2m FT8

A few moments ago I went on 2m FT8 again. As usual, I am using 10W to the big-wheel omni antenna. On 2m FT8 RX 2 stations in 2 countries spotted and on TX I have been spotted by 7 stations in 2 countries so far.

UPDATE 1028z: Now spotted by 11 stations in 4 countries with best DX a spot by EI3KD (583km) in or near Cork.  One QSO so far with M0NPT (125km). On 2m FT8 RX, 3 stations in 3 countries spotted so far.

UPDATE 1128z: Now 6 stations in 4 countries spotted on 2m FT8 RX today so far.

UPDATE 1242z: Now 15 stations in 6 countries spotting my 10W 2m FT8 TX today so far.

UPDATE 1540z: Now spotted by 22 stations in 6 countries on 2m FT8 TX (10W) as the map shows.

UPDATE 2323z: Now QRT. In all 36 stations in 7 countries spotted my 10W FT8 on 2m today.

OFCOM

OFCOM has details of the release of additional 5G spectrum on its website. See the OFCOM website for more details.

Chestnut tree - NOT amateur radio

A very long time ago a couple of horse chestnut trees were planted in our churchyard to celebrate the battle of Waterloo in 1815. The photo shows one of the pair with rooks busy nest building!

Sunspots - Friday March 13th 2020

Solar flux is 70 and the SSN 0. A=7 and K=3.

That crash - NOT amateur radio

Anyone looking at the stock markets, oil prices and currencies in the UK will realise this was a very bad day.

Clearly people are spooked by the Coronavirus and how it is being dealt with. A year from now we will, hopefully, look back at this time in amazement. I think the biggest thing is the uncertainty: nothing quite like this has ever happened in our lifetimes and we are all grappling with uncertainties. The virus seems more easy to catch than flu. At the moment we have no immunity.

With luck and good hygiene, these very bad times will pass and things will recover. In the meantime, batten down the hatches!

6m UKAC

Tonight is the March leg of the 6m activity contest starting at 2000z.

The only antenna for the band is my V2000 vertical omni. I'll try with 10W and see how it goes. Usually less than an hour on air is enough for my poor voice in the 2m UKAC.

See https://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/contest_rules.pl?year=2020&contest=6mukac

UPDATE 2114z: Never again!! With my vertical antenna it was very noisy and only 2 signals were heard and not one worked! With my 6m set-up, this is one contest I am happy to ignore.

Amateur radio and coronavirus cancellations

In the months ahead, we can expect more amateur events to be postponed or cancelled. At the moment (as far as I know) Dayton and Friedrichshafen are still on. If these were cancelled it would be a huge thing.

Rally cancelled

As the Coronavirus bites, I think we can expect more rallies to be cancelled in the weeks ahead.

Sunday 15 MARCH : CANCELLED  35th WYTHALL RADIO CLUB HAMFEST. 

Red-legged partridge - NOT amateur radio

These birds are becoming quite common. It is not unusual to see 2 or 3 in our garden. They were introduced (I think) in the 1800s and are now more common than the common partridge. They are handsome birds that can become very tame.

10m news

As many will already know, I am not a great fan of Tony's 10m Band Report on Southgate News.  To me, it would be more useful if it showed just DX worked from the UK or Western Europe. OK, it shows stations active, but can give the impression the band is busy. Yes, the propagation is there more often than we might think, but at this part of the solar cycle it can be much harder to find.

UPDATE 2136z: See my short article about 10m on p32 of the RSGB April RadCom.