For a laugh - NOT amateur radio

This was on WhatsApp earlier, although I have no idea where it originated.   It brought a smile to my face. 

BTW, I have had some excellent vegan meals and could quite easily be a vegetarian, although I enjoy meat. Being a vegan would probably be a step too far.

See bcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/vegetarian-recipes

Shack photo

This photo was taken a few minutes ago. 

It shows the equipment that I use. 

For FT8 I use the FT817ND and the SignaLink. The FT991A is only used at QRP levels. 

Cottage - NOT amateur radio

 

We saw this cottage on our walk yesterday. Thatcher's often have trademarks. In this case it is the dog on the roof made of straw. 

10m FT8 QRP - Saturday

At 1027z, I QSYed to 10m FT8 with the tiny indoor loop and 2.5W. No spots yet.

UPDATE 1050z: Nothing yet on 10m FT8 RX, but spotted on TX by G3NSM (123km) in Oxford, UK.

UPDATE 1508z:  Still nothing spotted on RX and just the single spot on TX. In a years' time I expect things to be much better. At the moment, 10m seems very quiet. On FT8 I was expecting to spot a few stations. I am RX only just now.

2m FT8 QRP - Saturday

It is now 0924z. Since 0857z I have been on 2m FT8 with 2.5W and the big-wheel omni antenna. So far, nothing spotted on RX and 4 stations have spotted me on TX with the furthermost being G4RRA (333km) in Devon.

UPDATE 1000z:  6 stations spotted and 8 stations spotted me on TX. 1 QSO so far.

Sunspots - Saturday November 21st 2020

 Solar flux is 82 and the SSN 11. A=8 and K=2.

Huge EME dish going

Back in the mid 1960s, the huge dish at Arecibo, Puerto Rico was used for amateur EME experiments. As the gain was so large, this gave more modest stations a chance "via the moon". Sadly the dish was badly damaged in a storm and it is to be decommissioned according to a piece in Southgate News. FT8 and other digital modes have opened up EME to others now, but this is sad news.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/november/arecibo-dish-to-be-decommissioned.htm#.X7fYl2iTLrc

Muddy walk - NOT amateur radio

 

This morning we did another walk. In parts it was very muddy as the photo shows!

Mushrooms? - NOT amateur radio

We saw these on our walk earlier in the week. I think they are edible, but as we were not 100% sure, we left them.

2m FT8 QRP - Friday

Since about 1145z, I have been on 2m FT8  with the usual 2.5W and the big-wheel omni antenna. So far, I have been spotted by 5 G stations. It is now 1204z.

UPDATE 1252z:  8 spots of me and 9 stations so far today on 2m FT8.

UPDATE 1400z:  11 spots of me today including GI6ATZ (479km) on TX and 15 spots of others on RX.