It was so busy that I am now RX only. So far, my QRP (2.5W to the big-wheel omni antenna) has been spotted by 6 stations. On RX, I have spotted 66 stations in 6 countries.
UPDATE 1955z: 87 stations in 7 countries spotted on 2m FT8 RX.
Simple QRP projects, 10m, 8m, 6m, 4m, FT8, 160m, WSPR, LF/MF, sub-9kHz, nanowaves and other random stuff, some not related to amateur radio.
It was so busy that I am now RX only. So far, my QRP (2.5W to the big-wheel omni antenna) has been spotted by 6 stations. On RX, I have spotted 66 stations in 6 countries.
UPDATE 1955z: 87 stations in 7 countries spotted on 2m FT8 RX.
It is now about 3 months since I applied for a low power, 8m permit to TX during the Es season. So far, I have heard absolutely nothing! Am I surprised? No. You would have thought by now, they would have said "no" or "yes" or asked a few questions.
OFCOM obviously has a hard job allocating me a low power, time limited, permit to carry out valuable research, when they can allocate 2MHz of "precious" VHF spectrum, seemingly indefinitely, for DATV experiments! My opinion of OFCOM remains low. Unless it is going to make them billions, they are not really interested.
Come on boys and girls - playtime over.
At 0945z, I turned on my 10m FT8 RX gear. At 1005z,10 stations spotted.
UPDATE 1047z: 16 stations spotted with the furthermost 5B4AIF (3197km).
UPDATE 1212z: Just 22 spots so far. Pretty poor.
UPDATE 1825z: 33 spots on 10m FT8 RX with the furthermost LU9VIC (12074km).
There is a 2m FT8 activity contest this evening starting at 1900z for 2 hours. As my voice is not involved, I may try this with 2.5W.
Every few weeks I take a very unscientific look at activity levels on this geosynchronous satellite. The last peek was at 1250z on Tuesday. Most activity seems to be from Europe and this was probably not the best time to look as it was in the middle of the working day.
However, activity seemed to be at an all time low with just 1 QSO taking place! My impression is people either find accessing this too hard or they are just not interested. I wonder what activity is like in the evenings in Europe?
Spring and hope are around the corner.
Solar flux is 86 and the SSN 12. A=6 and K=1.
As 10m was dead, I am again on 70cm FT8 QRP with the V2000 vertical omni antenna mainly RX. After about an hour, no spots.
A reminder that there is a 2m digital contest tomorrow evening. I need to check times and rules.
UPDATE 2149z: No spots on RX and TX.
One of the pleasures of Cambridge is gliding along the back of the colleges on a punt on the river Cam. Many prefer others to do the puntin...