When on 8m FT8 or other modes, the FT817ND and PC are tied up, so I go on 10m WSPR with the W5OLF 500mW beacon.
So far this morning, just spots from the Canary Is by what seems like F2 propagation. No signs of any Es today.
UPDATE 1345z: Some reports have been +6dB S/N which is very strong.
It is hard to appreciate just how much the media influences us all.
In Russia, folks are told that the war in Ukraine is a "special operation" to liberate oppressed people. In the west we are told the Ukrainians are without fault. In the 1970s we were always told the USA was perfect in Vietnam and the Vietcong was evil.
We rarely hear a truly balanced view. All sides want to slant things their way.
The truth is usually somewhere in the middle. The west is not perfect, Russia is not perfect, Ukraine is not perfect, and the Vietcong was not the evil it was portrayed.
In all wars and in peacetime, the media influences us all. My plea is to get your data from multiple sources and make up your own mind. Don't always believe what you are fed.
I have been monitoring this Irish beacon for several days and with various modes. So far, I have had no luck.
After today, I shall stop and try again with MSK144 in an MS shower.
UPDATE 1815z: Still nothing. Disappointing as G0RQQ, Keith, is able to get it in Lincoln. I am getting the distinct impression this is not going to work.
UPDATE 1943z: Nothing. I shall go QRT soon on 8m FT8 RX on the beacon frequency. Failure!
Yaesu, you have had your chances, but never took them in the run up to solar peak 24 and now 25. Instead, Yaesu messes around with a 100W SDR radio that looks like the one they only recently introduced!!
Yaesu, have you really lost the plot?
Like all things from China my feeling is the quality control and support are still not proven. They will get there soon and this may be it.
Lower cost amateur radio products are coming and the big Japanese manufacturers are in for a large shock. The writing is on the wall. I give it a few years only. Certainly when we are in cycle 26 things will look very different indeed. Some of the companies we have known for decades will be gone and there will be new names.
Although Es can occur at any time, the late spring and early summer are the best times. Often bands up 4m can bring DX to up to 1500km, sometimes more. Rarely, Es occurs at 2m.
Today, for example I saw no evidence of Es propagation on 10m WSPR. The only stations spotting me were probably via F2 propagation or local. The nature of Es is it is sporadic, so the bands can suddenly come alive, which is why FT8 especially can be so useful.
When DX is not around, bands like 10m and 6m can be seriously under-used. This is a pity as they make good bands for club nets and local chats. Antennas are small and local noise is often much better than 160m or 80m, where antennas can be big.
In the spring and summer, we get bird migrants from Africa.
In recent years there have been far fewer swallows, although here, surprisingly, swift numbers are not too bad. Swifts mostly go in August to central Africa, whereas many swallows end up in South Africa.
Most swallows go about now, although a very few may try to over-winter. As our climate gets milder, some may succeed. It will be next spring before the swifts and swallows, hopefully, return. They have being doing this journey for thousands of years.
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| Bee-eaters |
Over the winter we see birds from the far north, who think our climate is mild! Don't tell them otherwise! In this part of the UK we get swans from Iceland and Siberia over the winter.
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.
