Sunspots - Monday August 29th 2022

Solar flux is 131 and the SSN 79.  A=15 and K=3.

UPDATE 1642z:   Apparently the very high solar flux readings were in error.

Cambridgeshire churchyard - NOT amateur radio

 

This was in Girton churchyard earlier. Girton is on the northern edge of Cambridge. Years ago, it would have been a separate village.

Our grandson was ringing bells here this morning. We were in the churchyard.

QRT

As we have visitors until late tomorrow, I am being "sociable", so I have gone completely QRT with everything turned off. This means I am unlikely to be on 10m WSPR or 8m FT8 until late tomorrow.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Sunday)

My 500mW WSPR TX beacon was turned on about 0948z. No spots of me yet.

UPDATE 1035z:  Spotted by an OH and SM station many times. I have noticed several times that more northerly stations spot me, or are spotted, more often later in the Es season. I wonder if this really is the same mechanism?

UPDATE 1308z: 5 unique stations have spotted my 500mW 10m WSPR today.

8m experiment (Sunday)

 As we are out taking our grandson to film some bells until about 1000z, I shall not be on until we get back. As the main Es season has ended, I shall hope to catch a brief Es opening or some F2 when I go on 40.680 MHz USB dial QRP FT8 later.

UPDATE 0948z:  Gear now on QRP FT8 8m TX.

VLF E-field probe?

 

This photo was taken some years ago. I think it shows my VLF E-field probe.  It is just possible it was the VLF loop pre-amp as they looked very similar.

Iceland - NOT amateur radio

We visited Iceland some years ago and were surprised. We had expected a barren land, but most was green and beautiful. There were lupins everywhere. 

10m propagation

 We are now moving out of the main Es season into F2 being the main propagation mode. Using WSPR I mainly copy European stations whereas with FT8 I often copy South Americans. This is with the same RX, antenna and WSJT-X software! 

My only conclusion is that far more people are now using FT8 than WSPR or that much shorter openings are caught with a 15 second burst of FT8 than a much longer WSPR burst. 

ICOM IC-905

This is the new radio announced by ICOM. I have serious doubts about it ever making it to market. 

It is meant to cover 2m-3cm with a control head based on the IC-705 and an RF unit that could be mounted next to the antenna. 

It looks expensive and I just can't see it selling in huge volumes. Also, I cannot imagine it being low cost.

If it ever gets to market I can see this being a flop. Nice idea, but unlikely to make them rich. 

Yaesu FTDX-10

After a huge amount of thought I have decided not to buy this radio. 

Apart from 4m, it is unlikely to offer me much more than I already have. I am sure the IC-705 offers nearly as much.  The 100W is wasted on me!  What I might have bought was a 10W version or a real FT817 replacement.

There is little doubt that this is an excellent transceiver especially with the special bank holiday deals from MLS.

So, I'll pass. Maybe I'll regret this.