Sunspots - Friday April 23rd 2021

 Solar flux is 84 and the SSN 42. A=5 and K=3.

Climate change - NOT amateur radio

"It is much easier to set targets than take action to meet them. "

Personally, I suspect the world will "wake up" when it realises that green energy can actually be lower in cost than fossil fuels and can create jobs. 

This is especially true if investment is switched to renewable energy rather than fossil fuels. The main breakthrough needed is low cost storage of renewable energies like wind and solar. This would be an absolute game changer. 

I  hope we wake up soon enough.

Look at TVs and cameras. 20 years ago who would have envisaged TFT screens and digital cameras?  In 20 years from now we will probably look back and think, "did people really drive cars powered by petrol and diesel?".

One thing the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us all is just how well we can communicate without travelling. I suspect more of us with use things like Zoom for meetings rather than travelling for hours by plane, train or car.  I also suspect that people will work from home more, maybe Mondays and Fridays and go into offices less often. We will still have offices and shops, but fewer. More of us will shop online.

Changes are coming.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56837927 .

Potholes in roads - NOT amateur radio

It may be different in other countries, but our roads here in the UK are dreadful for potholes. 

If these are dangerous, many get filled in fairly quickly so the local authority does not get sued for the damages caused. 

We have had a cold and wet winter. I also suspect that the workmanship last year could have been better and many filled-in potholes would have survived. A classic case of save a few pennies in the short term, but spend much more in the longer term.

Rally cancelled

The NARSA Blackpool rally has been cancelled. 

6m FT8 QRP (Thursday)

V2000 Vertical

At the moment I am on 6m FT8 QRP TX with 2.5W to the V2000 omni vertical. So far, 2 stations (both G) have spotted me on TX and I have spotted 25 stations in 5 countries in the last 3 hours on 6m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1324z: 5 stations have spotted my 2.5W 6m QRP FT8 TX. I have spotted 49 stations in 8 countries on 6m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 2100z:  58 stations spotted on RX and 5 stations have spotted my QRP TX.

Spring afternoon - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows the view towards Burwell Church yesterday afternoon.  It was a decent, if cool, spring afternoon. 

We had just returned from tea in a friend's garden. Nice to visit someone again!

6m FT8

Disappointed with the Lyrids. I stayed on 6m FT8 RX overnight but spotted nothing new. Either FT8 was the wrong mode to use or there were few meteors. 

UPDATE 0847z:  Puzzling. I just resynced to internet time so the internet must be working. Two stations recently spotted did not appear on PSKreporter. Do they have a problem at their end?

UPDATE 0855z:  All now working. Not sure what was happening, but 9 stations just spotted and on PSKreporter. Furthermost OE9KFV (855km).

IC-705 features

Every day, I seem to discover something new. It seems that now there is an SD card inserted it records both RX and TX. Imagine my surprise when I could play the East Cambs Net from last Monday. 

My USB-C lead has come so I hope to try FT8 in the coming days. No doubt there will be some surprises there too!

Sunspots - Thursday April 22nd 2021

Solar flux is 78 and the SSN 47. A=7 and K=2.

Lyrids MS on 6m

The next few days sees the peak of the Lyrids MS shower.  I am not sure which mode is the best for MS on 6m. 

FT8 was chosen and I shall remain on 6m FT8 RX overnight using the FT817ND and V2000 vertical omni. Within a few minutes several stations were spotted with the furthermost EI4DA (578km), although I am not sure of the propagation mechanism.

See https://www.independent.co.uk/space/lyrid-meteor-shower-2021-tonight-b1835168.html