Local Covid-19 cases - NOT amateur radio

 We live in East Cambridgeshire. It has the second lowest case numbers in the country and the R rate has dropped to 1.0 implying the infection rate is neither growing or falling. A week ago it was 1.2, so this is encouraging.

What next? - NOT amateur radio

The only bank in our village has been closed for about 2 years. As the photo shows, they have the builders in and are hoping to rent out commercial units for £12k per year. 

It has a central location and could make an ideal spot for small shops with a parking bay outside. Why so long?

15m FT8 QRP

It is now 1354z. For about 45 minutes I have been on 15m FT8 with 2.5W to the indoor loop. Nobody has copied me yet, but I have spotted 15 stations.

UPDATE 1515z:  42 stations in 4 continents spotted so far today. 2 spots of me so far with the furthermost being WE9V (6313km).

OFCOM updates on spectrum auctions

On the OFCOM website there are regulations relating to the spectrum action regarding 700MHz and 3.6-3.8GHz.

2m activity contest

Last night I took part for about 30 minutes in the low power section of the 2m activity contest organised by the RSGB. 8 QSOs had with 10W and the omni big-wheel antenna (see map). 

Valve site

Confession time....    In all my time I have never ever built a valve circuit!  

Maybe low voltage HTs might have persuaded me, but all my circuit ideas and projects have been semi-conductor based. If you are interested in valved circuits you may want to visit Andrew G6ALB's site.

See http://www.tetrode.co.uk/

Sunspots - Wednesday November 4th 2020

Solar flux is 83 and the SSN 15.  A=3 and K=0.

2m FT8 QRP

Most of the evening I have been on 2m FT8 QRP (2.5W and the big-wheel antenna). It is now 2133z and for the last hour I have been vertically polarised. Spotted by G0LRD (26km), but much weaker. Over this short path the cross-polarisation is evident. Nothing spotted on RX so far. With aircraft or other scatter I would have expected the polarisation to have had little effect.

eHam reviews of the IC-705

When looking to buy new rigs (not very often!) I tend to check out the eHam reviews. Now, people who write reviews tend to be very anti and give low ratings (probably because of a bad experience) or very pro. It is less common to see reviews written by "middle of the road" people. 

I was surprised to read only 3 reviews of the IC-705. By now, I was expecting to read many more. These 3 are all very positive.

As examples see all the reviews for Elecraft K3 and the IC-7300. There are loads.

See https://www.eham.net/reviews/view-product?id=14776

Updated solar data

Early in the month my favourite site for solar data updates for the month just gone. As it is November 3rd, this has been done.

See  https://www.solen.info/solar/