17m FT8 QRP (Thursday)

 As 10m was not good, I QSYed to 17m FT8 QRP at about 1353z. I am running 2.5W to the tiny indoor loop. 

At 17m, this is even smaller as a proportion of wavelength than 10m. Nonetheless, 11 spots on RX (including several from the USA) and 1 on TX.

UPDATE 1415z: 21 stations spotted so far on RX.

Yaesu FT991A

This Yaesu radio has been owned for about 18 months. Although used briefly for FT8, it is mainly used on 2m and 70cm SSB and 2m FM. It has only been used on low power. I was considering a trade-in for an IC-705, but have only been offered poor deals so far, so may stick with what I have.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/ft991a

10m FT8 QRP (Thursday)

It is now 1137z. For about 5 minutes I have been on 10m FT8 with 2.5W and the tiny indoor loop. So far, no spots today.

UPDATE 1345z: Still no spots

Flatford Mill - NOT amateur radio

This time in 2016, we visited Flatford Mill in Suffolk, UK. This was made famous by the painter John Constable. It is about 50 miles from here by car.

Last evening on 2m FT8 QRP

Last evening, I went on 2m FT8 QRP with 2.5W and the big-wheel omni antenna.  In all, I was spotted by 8 stations in 3 countries with the furthermost being EI2FG (565km). On RX, I spotted 3 stations in 2 countries.

Sunspots - Thursday January 28th 2021

Solar flux is 76 and the SSN 26. A=11 and K=1. 

10m FT8 QRP (Wednesday)

 At 1507z, I QSYed to 10m FT8 using 2.5W to the tiny indoor loop. So far, no spots.

Oscar 100 activity

Every few weeks I try to give my impression of activity on the narrow-band transponder of this geosynchronous satellite.  I do this by looking at the web SDR at Goonhilly in Cornwall. This is very unscientific.

My impression is activity levels are slightly up. I looked at mid-afternoon in Europe on a weekday. There are more people at home at the moment because of various lockdowns due to Covid-19.

See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/.

Primroses - NOT amateur radio

Over winter we always plant primroses for colour in an otherwise dull time of the year before the daffodils appear to brighten things up. In the spring these are replaced by summer annuals. 

We bought these from our village nursery. They were healthy plants and we will definitely use them again.

Normal times - NOT amateur radio

In normal times Cambridge has lots of bikes. Of course we are not in normal times.