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.

Burwell at Large - NOT amateur radio

This is an exhibition in which local societies and groups put on a stall to attract new people. It is also a chance to chat with people not seen in a while. 

10m FT8 RX

 At about 0918z, I turned on 10m FT8 RX.  So far (at 0922z), no reports on PSKreporter, but stations all over the world spotted.

UPDATE 1056z:  136 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX this morning.

UPDATE 1735z:   877 stations spotted.

UPDATE 2003z:  1031 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX today. 10m is now regularly open worldwide.

UPDATE 2042z: 1056 stations spotted. As there are still South Americans coming in, I shall stay on for a little while.

UPDATE 2140z:  1058 stations spotted. QRT soon.

Wymondham Abbey - NOT amateur radio

Wymondham in Norfolk has a fine abbey. It was far bigger before King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in the 1500s.