6m FT8 today (Tuesday)

It is much quieter so far today. 

I have been on for about 30 minutes with 2.5W and the V2000, but only 3 stations spotted on RX and 4 stations spotting me on TX. 

Yesterday the FT8 slot at 50.313MHz was busy with plenty of Far East stations on 6m FT8.

UPDATE 0958z:  9 stations have spotted me on TX and I have spotted 12 stations on RX.

UPDATE 1155z:  18 stations have spotted me on TX and 22 stations spotted on RX. No super DX here today.

Homebrew 70cm antenna

This appeared as a FB memory today. It shows the antenna made from an old coat hanger for 70cm 8 years ago. The map shows the contacts with it. 

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/antennas/70cm-4el-yagi  .

Yesterday on 6m FT8

For the first time since 2017, I spotted Japan on 6m. This time it was  FT8 with the V2000 vertical omni antenna.  Last time, with the same antenna, it was JT65.

With a beam at a decent height, I would expect to spot stations some 10dB weaker. I suspect I would copy Japanese stations every year on 6m FT8. 

Nonetheless, I was very pleased to spot Japanese stations on 6m FT8 yesterday with the V2000 omni antenna.

Sunspots - Tuesday July 6th 2021

 Solar flux is 89 and the SSN 43. A=7 and K=2. 

Afghanistan - NOT amateur radio

Why? 

We have been fighting wars in Afghanistan since the first half of the 19th century when Victoria was queen. Countless people have been killed or maimed. 

What will happen now the western troops leave? Most likely it will descend into civil war again and the Taliban will again fight for control. In many ways things will be as bad as when we arrived.

In my view, we should stop interfering. Yes, we wish to support democracy and freedom, but we do not exactly a good track record. Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan to name a few. 

We have a great record in soldiers and civilians being killed or maimed and wasting billions. Instead we could spend the money on fighting climate change.

Lightning

Although we may experience a few showers, it is quite warm outside. The thunder risk looks low with most storms over Denmark. 

I think there is some link between thunder activity and Es, although I have not studied it. I think it has something to do with sprites? There must be people who know far more than yours truly! If you know the link, please leave a comment.

See https://www.lightningmaps.org/#m=oss;t=3;s=0;o=0;b=0.00;ts=0;y=38.0295;x=8.3248;z=4;d=2;dl=2;dc=0;

10m WSPR TX (500mW)

At the moment I am on 10m WSPR TX and 6m FT8 RX. 

The W5OLF beacon is totally self contained (no PC needed) and about the size of a pack of cards. It is on 100%, but randomly changes frequency each slot. In the past it has been spotted in every continent with simple, wire antennas.

No spots yet at 1037z, although I have only just turned it on.

UPDATE 1137z: Just 4 WSPR 10m spots so far by F4CWN (969km).

UPDATE 1303z: 16 unique stations spotting me today.

UPDATE 1640z: 23 spots of me so far today.

First ever photograph of a person - NOT amateur radio

Photo from Wikipedia Commons

Recently I posted a photo of a man reported to be born in 1746. 

The first ever photo to capture a person is supposed to be a Daguerreotype taken in 1838. This is a street scene and shows a person having his shoes cleaned. This person had no idea he was making history that day! The photo was taken out of a window in Paris. The image here does not do it justice. The man having his shoes cleaned is in the bottom left.

Photography was invented (I believe) in the 1820s. Just imagine if we had had photography centuries earlier. Samuel Pepys would have been busy!

See https://medium.com/thinksheet/the-first-ever-photograph-of-a-person-56ab2142819b .

See also http://www.daguerreobase.org/en/knowledge-base/what-is-a-daguerreotype#:~:text=The%20daguerreotype%20was%20the%20first,on%20a%20silvered%20copper%20plate.&text=The%20daguerreotype%20is%20accurate%2C%20detailed%20and%20sharp.

6m FT8 humming

Quite a few stations are calling the Far East on 6m, suggesting there is propagation from Western Europe to the Far East on 6m. This regularly happens at this time of year. 

It seems linked to noctilucent clouds that form about now, although I am not clear about the mechanism. It looks like E layer propagation, although I think multi-hop Es idea is wrong in my view! There would have to be so many hops and this makes this so improbable. It would not surprise me if we discovered some new E layer mechanism in the next few years. 

There are quite a few incorrect myths about. Never believe all you are told!! Look at facts and make up your own mind.

UPDATE 0908z: 149 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX including 2 in South Korea and 1 in Japan, JA6SBW (9053km) being the furthermost. Although better equipped stations have been spotting and working the Far East, this is the first time I have spotted Japan on 6m since 2017. This is my first time I have spotted Japan on 6m FT8. I think my V2000 vertical omni needs signals to be strong to copy them although at -15dB S/N this station was quite strong here. On TX (2.5W) 37 spots, but no spots from the Far East unsurprisingly!

UPDATE 1112z:  50 spots of my 6m FT8 (2.5W) so far today.

UPDATE 1305z:  92 spots of me so far today on TX. 247 spots on RX plus several QSOs.

UPDATE 1644z:  133 stations have spotted me so far today on TX.  330 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX today.

Poppy - NOT amateur radio

This was on our patio. We have seen several wild poppies this year. This one self-seeded.