10m WSPR TX beacon

Since just before lunch I have been on 10m WSPR TX using 500mW to the tiny indoor loop antenna. No spots of me yet.

UPDATE 1655z:  A few spots received, but not many. With WSPR it is definitely harder to be spotted than with FT8 even though FT8 is less sensitive. There are far more people using FT8 now.

UPDATE 2145z:  7 unique stations spotted my little beacon today. QRT.

Hanging Basket - NOT amateur radio

We have just got back from a walk around the village. This hanging basket puts ours to shame!

Poppies - NOT amateur radio

My wife took this photo yesterday on our walk. It shows poppies beside a ripening cornfield.

Sunspots - Sunday July 12th 2020

Solar flux is 69 and the SSN 0 again. A=3 and K=1.

Swallows - NOT amateur radio

Swallows (barn swallows in some countries) have had numbers down this year. This could just be a blip or it could be a trend. It was good to see some on our walk earlier.

2m VHF NFD

Last weekend was the UK's VHF NFD. I have not taken part for years. They changed the rules this year because of the lockdown regulations. I entered the low power section on 2m SSB mainly to give some points away, knowing I have absolutely no chance! I restricted operating to 2 brief sessions. The stations worked are shown on the map. All fairly close, with no real DX.

Reach Port - NOT amateur radio

Reach is a sleepy village these days. At one time it was a busy port with a waterway built by the Romans. The photo shows a boat on Reach Lode today.

National Trust seat - NOT amateur radio

After years working for the local water board, my dad ran a job creation scheme for the National Trust in Devon mending coastal footpaths. He loved it. When he died in 1987 they erected two seats in his honour. This was me on one a few years ago.

East Anglian skies - NOT amateur radio

In this area of the UK (East Anglia) we have few hills. The compensation is the big skies. The photo was taken on our walk earlier.

6m FT8

It is now 1002z. After returning from our walk earlier I have turned on my 6m FT8 gear using 10W and the V2000 vertical omni antenna. 14 spots of me today so far.

UPDATE 1258z: 58 stations have spotted me and I have had a few QSOs. I notice that K1TOL (5083km) has spotted me on 6m FT8 TX. On 6m FT8 RX 89 stations spotted with 4 in the USA.

UPDATE 1424z: Spotted by 67 unique stations today so far on 6m FT8 with 10W and the V2000 vertical omni with the best being FG5GH (6691km).

Stations spotting
my 10W to 1550z

UPDATE 1550z:  78 spots of me today so far.

UPDATE 1714z:  131 spots of me so far today including 3 transatlantic ones. All the QSOs have been Europeans.

UPDATE 1810z:  172 stations spotted here today on 6m FT8 RX including 20 transatlantic stations (17 in the USA and 3 in the Caribbean).

6m FT8 stations
spotted here today

UPDATE 2020z:  Now QRT on 6m.  In all, I was spotted by 175 unique stations today. On RX 210 stations spotted here. In terms of "real DX" i.e. DX outside Europe, today was probably the best for me this season.