Blackbird death - NOT amateur radio

A few days ago I was in the kitchen when there was an almighty bang: a young blackbird had crashed into the window. I was unsure if it was just stunned, so I left it on the lawn hoping it might recover and fly off.  Sadly, it died.

As often, this makes us consider our own mortality. In an instant this bird was dead, as we all will be one day. As a youth I had quite a strong faith. Now I am more unsure. What I do realise is how little we know. One has only to think how our understanding of the universe and evolution has changed in the last 200 years to realise this.

In the case of this blackbird, it saddens me to think of all the effort of the parents just snubbed out in a second. They probably spent days on making the nest, then days feeding it.

See the poem "Spring and Fall" by Gerald Manley Hopkins.

Poppies - NOT amateur radio

On our walk yesterday we passed this field of poppies. It was a sight to gladden the heart.

Certainly since our lockdown we have appreciated simple things more. It is not all bad.

Excellent talk

Last night the Cambridge club had a virtual meeting in the form of a Zoom talk about secret listeners in WW2. We had about 31 people watching the slides. The speaker would have had to travel a long way if this was a "real" talk. In many ways this was better for me than attending the club in person.

Sunspots - Saturday June 13th 2020

Solar flux is 71 and the SSN 11.  A=4 and K=0.

Cambridge club Zoom talk

Since lockdown, the Cambridge club (CDARC) has been unable to meet. Instead they have had a series of talks online the latest of which is tonight. 

I have to say, they have all been excellent. So much so, that I rejoined CDARC as a country member. Zoom talks work well for me as I do not have to travel 26 miles at night in the dark. Details of tonight's talk are on the CDARC website.

2m activity contest

The results for the June 2m activity contest have just been published by the RSGB. 

This friendly contest is arranged on all VHF bands every month. I have a go in the 2m and 70cm contests with 10W and my 2m big-wheel omni antenna used on both bands.  Usually I stay on for less than an hour because of my poor voice. It is mostly SSB. 

My position in the low power section has gone up. If I stayed on longer, I could work far more stations. I do not take this, or any, contest seriously.

10m WSPR TX (500mW to the indoor loop)

Using my stand-alone 10m WSPR beacon, I am again on 10m WSPR TX. So far today just spots from local G4KPX (14km) and HB9TMC (905km).

6m FT8

Since earlier this morning, I have been on 6m FT8 with my 10W to the V2000 vertical. 37 spots so far, but no QSOs with far fewer stations on RX. All so far are EU. Most of the spots of me are Es from Europe.

Shack earlier

The photo shows my shack earlier. Currently I am on 6m FT8 and 10m WSPR TX.

Simple VFO

This tiny VFO from ZL2PD may be an answer when the price of crystals is so high. It has a display too.

See https://www.zl2pd.com/sugarcube_VFO.html