Can it get worse? 10m

For about 30 minutes now, I have been on 10m FT8 with 2.5W and the tiny 45cm indoor loop. The last few days have been dire. I have (so far) only been spotted by local Gs. and I have only spotted one South American and a few southern Europeans on Es yesterday. Today, so far, just spots by local M1BXF (13km).

UPDATE 1001z:  Still no RX spots and just spotted by M1BXF on TX. It looks like the Es "season"  has not yet properly started. We get the occasional brief opening. In the Es season proper 10m can be open for hours with strong signals.

UPDATE 1342z:  At the moment still being spotted only by 3 local stations on 10m FT8 TX. Still nothing spotted yet today on 10m FT8 RX here.m FT8

UPDATE 1515z:  Yes it can get worse! Still no RX spots at all so far today and just 3 local spots on TX.

UPDATE 1817z:  On 10m FT8 RX 6 stations in the Canary Is spotted just before tea.I guess this was Es. Still just the local Gs spotting my 2.5W.

UPDATE 2030z:  Now QRT. I shall try 15m FT8 tomorrow with 2.5W and the tiny 45cm indoor loop.

10 years ago - NOT amateur radio

This photo was taken 10 years ago. It shows one of our grandchildren smelling daffodils. Happy days!

Sunspots - Monday April 20th 2020

Solar flux is 69 and the SSN 0. A=3 and K=2.  G1 storm level. Basically poor.

Something for the weekend

As usual, Martin Lynch has some "something for the weekend" offers. As far as I can tell, there are no great bargains here. Prices seem quite high and this appears just another way of marketing their offers.

The IC-7300 still remains at the same (inflated?) price. I get the feeling this is "market priced" i.e. priced at what the punters are prepared to pay. I am unsure if this is what ICOM is ordering. The true price would be well under £1000.

See https://www.hamradio.co.uk/

Quiet beaches - NOT amateur radio

My brother has just sent me this picture of a beach he has just cycled to in South Devon. Normally the beach would be busy on a sunny Sunday. This is where I came from.

New perspectives - NOT amateur radio

One thing recent Covid-19 events have taught all of us is that what we may have thought important in our lives turn out to be not important at all.  All of us has had to re-assess what really matters.

I expect for many of us, life will never be quite the same ever again. My hope is that this will lead to more compassionate societies. Certainly, in most people recent events have brought out the best in people with many showing great kindness.

Guernsey special event station

Southgate News reports that there will be a special event station on Guernsey to commemorate its liberation. Thus will be active in May.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/april/guernsey-special-event.htm#.Xpww92jYq00

Oscar 100 geosynchronous satellite

Every few weeks I report on occupancy of the narrow-band transponder of this satellite. I take a look at the BATC web SDR at Goonhilly in Cornwall.

My very unscientific look just now shows little change. It is still far from crowded. The satellite has been working for over a year now and allows real DX QSOs without QSB at any time. I guess the lack of "black box" rigs is keeping numbers down.

My dad 100 years ago - NOT amateur radio

This picture shows my dad almost 100 years ago. It looks posed for the cameraman. I think he was a sea scout, but I think this was later in his childhood.

Later, he became a Pathfinder in Lancasters flying at night in WW2 over Germany. He must have been terrified every night. One of my greatest regrets was not speaking with him about this before he died in 1987. I think he hated the war really.

Village walk - NOT amateur radio

We have just got back from our "lockdown" walk around the village. We saw very few people and those we did were very considerate so we passed with plenty of space. In all, we walked about 3.6 miles.

It's funny - because we have to we have probably walked more recently than we would have done! In the past, we would probably thought of some excuse. Everyone says "hello".

A very common bird around here is the goldfinch. These are often seen and not heard. They are very attractive birds. They often fly in groups and like thistles.