160m FT8

As I am now back home, I chose to go on 160m FT8. My initial 10W FT8 CQ was spotted by no-one. On 160m FT8 RX 12 stations spotted so far. A more recent CQ was spotted by 2 G stations. As usual, I am using my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground.

UPDATE 1740z: Now 67 stations spotted on 160m FT RX. Best DX is RW0AR (5585km).

Rallies

My apologies if the rally data is hard to read. In the last few weeks the text I simply import has a white background that many users find hard to read on a web browser. Manually, I could attempt to change this, but it is too time consuming.


Saturday 15 FEBRUARY : BALLYMENA ARC RALLY

Ahoghill Community Centre, 80 Cullybackey Road, Ahoghill BT42 1LA. Doors open at 10.30am and admission is £3. There is free parking on site. There will be traders a Bring & Buy and a prize draw will operate. Light refreshments will be available. Tables are free but must be pre-booked by email to HKernohan@aol.com. More details from Hugh, GI0JEV on 0282 587 1481.


Sunday 16 FEBRUARY : RADIOACTIVE RALLY

Nantwich Civic Hall, Cheshire, CW5 5DG. Free car parking, doors open 10.30am. There will be a Bring and Buy, as well as traders and an RSGB book stall. A single raffle ticket is included with the entrance programme; additional tickets available. Catering is provided on site. Contact Stuart Jackson on 0788 073 2534.


Sunday 16 FEBRUARY : LOMOND RADIO CLUB BRING-n-BUY EVENT

John Connolly Centre, Main Street, Renton G82 4LY. Doors open at 10am. There will be a Bring & Buy, traders and refreshments will be available. Contact Bill at mm0elf@blueyonder.co.uk.


A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

A VERY long time ago! - NOT amateur radio

This is a photo of me in 1968. I had hair then!

Sunspots - Friday February 14th 2020

Solar flux is 71 and the SSN 0. A =3 and K=2.

OFCOM updates

On the OFCOM website there is more earth shattering news. They now have a new chief executive and director of emerging technologies. Guess it keeps them busy.

Canterbury Cathedral - NOT amateur radio

As we were in Canterbury and it was raining, we visited the cathedral. The photo shows the cloisters. There was lots of scaffolding around.

Sunspots - Thursday February 13th 2020

Solar flux is 72 and the SSN 0. A=4 and K=1.

St Pancras - NOT amateur radio

We went to Kent to see one of our grandchildren on the stage. We stopped at St Pancras for a coffee. The photo shows the roof. The Eurostar trains to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam leave from here.

70cm

Activity levels on 70cm are much lower than a few years ago. On my website at www.g3xbm.co.uk is a page about 70cm operation. This was written several years ago and since then activity levels have reduced. Personally I think this is sad as in many ways it is a more interesting band than 2m. Tropo openings seem better than on 2m.

Kitchen view - NOT amateur radio

This photo appeared as a Facebook memory from 6 years ago. Since then the hedge has grown well, but the view is much the same from the breakfast table. We can view the windmill whilst munching our toast. It is also visible from the lounge window.