Sunspots - Monday April 12th 2021

 Solar flux is 73 and the SSN 0. A=6 and K=1.

160m FT8 QRP (Sunday)

At about 1915z, I QSYed to 160m FT8 QRP with 2.5W and the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground.

UPDATE 1923z:  Already my QRP has been spotted by 3 stations on TX and I have spotted 14 stations on RX.

Stations spotting
my 160m FT8
QRP this evening

UPDATE 2132z:  23 stations have spotted my QRP on 160m FT8 TX this evening.  on 160m FT8 QRP with the furthermost DL0PF-RP (1016km).

20m FT8 RX

I have just switched to 20m FT8 QRP with 2.5W QRP and the (improved) indoor loop. I was very briefly on TX, but mostly on 20m FT8 RX. 

Furthermost on 20m FT8 RX was W7RIS (7963km) on the west coast of the USA in Oregon.  In all, 107 stations spotted on RX.

UPDATE 1904z: 251 stations spotted. Furthermost is ZS6LKF (9089km).

Ely Cathedral earlier - NOT amateur radio

As it was sunny this morning, we did a walk around Ely. The cathedral is very very old and stands on a hill and can be seen for miles, a bit like Chartres in France. Centuries back the central tower collapsed and they replaced it with the wooden octagon.

Flags are at half mast as the Duke of Edinburgh died last week.  All the flags we saw were at half mast.

Last weekend the university boat race was held at Ely for the first time since 1944.

It is a nice city.

Dalham stream - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows the view over the stream at Dalham, near Newmarket. 

This is a delightful village with lots of thatched cottages next to the stream.

160m FT8 RX overnight

Stations spotted
overnight on
160m FT8 RX

Overnight I remained on 160m FT8 RX. 246 stations including several in the USA. Furthermost was K4ODL (6722km) in Georgia.  

Stations spotting
my 2.5W QRP FT8
on 160m last evening

Last evening, I was on TX too and my 2.5W was spotted by 22 stations in western Europe.  1 QSO with a French station.  The stations spotting my QRP TX last evening are shown in the map.My TX technique is to call CQ and work anyone that calls me. I am sure more QSOs could be had if I "went looking".

As usual, using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground which works so well. 

17m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

At the moment I am on 17m FT8 with 2.5W and the tiny indoor loop antenna.  At 0725z, no spots on RX or TX. It is very early.

UPDATE 0805z:  No spots.

UPDATE 1122z: 42 stations spotted on RX.  I may try TX again later.

Modified
loop

Stations spotted on
17m FT8 RX

UPDATE 1415z:  Replaced the wire used on the loop with copper central heating pipe (see photo). Q is higher suggesting better efficiency. Hope the higher RF voltage will be OK.  Since making the change one Italian has spotted my QRP TX. 100 stations spotted on 17m FT8 RX today. Mostly on RX currently. See map of stations spotted on RX.

HF beacons

Thanks to the blog at EI7GL, this is a list of HF amateur beacons which is regularly updated. 

See http://dl8wx.de/BAKE_KW.HTM .

Sunspots - Sunday April 11th 2021

 Solar flux is 70 and the SSN 0.  A=4 and K=2.

160m FT8 QRP (Saturday)

At 1942z, I turned on 160m FT8 using 2.5W and the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. Immediately, 13 stations across Europe were spotted on RX and my own QRP was spotted by 10 stations on TX.  All this within about 5 minutes! By contrast, I was on 10m FT8 all day without spotting anyone. 

UPDATE 1951z:  Amazing! 22 stations spotted on RX and 12 stations have spotted my QRP on TX.

UPDATE 2041z:  66 stations spotted on RX and 18 stations have spotted my 160m FT8 QRP on TX.