Last evening on 2m FT8

Last evening I decided to go on 2m FT8. Apart from the first few minutes in which my 2.5W was spotted by 5 stations, I was on RX only spotting 13 stations in 2 countries. 

Grandson success - NOT amateur radio

He claims he doesn't really like running, but he still wins a medal for winning his cross-country run. He must take after his granddad - not!  It is many years since I have been able to run!

Last of the dahlias? - NOT amateur radio

On our visit to nearby Anglesey Abbey this week we saw these dahlias. I expect they will soon die. 

They have been in bloom for several months.

Tenner 10m QRP Transceiver

Before the last sunspot maximum I designed and made the Tenner 500mW 10m CW QRP transceiver. Especially in Es openings this is capable of plenty of contacts. It has crossed the Atlantic Ocean several times.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/10m_tenner

New Zealand elections - NOT amateur radio

New Zealand has led the way in fighting Covid-19. Essentially it has been largely free of the pandemic that has crippled much if the world. 

They have just had a general election and Jacinda Ardern's (the NZ PM) Labour Party is in line for a massive majority. We may differ over political policies, but we have to agree she did a good job in the fight against Covid-19.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-54519628

20m FT8 (2.5W and the indoor loop)

A few moments ago I turned on 20m FT8 QRP using 2.5W to the tiny indoor loop. It is 0840z. 

Yet again, I had a problem with decoding signals and the waterfall being smeary. After turning WSJT-X and the SignaLink interface off and on, it is now decoding. I am running Windows 10.

No spots of me yet and 4 stations spotted so far today.

UPDATE 1258z:  So far today, 3 stations have spotted my QRP 20m FT8 signal. On RX 84 stations have been spotted in 3 continents.

UPDATE 1412z:  5 stations have spotted me so far and I have spotted 108 stations in 4 continents.

UPDATE 1710z:  5 stations have spotted me today on 20m FT8 QRP and I have spotted 157.

RSGB Convention online

Southgate News reports that the RSGB Convention talks are available online.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2020/october/rsgb-convention-videos-on-youtube.htm#.X4qS7LfTVkw

Rear garden 2015 - NOT amateur radio

 

The photo shows our rear garden in 2015,

Fungi - NOT amateur radio

It must be all the rain we have had, but we saw several patches of fungi on our walk yesterday at Anglesey Abbey. 

OFCOM and spectrum trading

OFCOM is talking about spectrum trading at 2.6GHz. See the OFCOM website for more information.