In the last month the exchange rate of the UK pound against the USA dollar has improved by about 10%. The wholesale price of a barrel of oil has fallen by about 10%.
This should mean the proportion of the price of fuel due to barrel prices (excluding tax, delivery etc.) should have improved by about 20% resulting in a drop in fuel prices at garages.
What has happened in the real world? Prices have hardly changed.
When I go on 8m FT8, I forget that I can still go on 10m WSPR TX with my 500mW W5OLF WSPR beacon. It has just been turned on.
UPDATE 1610z: So far today, no spots of me.
UPDATE 1700z: No spots, so synchronised timing again. WSPRnet issue? Others don't seem to be having a problem. I was expecting some spots by now.
Apparently there is a new version of WSJT-X available as a pre-release candidate. At the moment on WSPR and FT8 I use V2.5.4, which is the latest fully released version. The latest candidate release is V2.6-rc4. I must download it and try it.
FT8 is now very popular. It is possible the decode sensitivity is slightly better with this newer version.
Earlier this week I carried out some local tests with 10mW ERP from my low wire dipole. By comparison, 2.5W seems really high power! Shortly, I hope to be on 40.680 MHz QRP FT8. The 20dB pad has been removed and the FT817ND back on 3 bars on TX.
UPDATE 1435z: 8m FT8 QRP TX now switched on.
UPDATE 1700z: I gather Bas has asked the authorities in the Netherlands if he can TX in the 8mISM band legally at 10mW ERP without a licence. If we did this in many administrations we could see a number of new experimenters on 8m in the next Es season. Certainly, WSPR would be more effective than FT8.
The following rally this weekend has been notified to me. It is advisable to check before travelling any distance.
Sunday November 27th - Bishop Auckand RAC Rally, Spennymoor, DL16 6DB. Contact g4ttf@yahoo.co.uk
