Conspiracy theories - NOT amateur radio

This latest coronavirus seems to be something that naturally occurred and has worldwide impact but....

Have you thought that a hostile state could use biological warfare against its enemies?

Just imagine if research led to a bacterium or virus that was deadly to certain ethnic groups? A nation could cause an outbreak that could be hard to stop in certain peoples. This could be hard to target (for example there are lots of Chinese people in the USA and Australia).

Just like cyber warfare, such things could be very hard to prove, but could be very damaging.

All I am saying is the world is a very different place from 50 years ago.

Anemone blanda - NOT amateur radio

My wife took this photo yesterday. It shows an anemone blanda at nearby Anglesey Abbey.

Sunspots - Monday March 9th 2020 - sunspots back!

Solar flux is 70 and the SSN 13. A=5 and K=2.

Earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground repair

Assuming it remains dry, I intend to fully replace the wire. A few weeks ago it broke and I suspect there may be breaks elsewhere. The wire has been there for over 6 years, so now is a good time to replace it. Some of the wire from the far ground runs just above the ground along the garden fence.

At the old QTH bringing this wire back to the house on the ground and using another ground close to the house (rather than the mains earth) seemed to make little difference at 472kHz. I think most radiation is from the loop formed in the ground. These findings seem to back this up.

UPDATE 1525z: As it has been raining I may have to wait until later this week.

20m FT8

A few minutes ago I went on 20m FT8 with the tiny indoor loop antenna. Already I have been spotted in Finland. On 20m FT8 RX 3 stations spotted so far today.

Although FT8 is still popular, I get the feeling this mode is going "off the boil" a bit.

UPDATE 1232z: I cannot believe how well this set-up works! Already 8 stations have spotted me with the best report of my 10W to the tiny indoor loop being K7BV (3897 miles). 27 stations in 3 continents spotted so far today.

UPDATE 1458z: So far today 22 spots of my 10W FT8 to the tiny indoor loop As there was a strong signal on my frequency I have QSYed HF about 100Hz. On RX 98 stations spotted so far today on 20m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1842z : 31 spots of my 10W today and 205 stations spotted.

Iris - NOT amateur radio

We went for a nice walk at nearby Anglesey Abbey in the spring sunshine. Most snowdrops have now past their best but the daffodils are looking great. This iris was on the winter walk.

Amateur TV streaming

The BATC streams quite a few ATV repeaters and other stuff. Although I have never got into ATV, it is worth a peek no and again. Ideally, it appears Flash is needed to view some streams. The photo shows the stream from GB3NV, the Norwich TV repeater.

See https://batc.org.uk/live/

Worldwide TV - NOT amateur radio

One of the external links on my website is to a place linking to TV stations around the world. Some definitely work. Watching TV from overseas can be educational.

See https://broadcast-live.com/television/englishusa.html

Sunspots - Sunday March 8th 2020

Solar flux is 70 and the SSN 0. A=5 and K=2 .

2m FT8

A few moments ago I decided to go on 2m FT8. On RX just 1 spot so far, but 12 spots of my 10W in 2 countries. Still using the big-wheel omni antenna.

The impression I am getting is that FT8 is getting fewer people now than a year ago.

UPDATE  1710z:  Still just the 1 spot on 2m FT8 RX and 12 spots of my 10W FT8 TX. No QSOs.

UPDATE  1715z: I was wondering what effect the of the Fly-Be (a mainly inter UK airline) collapse has had on aircraft scatter?  I think not much as I am still being widely spotted. I suspect there are just fewer active TX stations.

UPDATE 1801z:  Just one QSO with F5APQ (180km). Possibly stations are getting picky: if they have worked them before why bother? 17 spots of my 10W so far today. Best DX is yet again Cornwall G7RAU (461km), but another good report from GD3YEO (384km).

UPDATE 2011z: 21 stations spotted me this evening, but 3 QSOs in 3 countries. Only 6 stations spotted here this evening.

Stations spotting my
10W 2m FT8 TX today

UPDATE 2240z: 22 stations spotting me with 4 QSOs today. Soon it will be time to go QRT. Funny how 2m FT8 looks so different from 2m SSB with the same power. I seem to be able to be spotted and worked at ranges twice that of SSB at any time. If some QSOs are aircraft scatter, there must be lots of aircraft at lots of times. I am wondering if these long paths are some sort of scatter mode in which polarisation is less important and in which aircraft are not involved? As these paths seem to work at any time, I cannot believe the aircraft scatter theory.