25 Jan 2021

Yorkshire pudding - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday we had stew with homemade Yorkshire pudding. 

In days gone by Yorkshire pudding was served as a savoury first course to fill you up before the main course, so less meat was needed. This was particularly important in poor families.

2m FT8 QRP (Monday)

Since about 1030z I have been on 2m FT8 using 2.5W and the big-wheel omni antenna. Already I have been spotted in EI and GI. 

UPDATE 1535z: 29 spots of my QRP 2m FT8 so far today with furthermost being DJ8RZ (881km). See map for spots of me to lunchtime.

UPDATE 2130z:  26 stations in 7 countries have spotted my 2m FT8 QRP in the last 12 hours. 31 stations spotted here on RX in same period.

Anglesey abbey - NOT amateur radio

 

The collage shows nearby Anglesey Abbey a few days ago.  It is owned by the National Trust.

We walk there most weeks. It is about 1.2 miles around the winter walk and not very muddy. 

The other walk we do there is a bit further, but very muddy at the moment!

G1KQH's blog

 A reminder that you may want to visit the blog of Steve G1KQH.

See http://g1kqh.blogspot.com

VLF news 2021

Experiments continue at very low frequencies by radio amateurs. This is an area where all can take part on RX as the antennas can be very small indeed, yet highly effective. This is one of the frontiers in our hobby.

It is honest that to radiate a sub-10kHz signal does need a big antenna and dedication. Nonetheless, we need far more monitoring stations on RX only.

In the past I have tried to keep abreast of happenings at extreme VLF with my website on sub-9kHz operation. If I fail to update quickly, there are links to very up-to-date information. In 2021, I shall do my best.

See https://sites.google.com/site/sub9khz/news21 .

See also https://sites.google.com/site/sub9khz/home .

See also https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vlf .

Sunspots - Monday January 25th 2021

Solar flux is 78 and the SSN 23.  A=5 and K=1.

24 Jan 2021

Yesterday's snow - NOT amateur radio

These days we do not get that much snow. We have had more this year than for several years. More was forecast for this afternoon, but we are still waiting.

The photo shows the snow falling yesterday.

More grandson's art - NOT amateur radio

There is little doubt that our 11 year old grandson has a talent for art. The photo shows one of his latest creations.

His older creations are here. Some date back several years. I think some are 5 years old.

AM activity

This is very late! There are still a few hours left if you want to give HF AM a try.

See https://amqsoparty.wixsite.com/mysite

Cape Verde (D4) on 4m?

EI7GL reports  on his blog that the team in Cape Verde intend to try 4m operation in the coming Es season. There is some doubt that they will reach much of Europe as this may depend on multiple hop Es. At this lowish VHF frequency marine tropo ducts may be harder.

See https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2021/01/d4vhf-on-cape-verde-plans-to-be-on-70.html