Art exhibition - NOT amateur radio

Last weekend we went to an art exhibition in The Maltings at Ely. There were all sorts on display, not just paintings.

The picture shows just one stall.

Sadly, most things were expensive in the exhibition, so we bought nothing.

472kHz WSPR TX (10mW ERP)

Overnight I was spotted by 17 stations with the best DX again being LA9IY (1374km) in Norway. In the last 2 weeks I have been spotted by 44 receiving stations on 472kHz WSPR (see table).

10m FT8

Things are looking better than yesterday with 5 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX in 3 countries by 1036z. A recent 10m FT8 CQ call (2.5W) was spotted by no-one.

UPDATE 1208z: 9 stations in 4 countries spotted so far today on 10m FT8 RX. The Spanish stations spotted had huge signals.

10m FT8 RX spots today

UPDATE 1842z: 48 stations spotted today including South America and St Helena. A good 10m day considering where we are in the solar cycle (rock bottom!).

Sunspots - Thursday November 7th 2019

Solar flux is 69 and the SSN 0. A=5 and K=1.

472kHz WSPR TX (10mW ERP)

After a dismal day on 28MHz FT8 RX, I have again QSYed to 472kHz WSPR TX. On my first 2 minute transmission I was spotted by 2 stations with best DX PAOEHG (296km).

UPDATE 2125z: So far 12 stations have spotted me this evening on 472kHz WSPR. This sounds typical. Will I reach Norway overnight?

UPDATE 2152z: LA9IT (1374km) copied me at 2128z.

Maltings and church - NOT amateur radio

On our walk around our village (Burwell) earlier we went past the church and the maltings. Both are old with parts of the church being almost 1000 years old.

Figs - NOT amateur radio

On a walk around the village earlier we saw these figs growing beside the road.

Miracle Antennas

The other day, I tried to find my Miracle Whip. I have not used this for many years. With a decent earth or counterpoise it is not that bad on the higher HF bands. It certainly is convenient and easy to match on all bands from 40m to the VHF bands. It fits on the back of the rig.

Years ago I even managed an 80m SSB QSO with it using the auto ATU in the ICOM IC-703 to help match the whip.

I searched high and low and failed to find the miracle whip. It is probably in the loft.

Originally these were made in Canada, but the designer has been dead for several years. Several people are offering similar antennas.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/mwhip

OFCOM interim chief executive

OFCOM has announced the appointment of Jonathan Oxley as interim chief executive. What thrilling, earth shattering, news. See their website, if you can contain your excitement.

10m FT8

I have QSYed to 10m FT8, mostly RX, for the day. When I switched on I called CQ on FT8 (2.5W) but no spots resulted. For the first time, I am seeing interference on 10m. I get vertical lines every few 10s of Hertz. I have no idea  if this is local or not.

UPDATE 1231z: Still no spots. A very recent 2.5W FT8 CQ was spotted by, you guessed, no-one. At the moment, 10m is looking dire.

UPDATE 1530z: Just one spot of F5PBG (548km) on 10m FT8 RX all day, well at least so far.