Bishop's Palace, Ely - NOT amateur radio

Right next to Ely Cathedral is the Bishop's Palace, used as such until the early 1940s. For a while it was a hospital (my dad who was a Pathfinder in Lancasters had his appendix removed here as a precaution). Later it was a Sue Ryder home. Now it is the 6th form centre for the King's School, Ely. It was built in the 1400s.

40m FT8 RX overnight with the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground

Overnight I was on 40m FT8 RX. So far, 942 stations have been spotted in 5 continents. It is now 0700z. 

UPDATE 1154z: 1060 stations spotted on 40m FT8 RX. At one point last evening I counted 42 stations in 2.7kHz!!

UPDATE 1435z: 1107 stations spotted so far in the last 24 hours on 40m FT8 RX with the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground.

UPDATE 1848z: 1346 stations spotted on 40m FT8 RX in the last day with an antenna that nobody realises is even there!

N. Devon cottage - NOT amateur radio

This delightful cottage is where we stayed in N. Devon some years ago. 

Sunspots - Tuesday April 13th 2021

 Solar flux is 83 and the SSN 16.  A=5 and K=2. Sunspots return. 

40m FT8 RX with the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground

 Even though the SWR was too high to TX, I decided to take a look at 40m FT8 with the earth-electrode "antenna" on RX. It is now 1849z and already 117 stations have been spotted with the furthermost UA9MA (4598km) in Omsk. This was after just a few minutes.

UPDATE 1930z: 276 stations have been spotted so far on 40m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 2107z:   505 stations spotted so far on 40m.

20m FT8 RX

At 1450z, I QSYed to 20m FT8 RX with the indoor loop. So far, after a few minutes, 41 stations spotted. There is little doubt that most daytime FT8 DX is to be found on 20m.

UPDATE 1517z:  94 stations spotted.

UPDATE 1825z:  317 stations spotted in 5 continents on 20m FT8 with the indoor loop.

1.095kHz earth-mode 10 years ago

One of my Facebook memories today was this photo of my VLF experiments with earth-mode communications. I was using a 5W beacon and was a very solid signal at 4.5km as the photo shows. As I recall signals tended to be better as frequency was reduced. 

17m FT8 RX

At 1335z I QSYed to 17m FT8 RX using the FT817ND and the improved indoor loop.

UPDATE 1431z:  23 stations in 4 continents spotted so far.

Muntjac deer - NOT amateur radio

This young one had its nose against our garden room door. 

If open, I am sure it would have come in out of curiosity. It disappeared into the bushes.

Mars helicopter - NOT amateur radio

Southgate News has a report about the helicopter on the latest NASA Mars lander.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2021/april/mars-helicopter-flight-delayed-to-no-earlier-than-april-14.htm#.YHQk6SjYrrc

See https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter .