6m FT8

At 0630z the 6m FT8 kit was turned on. A very brief TX period resulted in two UK spots, but no DX. Currently I am RX only.

UPDATE 1948z:  Today, I have mainly been on 6m FT8 RX. Just for a few minutes I was on TX. On RX  best DX were Saudi Arabia and Gulf states.

10m WSPR TX

Today I made an early start. At 0630z the 500mW WSPR beacon on 10m using the indoor loop antenna was turned on.

Stations spotting my 10m WSPR 500mW to 1825z

UPDATE 1825z: 19 different stations have spotted me today so far. And here was me thinking nobody used 10m WSPR!!

Simple pleasures - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday our son came. The photo shows our granddaughter enjoying an ice-cream in the shade in the garden.

Sunspots - Wednesday June 24th 2020

Solar flux is just 67 (poor) and the SSN 0. A=4 and K=2.

Alstromeria - NOT amateur radio

The colourful flowers were a gift from a friend. I think you will agree they are very bright.

8m and 5m news

EI7GL's blog has some news about the 8m and 5m bands. I do hope more countries get access to these bands in the near future. In my view the Eire government has been very far sighted.

See https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/

6m FT8

Once again, I am on 6m FT8 with 10W to the V2000 vertical omni antenna. So far 1 QSO and spotted by 53 stations. On RX, 110 stations spotted with the best so far being OD5KU (3468km). It is now 1020z.

UPDATE 1245z: So far today, 104 stations have spotted my 6m FT8 10W.

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

Since breakfast, I have been on 10m WSPR TX with the indoor loop and 500mW from the small beacon. So far, several spots by HB9TMC (905km) and one from DL5SFB (762km).

UPDATE 1250z:  So far today, 8 stations have spotted me on 10m WSPR TX.

Granddaughter - NOT amateur radio

This photo, of one of our granddaughters with her French grandma, was taken in a London park in 2013. Since then she has grown up a lot.

Internet linking

Quite a few (otherwise very quiet) repeaters have gone to internet linking. Locals can be quite surprised to hear people on the other side of the planet working portables close to home or to others in distant lands. I know of a few locals who have had lots of fun with Echolink and similar. For me this is not "real radio", but to some it is great fun and who am I to judge? The only difference is the internet carries the signal over most of the path, but the final hop can be by conventional radio, sometimes to a hand portable on 2m or 70cm.