DX Summit

In all my time in the hobby, I don't remember using this site. I was reminded of it by a fellow local earlier this week. It looks like a useful site.

See http://www.dxsummit.fi

Orchids - NOT amateur radio

My wife loved orchids.

They only need a thimbleful of water a week and are therefore easy house plants. We have 7 (I think) and there are usually 3 in flower at a time.

The collage shows the ones in flower at the moment.

The RSGB

Like the ARRL in the USA, the RSGB is the national amateur radio society in the UK. Like all organisations, it is not perfect.

However, they produce a monthly magazine for members and provide a lot of services behind the scenes. Its strength is its members.  They elect officers. I have been a member since 1962 - I must be old!!

See https://rsgb.org/

Sunspots - Thursday April 30th

Solar flux is 70 and the SSN 24 (higher than for some time - hopeful!).  A=3 and K=0.

Operation Manna - NOT amateur radio

75 years ago today, food was dropped on Holland at the end of WW2 in something called Operation Manna. The Dutch were starved by the Nazis.

My dad, who was a Pathfinder flying in Lancaster 582 squadron as a flight engineer, dropped food on Rotterdam on May 7th 1945.

I hope these cruel times are far behind us, but they remind us that humans can be very cruel.

My dad died in 1987 and never really wanted to talk about the war. Looking back he must have been terrified on every mission. One of my greatest regrets was not talking with him about those days and telling him how brave he was.

Utility room pictures - NOT amateur radio

When we wash the dishes we see these pictures on our utility room wall. As you can see, we like to be reminded of good times.

Just out of shot is the windmill next door. We get quite a good view from the utility room window. At the moment the windmill is quiet. In the not too distant future it will be 200 years old. It is due for a repaint.

Roses - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows a rose in our front garden. There are several now in flower.

Cycle 25 spots

Spaceweather.com reports cycle 25 spots are appearing. At the same time we are still seeing spots from cycle 24. It will still be a while before cycle 25 begins properly and we can confidently say sunspot cycle 25 is really motoring.

See https://spaceweather.com/

Global economy - NOT amateur radio

One thing the global pandemic has warned us about is over-reliance on long supply chains in the interests of low costs. Although it is unlikely globalisation will stop, I can see people in some cases paying a bit more for goods made nearer home. Over the next few years I can see China facing the impact of this. If we make more in the UK and EU I cannot see this being so bad. It reduces air miles, helps the environment and helps jobs.

Very old Fredbox photo

This photo of me having a chat on my 2m Fredbox must be over 45 years old!

It was taken at our Cambridge flat we moved from in 1975!

The Fredbox is a 10mW AM transceiver that I designed and built for 2m. As most QSOs were with Cambridge local Fred G8BWI, it had to be called the Fredbox! At the time I had hair!!

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vuhf/fredbox for far more infomation, photos, schematic and a video.