Sunspots - Tuesday September 28th 2021

 Solar flux is 85 and the SSN 30. A=7 and K=2. 

10m FT8 QRP (Monday)

At about 0930z I went on 10m FT8 with 2.5W QRP.  I was on TX for a few minutes, but now am RX only. No spots given or received so far.

Shack

At this QTH I have a dedicated shack. At the old QTH I built gear in the back of the garage and operated from a shared bedroom used by my grandson. 

Although I have a separate area for building and for operating, I tend to use FT8 mostly these days and monitor on a separate PC in the lounge. Building and fault finding are much harder now.  I can get to the operating spot in seconds.

I still use the shack for FM nets weekly and UKAC operation 2m and 70cm activity. The shack has probably the best views in the house, hence the binoculars!

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

10m FT8 yesterday

We are definitely moving from a band that comes alive in the Es season to more a band for F2 DX. 

For those with sticking power, there is DX to be found at any part of the solar cycle, although in the quiet years there are often fewer people on 10m making things even harder.

Yesterday, the better stations were calling VK on 10m. As the solar cycle progresses, we can expect more openings, more often, on 10m. It is worth keeping an eye on FT8 or WSPR.

For several days South American stations have been romping in. No doubt those with serious stations will be copying far more than me!  As you know, I run QRP to a low wire endfed.

Global warming - NOT amateur radio

In 1989 seeing little egrets in the UK was rare.  Now they are common. Their range has moved northwards. This part of England regularly had snow. Now it is rare. We were once the driest part of the UK. We now get plenty of rain. We had plenty of frosts. Not any more. 

Global warming is real.

Sunspots - Monday September 27th 2021

 Solar flux is 86 and the SSN 67. A=3 and K=3.

V2000 vertical omni

Many years ago, this triband vertical was erected at the current QTH. It had been up at the old QTH for years. It is probably 20 years old?

It is used on 6m, 2m and 70cm. Apart from just recently,it has worked faultlessly. Richard G3TFX took it apart, cleaned it, added new coax, and re-erected it. It seems to work like new again.

The photo was taken 8 years ago after it was first erected at this QTH.

Moulton packhorse bridge - NOT amateur radio

Centuries ago this was the main road from Cambridge to Bury-St-Edmunds in Suffolk, UK.  You can imagine packhorses being driven across this bridge laden with goods.

Grabber

A reminder that my new webpages have a grabber. This is mainly on 10m FT8, although occasionally it is looking somewhere else. You can see what I am spotting.

Some browsers do not like embedding as this can pose a security risk. There are work-arounds, but if you are not sure, do not.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/10m-ft8-grabber .

Anglesey Abbey - NOT amateur radio

We are lucky to have this place just a few miles away. The house is cosy and the grounds are huge. Even when the car park is full, it is easy to find quiet spots. 

We walk here most weeks. It is owned by the National Trust, so we get free entry with our annual membership. Every season there is something to see.