Sunspots - Monday August 1st 2022

 Solar flux is 94 and the SSN 39. A=10 and K=3.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Sunday)

A promising start with several spots of my QRP 500mW beacon from Iberia within the first 25 minutes. Judging by the initial drift, they were spotting me right from the start as the crystal was settling. I usually get drift (4 Hz) when the PA is first turned on.

UPDATE 1042z:  4 stations have spotted me this morning on 10m QRP WSPR.

UPDATE 1345z:   25 unique stations have spotted my 10m QRP WSPR today.

UPDATE 1925z:  36 spots of me today on 10m QRP 10m WSPR (see table).

UPDATE 2040z:   46 spots of me today.

8m experiment (Sunday)

Today was a promising start with a spot of my 8m QRP FT8 by SR4DON (1352km) in Poland. Obviously some Es today.  It is only 0930z.

UPDATE 1033z:  2 stations have spotted my 8m QRP FT8 this morning.

UPDATED 1348z:  3 stations have spotted my 8m QRP FT8 today. The latest was S50B (1220km) in Slovenia.

Evening in Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

Last evening, our grandson was ringing the bells in Great St Mary's in Cambridge. This is the university church (see the left of the collage). We shopped and ate out with his sister, our granddaughter. 

Our grandson has now rung in 31 towers.

10m FT8 yesterday

Yesterday I was on 10m FT8. Today I expect to be on 8m QRP FT8 TX and 10m QRP WSPR. 

Cambridge balloon sellers - NOT amateur radio

These two balloon sellers were in Cambridge last evening. 

Sunspots - Sunday July 31st 2022

 Solar flux is 91 and the SSN 27. A=7 and K=2.

South Devon

The photo shows where I come from in South Devon. 

Our family farmed some land here in the 1400s and my ancestors lived in the village in the distance in the mid-1500s (definitely), and quite possibly centuries before. 

10m QRP FT8

It is now 0850z. I have been on 10m FT8 QRP for about 10 minutes. So far, 1 spot of me from Scotland , 1 from England and 1 from Austria and no spots on RX. It feels like the Es season is drawing to a close. Yes, there will still be good days, but more days without Es. Of course Es can occur at any time of the year. This is where FT8 can be very useful, with even short openings noticed. This would be much harder on CW or SSB.

Endings - NOT amateur radio

 

Last evening we watched the very last episode ever of the Australian soap "Neighbours". My wife has been watching it almost from the day it started. It is almost like losing an old friend. I am not very good at endings. It is only a soap, I know.