Sunspots - Saturday June 4th 2022

Solar flux is 101 and the SSN 52. A=4 and K=1.

SNOTEL - NOT amateur radio

 A lot of people on 8m in the USA are troubled by the SNOTEL system, that is an automated snow monitoring system, using random meteor scatter to send the data. Low VHF is ideal for this. I have not been troubled by similar 8m systems in Europe if they exist.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNOTEL .

ICOM IC-705

For about a year now, I have owned an IC-705. As I only ever run QRP, this was a good choice for me as it is multi-band and 10W. It is mostly used on VHF and UHF FM nets and SSB. Until recently I had not used it for FT8 as it picked up lots of noise from the PC when the USB cable was connected. I continued to use my FT817ND and SignaLink interface for FT8.

I was recommended a screened, choked, cable by Jason M0NYW, and this seems to have done the trick. I am being spotted from across the world on 10m FT8 using the IC-705 at 5W and on RX I am spotting plenty. Thank you Jason for the good suggestion. My FT817ND is now almost exclusively used for 8m FT8 TX now.

The IC-705 is still far too expensive. As I rarely buy gear, I looked at it as an investment. The only thing that disappoints is the lack of 4m, which all were expecting.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/commercial-rigs/icom-ic-705 .

Knitted butterflies and flowers - NOT amateur radio

These were on our local church earlier.  

They are a cascade of knitted butterflies and flowers. 

Someone has done a lot of work creating these.

I suspect it is part of the jubilee celebrations over the weekend. 

Granddaughter at our local museum - NOT amateur radio

Our local museum and windmill is right next door. The photo shows one of our granddaughters yesterday. She still loves going. 

8m experiment (Friday)

Today was my best day yet on 8m with several Es spots. 

So far this year, the Es season has been poor here. All being well I shall be on 40.680 MHz USB dial FT8 TX later. I usually TX in the first period.

UPDATE 2105z: 6 stations have spotted my QRP today on 8m FT8 by Es. I have spotted stations in Eire, Slovenia and Croatia here. The station in Spain spotted me very strongly. EA8BFK (2881km) is my first report from outside Europe. I think this was double hop Es.

Corfu chilling - NOT amateur radio

Certainly the people in Corfu know how to chill. The photo shows some enjoying the warmth and cloudless skies. This is a café on the Liston. 

6m FT8 RX 4 years ago with the omni antenna

 

This was 2018 on 6m FT8 RX. 

Sunspots - Friday June 3rd 2022

 Solar flux is 101 and the SSN 59.  A=5 and K=1.

Flowers by the windmill - NOT amateur radio

If this has been on before, I make no apology as it is the queen's platinum jubilee and the colours seem right. They do look good.