Surprise - NOT amateur radio

We get little snow here these days. When I drew back the curtains this morning I was greeted by this surprise. 

I expect it will have gone by lunchtime. It looks good at the moment.

15m FT8 RX

It is now 0921z.  I am on 15m FT8 RX.  So far, 13 stations spotted on RX. 

UPDATE 0954z:  49 stations so far spotted on 15m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1122z:  126 stations so far spotted with the furthermost being ZS6LKF (9089km).

UPDATE 1527z: 301 stations spotted today on 15m FT8 RX (see map). Not bad with just the tiny indoor loop sitting on the shack windowsill. It is about 0.5m diameter and the wire is about 1mm across.

8m amateur band in Croatia

Southgate News reports that Croatia has given a 1 year permit to 9A6W to operate on the 8m band. Others may follow. It would be great to see others in other countries get permission.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2020/december/croatia-gets-new-40-mhz-band.htm#.X8lXBmiTLrc

Sunspots - Friday December 4th

 Solar  flux is 103 and the SSN 40. A=3 and K=0.

2m FT8 QRP (Thursday)

Since 1845z, I have been on 2m FT8 RX with the FT817ND and the big-wheel omni antenna. So far, just one station spotted - G8GXP (201km).

UPDATE 2100z: 8 stations spotted with the furthermost being DL6YBF (471km).

UPDATE 2118z:  I have just turned on my 2.5W TX. 3 stations in 2 countries have spotted me on TX and I have spotted 11 stations on 2m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 2144z: 7 stations have spotted me tonight so far with the furthermost being ON6LEO (392km).The TX spots are shown on the second map with the RX spots here on the first map.

UPDATE 2201z:  Now 8 stations have spotted me with the best DX EI2FG (565km).

UPDATE 2230z: QRT.

WSJT-X v2.3.0-rc2

For the last 12 hours or so, I have been using the latest "release candidate" version of WSJT-X, which is 2.3.0-rc2.  Certainly on FT8 it appears stable and works well. The only thing I have found is an annoying pop-up box saying I do not have logbook of the world on my PC. I seem to recall this on an earlier version.

See https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx.html

Winter - NOT amateur radio wife took this

According to the UK Met Office, we are, from December 1st, in winter. I agree that December, January and February are winter and March is the start of spring. 

We have had some very wet days this year. There have been far more wet days in this part of England than I ever remember. It is very dull.  November and December are among the dullest of months. At least in January the days are getting longer and there is new hope around with snowdrops, daffodils and buds starting.

My wife took the photos in the collage yesterday.  

Winter!

15m FT8 RX

At about 0900z, I turned on 15m FT8 RX using the FT817ND and the tiny indoor loop. It is now 0915z and already 28 stations spotted including the Middle East and Asiatic Russia spotted.

UPDATE 1115z:  136 stations spotted on 15m FT8 RX today so far. The furthermost is UA9Y (5055km).

UPDATE 1520z:  372 stations spotted so far today on 15m FT8 RX. See map. As you can see, plenty of North and South Americans spotted. It is hard to think this is not too far off sunspot minimum. What will it be like at the maximum?

Sunspots - Thursday December 3rd

 Solar flux is 105 and the SSN 41.  A=4 and K=0.

2m FT8 QRP (Wednesday)

At about 2020z, I QSYed to 2m FT8 QRP with 2.5W to the big-wheel omni. 7 stations spotted on 2m FT8 RX with best DX DL6YBF (471km). On TX, my 2.5W has been spotted by 8 stations with the furthermost being EI2FG (565km).