UK Covid-19 vaccinations - NOT amateur radio

In many ways, the UK can (rightly) be castigated for it handling of the pandemic doing too little, too late. 

On vaccinations it is a different story and thanks to a national effort the vaccination target could well be met. The graph shows the cumulative first doses.

Sunspots - Saturday February 6th 2021

 Solar flux is 73 and the SSN 0. A=6 and K=0.

2m FT8 QRP (Friday)

As 10m FT8 today here was awful, I QSYed to 2m FT8 with 2.5W and big-wheel omni antenna at 1824z It is now 1847z, I have been spotted by 11 stations with the furthermost being EI2FG (565km) again.  On 2m FT8 RX, 2 stations (both G) have been spotted.

UPDATE 2122z:  22 spots of me on 2m FT8 TX this evening. 24 stations spotted on RX with the furthermost DF9YF (559km). I must remember to turn things off when I go to bed! 1 QSO.

New radios

IC-705

Some people just have to buy the latest radios. Some of us buy new radios infrequently. At the moment there seem fewer radios on the market at a price I can justify.

If I was buying a radio for the future I would probably consider the IC-705 from ICOM or the more expensive FTDX10 by Yaesu.  These are sold by the major dealers.

FTDX10

Neither are what I really want either as a result of price or bands. I am a dedicated QRPer and 10W would be fine.  As I said earlier in the week, the FTDX10 does cover 4m, but does not cover 2m and 70cm. The FTDX10 does have an internal auto-ATU, whereas the IC-705 does not. The IC-705 does have a few things not on the FTDX10 such as Bluetooth and GPS.

I guess one question is how often would these features be used? 

My ideal radio? IC-705 with 4m and an internal auto-ATU at a lower price.

No meat lunch - NOT amateur radio

Probably I would be described as a flexitarian. I like meat, but could live without it, but thought I would try a no-meat lunch partly as one granddaughter has decided to go vegan. I cooked a pasta dish which I found great. 

2m FT8 overnight

Usually, I turn off my 2m FT8 gear overnight. Last night I forgot! 

Although 6 stations were spotted here, no-one spotted me. From this I assume most who monitor did as I should have done and went QRT overnight! Really, being on overnight is a waste.

10m FT8

In a few moments I hope to turn on my 10m FT8 QRP gear using 2.5W and the tiny indoor loop. It is now 0950z.

UPDATE 1600z: Just a single spot on RX of an Italian and nobody has yet spotted me on TX.  In summary - poor! One PA was spotted, but not uploaded to PSKreporter for some reason.

Oscar 100 activity

Every few weeks I give an update on activity through the geosynchronous satellite Oscar 100. I take a peek at the narrowband transponder by looking at the Goonhilly based web SDR. Today I looked at 0930z on a Friday morning. As there are fewer Europeans, there is probably less activity than at a weekend. Activity levels were quite low, but greater than I was expecting. There is still plenty room.

Southgate News reports on the first activity from Indonesia via the satellite.

See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/ .

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2021/january/first-qo-100-satellite-contact-from-indonesia.htm#.YB0S0vGTLrc

Hare Park - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows some of the masses of snowdrops at Hare Park yesterday. At a guess I'd say there are over 1 million there. It is the best array of snowdrops  have ever seen.

Grand start - NOT amateur radio

Pretty sure this photo has been on before but I get amused telling my friends that I was born in a stately home! At the time this was a nursing home and we lived in a council house.