Flying Scotsman - NOT amateur radio

A few days ago my son was lucky enough to see the Flying Scotsman steam train going through on an excursion. I think it was going to Margate. 

G3XBM grabber

Some browsers will not allow page embedding for security reasons. 

If you can see embedded pages you may be amused to look at my grabber, that is mostly on 10m FT8 RX.  If embedding does not work on your browser, there is an alternative link. 

As you can tell, 10m is pretty good now and has been in recent days.

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

Ukraine - NOT amateur radio

By any standards, what is happening in Ukraine is barbaric. 

Putin will be despised for years to come, whatever "victory" he achieves by brutal force. He will be hated by people who he calls his own. All to recreate a failed autocratic system.  Any threat to Russia is of his own making. Ask yourselves: have recent actions made Russia safer?

In the fog of war, both sides put out propaganda to suite their own ends. However, it is hard to argue with the sheer numbers of refugees fleeing the country and those displaced in their own lands.

I desperately hope a fair and just settlement can be arrived at soon.

Garden frog - NOT amateur radio

This photo was taken in 2016. It shows a garden frog that appeared.  I have not seen one since.

10m FT8 QRP (Monday)

At 0900z, my 10m FT8 RX was turned on. I may try 2.5W TX later. So far today (at 0905z) 21 stations have already been spotted including several in Australia. This is getting too easy! Just turn on 10m FT8 RX and there is the DX.

UPDATE 1010z:   138 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX. It is interesting how this band has changed in the last 12 months: no longer generally quiet. It is wide open most days now.

UPDATE 1250z:  363 stations spotted.

UPDATE 1312z: A brief TX period with 2.5W resulted in no QSOs, but I was spotted by several stations including HI8RD (7054km) in the Caribbean. 392 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX today.

UPDATE 2030z:   1017 stations spotted today on 10m FT8 RX. Now QRT.

Starehole Bay - NOT amateur radio

This photo shows Starehole Bay near Salcombe in Devon where I lived for part of my childhood. The photo was taken in 2012. 

Wymondham Station - NOT amateur radio

We visited Wymondham by train a few days ago. The station is an old country one much as it must have been a long time ago. 

70cm UKAC results

On the second Tuesday of the month the RSGB organises an activity contest on 70cm.  Even though I can only run 10W to a 2m omni, I usually go on. This time, I only stayed on for a short while, because of my poor voice, making just 1 valid QSO. One other one was rejected as "not in the log".   Better luck next month?

See https://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/vhfresults.pl?Contest=432MHz%20UKAC&year=2022 .

Sunspots - Monday March 21st 2022

Solar flux is 95 and the SSN 39.  A=9 and K=0.

Daffodils - NOT amateur radio

At this time of year the path to our local church is lined with daffodils. 

In a few weeks they will be over. 

In the two horse chestnut trees in the churchyard, the crows are busy repairing or building nests.  They have been there for as long as I can remember. Life goes on. These 2 trees were planted in the 1800s to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.