Sumac tree - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows next door's sumac tree against a blue sky.  Today was very hot.

Shack photo

The photo shows me in the shack earlier.  It has been very hot today.

"If it ain't broke don't fix it" - NOT amateur radio

For years I have used an interface for this blog that seemed to work fine. Now Google has changed this and I find it is far slower. I also found out that sometime in the next year I have to change all my websites to their new format. Now I am sure there are some upsides, but the overall impression is they make things worse, not better. 

A few years ago they stopped supporting Picassa, so it is now far more involved to post people photos. One step forwards and two steps backwards!! 

It is like clothes - made to a price, so thinner material, poorer quality. We bought a coat recently to replace one that was many years old. You guessed - fewer pockets and thinner material. 

We thought about buying a new bag from the National Trust. You guessed - fewer pockets and poorer material.

Why?

Hot - NOT amateur radio

Hot! We usually do a walk most days but decided not to today as it is too hot. Instead we are reading books in the shade in the garden. 

10m FT8

 Since mid-morning, I have been on 10m FT8 with about 4W and the indoor loop.  It is now 1230z. Up to now, 23 stations, all in Europe, have spotted me. On RX 67 stations have been spotted here. Best DX on RX is 5T5PA (3791km).

UPDATE 2049z: In the last half day, 104 stations were spotted on RX and 39 stations spotted my 4W and indoor loop. Now QRT.

Swifts - NOT amateur radio

Although I have been in the garden all morning not seen a single swift has been seen. Most have now gone. They don't stay long.

UPDATE 2042z:   We spent much of the day in the garden. Not a single swift was spotted all day.

Sunspots - Friday August 7th 2020

Solar flux is 73 and the SSN 14.  A=5 and K=2.

10m FT8

At about 1417z I swapped from 10m WSPR (500mW) to 10m FT8 (4W) using the indoor loop in the shack.  No spots yet.

UPDATE 1830z:  6 spots of me so far, all in Europe. Probably Es. Just 3 spots on RX.

Open! - NOT amateur radio

Our local museum has now opened one day a week. It should have opened at Easter. So good to see it in action again.

23cm

This is a band I have never transmitted on. Many years ago I borrowed a RX converter and had a play one evening with an indoor home-made 4 el antenna. Quite a few people have played around on the band with the SG labs 2W transverter that comes with a PCB HB9CV antenna.

Some erect serious stations with big antennas and linears with far more power. These people can access scatter modes and get ranges that some would consider amazing for a microwave band.

I guess the trouble is that we cannot do everything as time and money are limited.  There is so much I would like to try!

See http://www.sg-lab.com/TR1300/tr1300.html