Facebook Photo - NOT amateur radio

This photo was on Michael Rainey's Facebook page earlier. I thought it was worth sharing here. 

G3XBM videos

A reminder that a lot of the projects on my main website have videos on my video channel. These often provide more detail. The video below , of my Sixbox, is an example.

See https://www.youtube.com/user/G3XBM

Sixbox 6m AM QRP transceiver

This was missing from my main website. It has now been added. I did not realise it was missing!

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/homebrew/sixbox

Laurel hedge cutting - NOT amateur radio

We have a laurel hedge at the front (about 30m long), that we planted 8 years ago. Usually I trim it twice a year. It has grown a lot! 

Whereas I could do it all in one go, I now have several goes over several days. I am getting older and get tired more quickly. After about 10 minutes, I need a rest.

The laurel hedge provides a good screen from the path by the windmill, but it is hard work! 

Sunspots - Sunday June 20th 2021

 Solar flux is 77 and the SSN 25. A=4 and K=1. 

Pasties - NOT amateur radio

A few weeks ago I tried my hand at making my own pasties. They turned out well. Just a pity I am on a diet and cannot have them at the moment.

As a Westcountryman, I like my pasties! The ones shown in the photo are vegetarian, but I also tried meat ones.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/non-amateur-radio/pasties.

"Over the horizon" optical experiments

Since 2013, my health has precluded proper field experiments at 481THz or thereabouts (optical). I am just too wobbly. I tried once, but I just could not manage it sadly.

One of the things I enjoyed was experimenting with weak signal optical signalling over the horizon. My own tests used QRSS (slow CW) received on a PC . There was absolutely no sign of the optical signal in the sky, yet there was a clear trace visible on the PC. 

Had I been well, these experiments would have continued and far greater ranges would have been possible.

 See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/optical-nanowaves/over-the-horizon  .

Watery - NOT amateur radio

East Anglia is famous for being flat.  Actually, there are hills, especially in Norfolk and Suffolk.

However, we get some great skies and there is a unique beauty as the photo collage shows. 

These are the various waterways near where we live.

10m FT8 RX yesterday with the tiny indoor loop antenna

In all, 380 stations spotted yesterday. Not too bad. 

I am still not sure how far down the loop is compared with a reasonable outside antenna. 

Dealer profits

For a long time I have thought dealers aimed to make excessive profits. We all know that they have costs such as wages, premises etc.

Maybe I am being unfair? 

I am all for fair profits (after all, this is their business), but I object to excessive profits. In my opinion many dealers and magazines will go out of business in the coming years as most amateurs get old and buy fewer radios. Magazines will suffer as there will be fewer dealers and less revenue.

Maybe the strategy is to make as much money as possible whilst they can?