Autumn colours - NOT amateur radio

We saw these earlier on our walk to Wicken Fen where we had a bite to eat for lunch.

Marconi pre-WW1 radio station

Michael Rainey AA1TJ's Facebook page has this photo of a very early Marconi radio station on Cape Cod. 

By the First World War it was already old technology. 

Where I come from in South Devon - NOT amateur radio

This is a photo of where I come from in South Devon. We can trace our family history back to the mid 1500s in a village near here and I have a record of land ownership nearby in the early 1400s.

Sunspots - Thursday September 22nd 2022

Solar flux is 137 and the SSN 70. A=5 and K=1.

17m FT8 RX (Wednesday)

 As I was getting nowhere on 8m, I decided to QSY to 17m FT8 using my 10m end fed antenna.

UPDATE 1749z:   33 stations already spotted.

Bumper crop - NOT amateur radio

In the orchard next door there is a bumper crop of apples. We had a very wet winter followed by a hot dry summer. 

I guess these must have been ideal conditions.

8m FT8 QRP (Wednesday)

About an hour ago I QSYed to 8m FT8. hoping to be spotted across the Atlantic or spot someone from over there. A QSO would be magic. 

Based on ERP alone, this should be possible as I have done it with less ERP on 10m SSB, so 8m FT8 QRP should be possible.

UPDATE 1733z:  Nothing on RX or TX today. QSYing to 17m FT8 RX.

Memory costs - NOT amateur radio

Amazon is selling Sandisk Ultra 128GB micro SD cards for £13.99. A few years ago this would have been unheard of. 

Imagine what memory will cost in 2032!

Shack 9 years ago

 

This photo shows my shack when we moved to this QTH in summer 2013.

Complete change today?

As an experiment, I may try FT8 RX on a different band with my 10m end fed antenna. I think it has a low SWR on some other bands, but I cannot remember which. 

UPDATE 0836z:  The antenna would appear to be a good match on 17m, 15m. 12m and 10m. Today, I am trying 15m FT8. My very first signal resulted in a QSO with an LZ station. 8 stations have spotted me on QRP TX!  I am RX only now. So far, on 15m FT8 RX, 16 stations spotted.

UPDATE 1113z: 172 stations spotted so far today on 15m FT8 RX.