RF interference levels

At the moment, I am quite rare in having a quiet RF noise level. Others are not so lucky and HF operating is all but impossible. Southgate News reports on an IARU submission to CISPR on this.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/june/rising-rf-noise-levels-iaru-submits-paper-to-cispr.htm#.XtkLr4jYrrc

70cm yagi

Unless I am mistaken the photo shows the homebrew 4 el yagi I made about 7 years ago for use in portable activity contests.

I still have this antenna in the back of the garage. It has not been used in recent years. The mast is just a PVC tube trapped in the car door.

Zoom jazz gig - NOT amateur radio

As reported a few days ago, my son is a professional jazz pianist. He plays at all the very best venues in London and around the UK and has appeared on the BBC and other radio stations and has done tours overseas.

Currently, with venues closed, he is unable to play live gigs. Last night he did a Zoom performance with people buying tickets. It was a great success.

Not so modern technology

This photo appeared as a memory earlier. Looks good stuff, although I doubt it will ever catch on, HI.

10m WSPR TX

After a very disappointing day yesterday ( no spots) I have just turned on my 500mW WSPR TX beacon using the tiny indoor loop antenna.

UPDATE 1055z:  Just G4KPX (14km) spotting me currently.

6m FT8

At about 0600z my 10W 6m FT8 to the V2000 vertical was turned on. So far today just 2 G spots.

UPDATE 0845z:  54 spots of me so far, mostly EUs via Es.

UPDATE 1456z: 137 spots of me and a few QSOs so far. On RX 100 stations spotted so far. Best DX is an OD5. on both TX and RX.

Sunspots - Thursday June 4th 2020

Solar flux is 70 and the SSN 12.  A=4 and K=1.

10m WSPR TX (500mW)

Once again I am on 10m WSPR TX using 500mW to the tiny indoor loop. No spots of me yet today.

UPDATE 1111z:  Still no spots so far today.

6m FT8

Usually I go on 6m FT8 to have QSOs. Sometimes I just want to TX to find out on PSKreporter where my 10W is being copied. Calling CQ works, but confuses people who call me. Is there a way to TX and appear on PSKreporter that makes it clear to others that I am sometimes not after QSOs?

UPDATE 1113z:  A few Es spots so far today on TX. On RX, very few Es spots so far today.

UPDATE 1355z: On occasions, I want to just look on PSKreporter to see where I have been spotted, but without calling CQ, which can cause confusion. So far, I have not found a way unless I put in a fictitious callsign. Evertyhing I have tried so far does not appear on PSKreporter. Any suggestions?

OFCOM updates

OFCOM has updated its Communications Monthly for June. This has the statistics for June. See their website for more information.