10m FT8 QRP (Saturday)

At 0919z, I turned on my 10m FT8 QRP using 2.5W and the tiny indoor loop. No spots yet. 

UPDATE 1020z:  No spots.

UPDATE 1405z:  Just a single spot on RX of EA1SA (1025km) on RX and no spots on TX. So far today, pretty pathetic.

Sub 9kHz amateur DX

One of my Facebook memories today was this photo of my sub-9kHz reception of a station in Germany. In all I spotted 5 European amateur stations sub-9kHz before my health got in the way. 

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