Es so far

We are about half way through the Es season in the northern hemisphere. Although there have been some good openings at times, the impression I have is that overall things have been below average. 

8m FT8 (Friday)

 Although I have been on 8m FT8 since before breakfast, no spots. 

UPDATE 1124z: Just spotted by EA3ERE (1153km).

UPDATE 1552z:  4 unique station spots including a new one G3WCS (223km) in north west England. Is this some kind of back scatter? It is too close for Es and the report is far better than I would expect for tropo. It also looks too weak for aircraft scatter. Nothing from Hugh HC02 today in Portugal. If open to him, he is a very reliable reporter.

UPDATE 1905z:  Best day ever on 8m with spots by 9 unique stations as the map shows. Not bad for 2.5W FT8 to a low dipole.

10m 500mW WSPR (Friday)

Spots of me to 1420z

Before breakfast my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon was turned on. So far 6 spots. These look like a mix of F2 and Es spots. Tomorrow I intend to do some QRPP tests on 10m WSPR TX. 

UPDATE 1420z: 18 spots pf me so far with the furthermost F61695 (9729km) (see table).

UPDATE 1641z:  25 spots of me so far on 10m QRP WSPR today. Several of these would have copied me at low mW level with a quiet noise floor.

UPDATE 2036z:  55 unique station spots of me today. QRT soon. Quite a decent day.

Sunspots - Friday June 9th 2023

Solar flux is 169 and the SSN 149. A=5 and K=1.

Fancy car - NOT amateur radio

This morning we went for a walk. On the way we saw this car with metallic paint. It looked different colours from different angles. Very flashy.....and no doubt expensive.

8m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

 My 8m gear (2.5W to a low dipole) has been on since just before breakfast, but no spots.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Thursday)

My beacon has been on 10m QRP WSPR TX since just breakfast. So far, F2 in evidence but not Es. 5 unique stations spotting me so far.

Sunspots - Thursday June 8th 2023

Solar flux is 167 and the SSN 177. A=5 and K=1. 

2m FT8 activity contest

Stations spotted on
2m FT8 to 2000z

There is a lift on 2m!  

There is an FT8 activity contest at the moment and 126 stations spotted on RX and my 2.5W to the omni has been widely copied.

UPDATE 2136z:  181 stations spotted. QRT.

Haircut time - NOT amateur radio

We have a long laurel hedge about 25m long. Every year it gets cut.  I have done the top and my son will do the sides in a few weeks.