Sunspots - Friday, February 17th 2023

 Solar flux is 163 and the SSN 101. A=24 and K=2.

Getting taller - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows our elder grandson in 3 years. In 2021 he was a child. In 2023 he is a young man. Either I am shrinking or he is growing. It is mostly the latter!

 

10m QRP WSPR TX

At the moment I am on 10m WSPR TX with my 500mW beacon. So far today, 8 unique stations have spotting me. 

UPDATE 1246z:  11 unique stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 1604z: 15 unique stations have spotted me today. It is interesting that several stations would have been able to copy my 10m WSPR with far less power, assuming their noise floor was low. This confirms to me that many licence exempt 8m ISM beacons could be copied at great range on WSPR. I hope many use 10mW ERP  8m ISM band licence free WSPR to great effect this Es season. In some countries higher ERPs may be legal too. In the UK, it is 10mW ERP.

UPDATE 1832z:  19 unique stations have spotted me.

8m FT8 F2 backscatter test

At the moment, I am trying to reach G9PUV (158km) by F2 backscatter on 8m FT8.  I am copying Paul, but he is not copying my QRP signal.  My 8m QRP FT8 is reaching SV1DH (2410km) in southern Greece as well as another station in Greece. I suspect this is F2 propagation.

UPDATE 1230z:  Although I copied G9PUV Paul quite well, he was unable to decode my 8m QRP FT8. I am not sure if he copied anything at all from me, but it was not enough to get an FT8 decode. So, we failed. Now RX only.

Bankers pay - NOT amateur radio

This was a Facebook memory from 2011. I was appalled then and this is now 12 years later!! 

Whilst I am all for skilled people earning a decent wage, I hope these people really earn this. Many who play the markets are no more than gamblers.

£260k a year in 2011 sounded stupid money even then! No wonder locals cannot afford properties where they come from. Angry? You bet! I cannot see how these stupid salaries are ever fair. Don't get me started on footballers pay.

QDX getting closer

When I ordered this around Christmas it was about 144th in the queue. It is now very near the top so should be here in March I expect. Hans makes some good kit. 

See https://qrp-labs.com/ .

Oscar 100 narrowband activity

Every few weeks I take a peek at activity on the narrow-band transponder of this satellite. Although a bit busier than the last time I looked, it is still well under-used.

See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/ .

Green stripes on the left of UK car registration plates - NOT amateur radio

Apparently the green stripes on the left of UK car registration plates indicate the car produces zero emissions from the exhaust pipe. This can only be achieved with electric vehicles (EVs) I think. Maybe hydrogen vehicles can as well, but these are very rare. 

Until my son came to stay recently, I did not know this. I (wrongly) assumed the green could be on all new cars, but this makes a great deal of sense.

It still seems to me that non emission vehicles have a long way to go. The main issue is improving the range between charges and making batteries from materials that can be made with cheap, easily available  materials. Until these issues are cracked, I cannot see a turning point soon. 

These days CRT TVs and photographic films look ancient. Let's hope this soon happens with non emission vehicles. Surely the age of fossil fuel is drawing to a close. The planet badly needs this. If these breakthroughs occur, there really will be a tipping point. I am surprised it has not happened already.

See https://www.carwow.co.uk/blog/green-number-plates-explained#gref.

Me

This is a photo of me earlier this week at Hare Park, Chippenham, near Cambridge. There are snowdrops everywhere!

My wife says I am expecting triplets!

OFCOM consultation

 OFCOM is consulting about its 28 GHz allocation to Arqiva. See the OFCOM website for details.