Overnight on 160m FT8

Stations spotted
last night on
160m FT8 RX 

Although I had another 160m FT8 QSO with 2.5W in the very early morning with a German, I was on 160m FT8 RX overnight. Again the antenna was the earth-electrode in the ground. 

272 stations spotted in 5 continents as the map shows. 

I was spotted by 47 stations across

Stations spotting
my 2.5W FT8
QRP last night 

Europe on QRP FT8 160m TX as the map shows. 

I remain amazed just how well this "antenna" works.  Considering nobody knows it is there, I cannot fault it.

UPDATE 1005z:  Back to daytime conditions! Nobody spotted in the last few hours.

Sunspots - Wednesday March 24th 2021

 Solar flux is 79 and the SSN 26.  A=11 and K=2.

Dad's seat - NOT amateur radio

When my dad first retired he got a job with the National Trust and was in charge of a team working on repairs to the coastal footpaths in South Devon. When he died they erected 2 seats on Bolberry Down in his memory. In the photo I am sitting on one of them some years ago. 

160m FT8 QRP (Tuesday)

At about 1330z I turned on my 160m FT8 QRP with 2.5W and the earth-electrode antenna in the ground. No spots yet. 

UPDATE 1708z:  Just 1 G - G3NSM (123km) has spotted my QRP TX and European DX is starting to come through on RX. So far, 7 stations spotted on RX.

More - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows what I think are storage batteries being erected near our electricity substation. 

Overnight on 160m FT8 QRP

Stations spotting my
160m FT8 2.5W

Once again I was on 160m FT8 with 2.5W and the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground.  My signal was spotted by 32 stations with the furthermost being R7MA (2859km). The map shows where my 2.5W 160m FT8 was spotted last evening.

One QSO on 160m FT8 QRP with a German shortly before midnight. 

Just 268 stations spotted on 160m FT8 RX overnight in 5 continents. I do not use 160m often enough to know if this is conditions changing or just a bad night. 2 North Americans and 1 South American spotted.

UPDATE 1009z:  Back to daytime and just 1 G spotted!

Sunspots - Tuesday March 23rd 2021

 Solar flux is 80 and the SSN 23. A=8 and K=4.

Scam bating - NOT amateur radio

If you are like me, you are getting more scam calls that originate abroad, but use UK numbers to actually fool punters. TPS, which we have, cannot stop these I think. 

We have tunes on our phones so we know when genuine people are calling: different friends and family members have unique tunes. Everyone else is asked to leave an answerphone message. Most scammers just hang up. We work on the assumption that if it was really urgent they would leave a message or call again.

I have asked for a package on Virgin Media that may help. It is free for 30 days. We will see.

Apparently someone is working on software to waste scammers time. Great!

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/technology-56458267.

160m FT8 QRP (Monday)

About 15 minutes ago, I turned on my 2.5W to the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground on 160m FT8 TX. No spots yet. 

UPDATE 1605z:  Still no spots on RX or TX. The Europeans should start appearing soon.

UPDATE 1625z:  The first DX from Europe came through at 1614z on 160m FT8 RX. There are others starting to be spotted. Still nobody spotting me on QRP TX.

Photobooks - NOT amateur radio

Every season, my wife makes a photo book. Altogether we have 53 in addition to old albums. 

It is amazing to see how much the grandchildren have changed over the years.