Sunspots - Sunday March 12th 2023

 Solar flux is 157 and the SSN 126.  A=7 and K=2. 

Snow - NOT amateur radio

This winter we have had far more snow and frosts than in most winters. This was our rear garden yesterday. Afterwards there was bright sunshine!

QDX 20m FT8 RX (Saturday)

My QDX and PC have been restarted and a Windows update carried out. It will be interesting to see if RX spots start.

UPDATE 2031z:   165 stations spotted on 20m FT8 RX. I suspect a delay at PSKreporter was the main issue.

UPDATE 2104z:  259 stations spotted on 20m FT8 RX with the furthermost VK7XX (17241km).

Stations spotted with the QDX
on 20m FT8 RX this evening

UPDATE 2321z:  425 stations spotted.

QDX on 15m FT8 (Saturday)

A few minutes ago I QSYed to 15m FT8 with the little QDX transceiver. 10 stations have spotted me, but (according to PSKreporter) I have spotted zero stations, whereas locally there are plenty shown! Either this means I am not uploading spots to PSKreporter or there is a delay with RX spots.

UPDATE 1932z:   Plenty of spots now appearing, so looks like there was a delay reporting RX spots.

UPDATE 1941z: Windows was updating, which may have had some effect.

QDX on 17m FT8 RX (Saturday)

At the moment I am on 17m FT8 RX with my QDX. PSKreporter seems to have a delay as I am seeing plenty on RX, but these are not being displayed yet. My internet is on and I have the PSKreporter box ticked on WSJT-X.

QDX on 10m FT8 TX

My tiny QDX has been on 10m FT8 today. In the last hour 59 stations have spotted me. On RX, I have lost count of the stations spotted.

Still no luck with the FT-710 on FT8

My other Windows PC came back yesterday and works fine with my tiny QDX. It has already been spotted all over the place and works fine on RX too. 

Sadly I have still not got my Yaesu FT-710 to work on FT8. I cannot get the CAT to communicate with the rig. I have downloaded the drivers, adjusted the settings for the driver speed as they say, selected the correct port and all settings and still no joy.  This is so frustrating.

After lots of trying, I just cannot see what I am doing wrong. If this is "finger trouble" at my end I just do not understand. I shall give it another try or it will have to go back. It is a pity, as this is a good rig.

OFCOM updates

Just a reminder that OFCOM updates the details held on licences etc. every week. Check the OFCOM website for more information. 

Sunspots - Saturday March 11th 2023

Solar flux is 171 and the SSN 135. 

My favourite website for daily solar data is after funding. See www.solarham.net.

At the moment I cannot see the A and K index figures on the new site. 

Effective 10m antenna

At the moment 10m is in great shape. 

On this band, worldwide DX is possible most days by F2. We are also approaching the Es season in the northern hemisphere bringing good propagation out to about 1500km, occasionally much further.

You may be after a simple, but effective, 10m antenna so I would like to remind you of my Homebase-10 antenna that was in Practical Wireless many years ago. It is very low cost and most of the parts can be bought at your local hardware store. It might make a nice weekend project.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/antennas/homebase10-10m-halo .