Sunspots - Thursday June 22nd 2023

Solar flux is 176 and the SSN 190. A=8 and K=1. 

PYO strawberries - NOT amateur radio

This was my wife picking strawberries this morning. She has made a crumble with some. 

East Anglian skies - NOT amateur radio

This part of England (East Anglia) is famous for being flat. As a compensation, we get some amazing skies. This was when we had a storm recently.

10m WSPR TX 500mW (Wednesday)

Just after 1100z, my 10m, 500mW, WSPR TX beacon was turned on. At 1115z,  5 unique stations have spotted me. 

8m FT8 (Wednesday)

Just after 1100z, my 2.5W FT8 was turned on. It is now 1107z and, so far, no spots. It looks like there are more monitors active.

UPDATE 1352z:  No spots.

UPDATE 1617z:  My QRP has been spotted by stations in Spain and Poland. It looks like HC02 in Portugal also got me, but this was not reported on PSKreporter.

Plans for today (Wednesday)

 As long as there are no storms nearby, my plan is to go on 8m QRP FT8 and QRP 10m WSPR TX with my 500mW beacon that does not need the PC.

Actually, I have gone off 4m: there is almost no activity that I could find outside the Es season and what is possible when there is Es is now known. I was actually expecting the band to be quite good inter-G at all times, but activity is even lower than 2m. If you are considering 4m, prepare for disappointment.

"Our" windmill this morning - NOT amateur radio

This was the windmill next door this morning in the sunshine. 

No adverts?

After the news of some UK dealers merging, I checked RadCom and PW for dealer adverts.  MLS have many pages whereas Nevada had none in RadCom. Also, Waters and Stanton had none in RadCom.

They all had ads in PW. Moonraker was advertising in RadCom. I presume the costs are lower in PW?

Which dealers will be around in 2030?

Caveat Emptor.  Buyer beware!

Sunspots - Wednesday June 21st 2023

Solar flux is 180 and the SSN 155. A=10 and K=2. 

Fight to the death?

My spy Steve G1KQH tells me 3 dealers are merging. These are Nevada, Moonraker and Waters and Stanton. I expect this is an attempt to compete with MLS. 

One consequence will be fewer dealers advertising in magazines. Expect fierce battles to win trade. Either Nevada runs pages of adverts or it will be curtains for Practical Wireless (PW).

The next few years are critical for the Amateur Radio Service. How many amateur radio magazines will there be in future? I am not sure of the situation in other countries, but here in the UK, there is just one independent amateur radio monthly magazine. I think this is struggling.