Shadows - NOT amateur radio

Today is a lovely sunny day here. It feels much colder than a few weeks ago. Inside our church, there were long shadows, as the photo shows.

Amateur beacon on the moon?

 Amateur Radio Weekly reports that the Japanese hope to put a UHF beacon on the moon.

See https://www.isas.jaxa.jp/home/omotenashi/JHRCweb/jhrc.html .

If successfully deployed, this could be a good test for receivers. I am not sure what it will send or when the launch is planned.

23cm transverter

This was ordered this weekend. Hopefully it will arrive early November. Not sure what import duty or VAT is payable. I am sure someone will tell me!

10m QRP WSPR TX

The only spots of me today look like F2 and local, with no Es.  EA8BFK (2880km) and G4KPX (14km) have spotted my 500mW.

Ripening? - NOT amateur radio

This year our tomato plants have been a failure with very few turning red. The green ones are on the windowsill to ripen. If this fails it will be green tomato chutney!!!

Sunspots - Saturday September 17th 2022

 Solar flux is 131 and the SSN 64. A=4 and K=1.

Still no luck here with the EI1KNH 8m beacon

Although Keith in Lincoln has been successful, I have still not decoded the beacon. We are at similar distances from the beacon, I think. It would seem my low horizontal dipole is not as effective as Keith's long wire. I note that the beacon has a vertical dipole whereas mine is horizontal. With scatter and MS this probably does not matter, but with WSPR and tropo it could make all the difference. I shall keep trying!! 

I must check the screen during a WSPR slot to see if it is there at all. It sends WSPR every 20 minutes.  If I can detect it at all, I might briefly try my other antennas just in case these are better in that direction and with  vertical polarisation.

Otherwise, it is MSK144 in a meteor shower.

UPDATE 0936z:  In the last WSPR slots absolutely nothing on the screen with the 8m dipole or 10m end fed antennas. 

UPDATE 1410z: In view of Paul's (G9PUV) comments that he has never spotted WSPR from this beacon, I have switched back to 8m FT8 RX. You never know! It will be monitored all weekend.

Yaesu FT-710 MLS price

Puzzled. 

MLS has just announced the price of the new 100W SDR transceiver, that seems to have a very similar spec to the FTDX-10. It seems the price is lower than the FTDX-10 and the rig a little smaller. What I cannot understand is why Yaesu has done this.

Was the FTDX-10 not quite right? Where is a proper FT817 replacement? It still seems to me that Yaesu is in a muddle and trying to find its way.

See https://www.hamradio.co.uk/top-deals/ft-710 .

EI1KNH/B Irish 8m beacon on 40.013 MHz WSPR

Tim, the beacon keeper, has recommended I try 8m WSPR RX. 

The WSPR sessions are several times an hour and WSPR works with very weak signals. I am on 8m WSPR now, but a bit uncertain about the 2 minute cycles. This may only work with tropo and certainly not work with MS or aircraft.  I may try from now and over the weekend. 

The beacon is only active from 0600-2400, but I am not sure if this is local time or GMT. With tropo, I would have suspected my best chance would be early in the morning?

If this fails (I have low expectations) I may try MSK144 in an MS shower.

8m MSK144 RX

After a period on 40.680 MHz FT8 QRP TX, I have switched to 40.013 MHz MSK144 RX hoping to spot the Irish beacon EI1KNH/B. My best chance (I think) is early morning.