10m QRP WSPR TX (Sunday)

At 0956z, my 500mW WSPR beacon was turned on.

UPDATE 1808z:  30 stations have spotted my 500mW 10m WSPR TX today as shown below in the table.

8m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

It is now 0950z. In a few moments I expect to be on 8m TX on 40.680 (TX first) with my 2.5W FT8 QRP and low dipole. 

UPDATE 1101z:  On now. No spots.

UPDATE 1335z:  G0HVQ (181km) has spotted my QRP 8m FT8.

UPDATE 1452z:  EI9KP (649km) has spotted me ....again ... on 8m FT8.

UPDATE 1815z:  S50B (1220km) has now spotted my 2.5W FT8 on 8m today. Today is probably my best day on 8m for several months. Winter Es for S50B? The propagation to EI9KP still puzzles me. It must be some sort of scatter - aircraft, random MS or tropo?

Grandson's bellringing videos - NOT amateur radio

Our elder grandson has a video channel about bellringing. He has new rung in well over 80 towers in London and in the Cambridge area. His channel is called StedmanTriples783.

See https://www.youtube.com/@stedders783.

Sunspots - Sunday January 8th 2023

Solar flux is 179 and the SSN 104. A=6 and K=1.

King's College Chapel in Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

Even though much of it has scaffolding on it, it is still a wonderful building. 

WSJT-X 2.6.0 on general release?

I have been told that WSJT-X has been generally released as V2.6.0. I use WSJT-X for both FT8 and WSPR. Later today I expect to download this version if it is generally released. 

On the official website, it is still shown as a release candidate. Usually a new version is released about now, so perhaps my informant has advanced information?

Where I come from - NOT amateur radio

This photo was posted on the internet yesterday and shows where I come from in South Devon. Salcombe is left and this shows the Kingsbridge Estuary as the main focus. It is still a very beautiful part of England, and still very rural.

Rain gauge - NOT amateur radio

One of my wife's Christmas presents was a rain gauge, so we can record the rainfall over the year. I have created a spreadsheet. The biggest issue is to record the rain each day and empty it!

Apart from today and yesterday, we have had very little rain. More is forecast later.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Saturday)

 At 1020z, my 500mW WSPR TX beacon was turned on. At 1035z, just SV9KI (2639km) spotting me.

UPDATE  1247z: 6 unique stations have spotted my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon.

UPDATE 1445z:  7 unique stations spotting me today.

Stations spotting me to 1718z

UPDATE 1718z: 14 unique stations have spotted me today. The GMs especially suggest winter Es.

UPDATE 2220z: 15 unique stations spotted me. Now QRT on 10m QRP WSPR TX.

8m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

At 1020z my 2.5W 8m FT8 was turned on 40.680 MHz (TX first). No spots today at 1025z. 

Yesterday EI9KP (649km) again spotted me strongly. This is a really odd distance being (probably) too close for Es and too far for tropo. Perhaps it is MS or aircraft scatter. I would have thought the 15 second transmit period would have been too long for these? The signal report suggests aircraft?  Phil is definitely the person who most frequently spots on 8m.

UPDATE 1240z:  EA3ERE (1153km) has spotted me several times on 8m FT8 this morning. Winter Es I guess.