/new-432-mhz-station-on-cape-verde.html .

6m FT8

A few moments ago I went on 6m FT8 for the day being spotted by 6 stations with a QSO with 1 Italian. This could have been 2 but I realised too late that I was not on TX . On 6m FT8 RX 4 stations were spotted . There is early Es about .

UPDATE 0850z: 22 stations in 11 countries spotted so far today on 6m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1250z: 54 stations spotted so far. Widespread 6m Es again.

UPDATE 1605z: 112 stations spotted today on 6m FT8 RX with the best DX being EA8AQV (2989km). Plenty of Es still.

UPDATE 1912z: Now 173 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX. Clearly the Es season is not yet over.

UPDATE 2148z: QRT time. When I turned everything off, 163 stations spotted in the last 12 hours on 6m FT8 RX with the best DX being EA8JK (3022km).

Sunspots - Monday August 12th 2019

Solar flux is 69 and the sunspot number 0. A=7 and K=2. Still looks to me like we are bumping along the bottom of sunspot minimum.

472kHz (630m) WSPR overnight

In the end 2 stations spotted me on 472kHz WSPR, but no further stations were spotted here. At least the gear works.

Roman Chester - NOT amateur radio

Last week, we stayed with an old friend who is a blue badge guide for Liverpool and Chester. He gave us a free tour of Chester. The photo shows Roman Chester. Pretty sure the Roman soldier is there for the tourists! Small city, but lots to see.

Return to 472kHz WSPR

For the first time in many months I have returned to 472kHz WSPR using 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground using my transverter driven with the FT817ND. G1GKN (99km) is a good signal. So far, I have only been copied by G0VQH (15km).

UPDATE 2015z: Best DX on 472kHz WSPR RX is DL7NN (873km).

UPDATE 2120z: The following unique stations have been spotted:

Best DX on 472kHz WSPR RX is LA8AV (1035km).

UPDATE 2138z: Although I am not that hopeful, I shall stop on 472kHz WSPR overnight. It is still summer and the noise levels will be high, preventing many stations from copying my QRPP signal.

Thunder and Lightning

At the moment we have thunder and lightning, so everything in the shack has been disconnected for now.

See https://www.lightningmaps.org/blitzortung/europe/index.php?bo_page=map&bo_showmap=uk