Solar flux is 142 and the SSN 68. A=6 and K=0.
29 Aug 2023
28 Aug 2023
That kiss - NOT amateur radio
The man in charge of football in Spain, Luis Rubiales, is at the centre of a media storm.
The fact that the media has created such a fuss has taken the focus off the women's team that won the world cup and onto this man instead.
Now, I do not have all the facts and stand to be corrected. My reading of the situation is that this is a story whipped up by the media. Yes, he was carried away by the excitement of the moment, made a mistake, but it would have been better just forgotten. He is also in trouble for scratching his crotch. This took about 1 second! I am pretty sure he just had an innocent itch.
The media has a habit of creating stories. Personally, I do not think he should be made to resign.
Tired, giddy and exhausted - NOT amateur radio
It is almost 10 years ago I suffered my brain bleed/stroke and was in hospital for 3.5 months. Thankfully, I made an almost complete physical recovery and was able to get back to an almost normal life. I was given a second chance, unlike many.
My main issues are my poor voice, being giddy nearly all the waking hours, and getting exhausted very quickly after physical or mental exertion. Whereas before I enjoyed going out in the car doing experiments, I no longer feel able. I still drive, but do not enjoy it. Driving seems to require so much more concentration for me nowadays. All the time I am reading the situation, looking for stupid drivers. It is almost as if my brain takes longer to process things. Driving at 50mph feels like 70mph.
The net result is trying to find ways to enjoy things differently. These days, my experiments are at home rather than "in the field".
Although I long to be as I once was, I know this can never be, so we have to make the best of life.
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/non-amateur-radio/stroke .
6m QRP FT8 tomorrow?
As an experiment, I may try 50.313 MHz QRP FT8 tomorrow. The main Es season is over, but Es still occurs, but less often. FT8, which is better than CW, uses a 15 second TX period. If propagation lasts this long, one has a great chance of being detected. Often Es signals can be quite strong, if short-lived.
I like to experiment on 8m FT8, but there are too few monitors sadly.
Optical Experiments
With very low power and simple, homemade, gear I could detect my beacon on a PC way over the horizon. In Australia, the "over-the-horizon" (NLOS) distance record is way over 100km. With my own very modest gear, I can well believe this.
My tests were done on cloudless nights, suggesting the propagation was scattering off atmospheric dust. There was no sign of the light from the TX in the sky at all. This is definitely where everyone, licenced or not, may experiment. It would be good to find out how far we could achieve non line of site (NLOS) in the UK. Incidentally LEDs are generally considered better than lasers due to scintillation (look it up!).
My own beacon and optical gear were made in the back of the garage. If I was fit, I would be experimenting now.
My optical gear used LEDs bought off eBay. Far more powerful ones are available. I used 100mm lenses used in magnifying glasses bought at Poundland. Better equipped stations used Fresnel lenses. My tripod was hopeless. With better LEDs, lenses and tripods, ranges could be increased a great deal. Even with my system ranges could be considerably greater than the nearly 9km I managed.
See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/optical-nanowaves/over-the-horizon.
Isleham priory - NOT amateur radio
In my view the Reformation did a great deal of harm in England. Looking back, it seems pure vandalism.
In my view, we have to look at history, reflect on it, but not destroy it.
Rowan tree - NOT amateur radio
8m 2.5W FT8 (Monday)
My 2.5W FT8 to the dipole on 40.680 MHz was turned on about 0830z. So far, no spots.
UPDATE 1206z: 2 Polish stations have spotted my QRP 8m FT8.
UPDATE 1544z: No further stations spotting me.
10m 500mW WSPR (Monday)
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