Sunspots - Sunday Sept 19th 2021

Solar flux is 74 and the SSN 11.  A=11 and K=0.

Brighton collage - NOT amateur radio

For about a day now, we have been back home after a short break in Brighton travelling by train. The photo shows some of the scenes. We had a good break. 

Coronal mass ejection (CME)

 At the moment, we have a CME hitting the Earth. This looks minor.

Internet over free-space optical - NOT amateur radio

The BBC has an interesting piece about the use of free space optical communications to bridge the River Congo in Africa where optical fibre is impractical. This gives very high (not perfect) reliability and, in this case, is destined to carry internet traffic. Of course, this would not be suitable for places where fog is common, such as the bay area of San Francisco. 

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-58583600 .

10m FT8 QRP (Saturday)

The Es season is over. Although there will still be openings via the E layer, these will be more sporadic and short-lived, unlike a few months ago. 

This morning, I am again on 10m FT8 (with 2.5W TX initially) although mostly on RX. Just one spot of me so far by local M0NKR (27km). On RX, no stations spotted so far, although it is only 0852z.

UPDATE 0920z: 4 stations spotted with the furthermost EA1FIR (1263km). The very strong signal report (+4dB S/N) suggests aircraft reflection rather than Es. Other spots have been more local.

UPDATE 1153z:  17 stations spotted with the furthermost ZS6BJU (9116km). 10m is again moving to a DX band.  As time goes by it will get even better!

UPDATE 2030z:  59 stations spotted including a clutch of South Americans. QRT soon.

160m FT8

As an experiment I tried my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground on 160m FT8. The match is very good and with QRP I have been spotted all over Europe and I've spotted plenty of stations in South America and North America. If anyone tells you that they have no 160m antenna don't believe them! My 160m antenna is invisible to the neighbours and XYL. 

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/other-amateur-radio/160m-ft8 .

Our history - NOT amateur radio

For almost 600 years we have lived in South Devon. We were probably here thousands of years earlier. The photo shows where my ancestors lived 600 years ago. The photo was taken about 100 years ago. One interesting fact is that going back a millennium we had more ancestors than the population of the entire country! So, we probably were related to kings and queens. 

Sunspots - Saturday September 18th 2021

 Solar flux is 73 and the SSN 0. A=24 and K=4.

Hotel breakfast - NOT amateur radio

Most hotels have a similar buffet breakfast. This was my breakfast this morning. I last stayed in this hotel about 33 years ago on a course for work. I cannot remember much about the hotel, although it has probably changed a great deal since then. 

Holiday drama - NOT amateur radio

We are back from our short break in Brighton. It was good with even the weather being generally hot and sunny.

At breakfast time on the last day we had some drama: the fire alarm went and we all had to evacuate the building. After about 15 minutes, the fire brigade came and gave the all clear, so we all went back inside. Some were still in bed or in the shower when the alarm sounded. I am glad it was not in the middle of the night.