6m FT8 QRP (Wednesday)

After a very brief period on TX with 2.5W and the V2000 omni (6 G spots of me), I am now on RX only. So far, at 0830z, no spots of others. I guess 6m Es openings will be far less often now.

UPDATE 0937z: Some Es, but not much. So far this morning 9 spots with the furthermost IW7DLE (1860km).

Stations spotted
to 1020z

UPDATE 1020z: 25 stations spotted. 

UPDATE 1222z: 45 stations spotted. Es after a slow start. 

50th wedding anniversary - NOT amateur radio

This weekend we will have been married 50 years. We're did the years go? 

This is a photo of us in our garden yesterday. 

We look a bit older than we we got married! 

Resurfacing - NOT amateur radio

They are resurfacing some of the roads out of our village and closing some roads whilst they do this. The photo shows the roller used.

What Yaesu SHOULD have done with the FT818

When their replacement for the FT817ND was announced most people groaned that they could miss out on such an opportunity. 

Way back in 2010 I suggested a possible successor. They did something that, in my view, was totally pathetic and underwhelming totally "missing the boat" and doing the minimum to overcome supply issues and nothing to make it a decent step forward.

The photo shows what many of us were hoping for 11 years ago!!

Since then they have had some fine SDR transceivers, but no attempt to get into the QRP portable market leaving many people to wonder if they have lost their way or have no money or are considering leaving the market. 

My message is simple - Yaesu wake up!!

Sunspots - Wednesday July 21st 2021

Solar flux is 87 and the SSN 59.  A=10 and K=2.

Thunder stops play

As we had thunderstorms after lunch, I turned off 10m WSPR and 6m FT8 as well as the PSU and PC. The storm has passed, but I shall wait until the morning before reconnecting things.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/other-amateur-radio/lightning-maps .

Lesser Chirpy Transceiver

You can guess why this has this name! 

The first version had too much chirp, whereas this has virtually no chirp at all. It is a "for fun" rig for 10m CW with very few parts, that I am sure can be improved.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/10m-lesser-chirpy .

New OFCOM report on emerging internet technologies

OFCOM has produced a new report on technologies that could shape the future of the internet. See the OFCOM website for more details.

As it is quite long, I have only read the summary so far, but I did not realise that 51% of the world's people now use the internet and that its use has grown 12 fold since 2010.

Orchids - NOT amateur radio

My wife has a way with orchids, many lasting for years. One secret is not over-watering giving them just a thimble of water a week. 

At the moment, I think we have seven on the go.

6m FT8 (Tuesday)

After a brief session on 2.5W TX (5 UK spots of me, but no QSOs) I am RX only. 3 UK stations spotted so far.  At the moment (0805z) it seems there is no Es noticeable here. As before, my antenna is the V2000 omni vertical.

UPDATE 0840z:  Just 6 G stations spotted so far today. At this time yesterday 6m FT8 was really good. I guess as time progresses we will still get openings, but less often.

UPDATE 1010z:   17 stations spotted so far. Just recently, a couple in the Ukraine spotted, probably by Es