Sunspots - Friday September 1st 2023

 Solar flux is 140 and the SSN 77. A=6 and K=3. Are we over the peak already? 

How NOT to - NOT amateur radio

Last night we were treated to a very rare blue super moon. I tried to take a photo. What a dismal failure!

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Thursday)

Most of the day, I have been on 10m WSPR TX with my 500mW WSPR TX beacon. 4 unique stations have spotted me, but no Es I think. It is now 1601z and the beacon will be on for several hours still.

Rallies and Conventions this weekend

The following should take place this weekend. As always, I strongly recommend checking the information is correct.

1. Saturday September 2nd - GQRP Club plus Telford and District ARS Convention. Telford,  TF10 8NB. Contact 01952 255416 or 07824 737716.
2. Sunday September 3rd - Annual Telford Hamfest and continuing GQRP convention. Contact and postcode as above.

6m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

For about the last hour, I have been on 6m FT8 with my 2.5W and V2000 vertical omni antenna. Nine stations have spotted me today so far, but I suspect these are all aircraft scatter as they are all UK. 

UPDATE 1608z: 12 stations spotted .

UPDATE 1946z:  14 spots of my QRP FT8.  Es? (See Map).

UPDATE 2118z: QRT. 

Made me laugh - NOT amateur radio

This was on Facebook yesterday. It made me chuckle. 

Sunspots - Thursday August 31st 2023

Solar flux is 139 and the SSN 94  A=6 and K=2.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Wednesday)

Although I have been on for about an hour, no spots so far. I get the impression Es is very marginal today.

UPDATE 1305z:   5 spots of me today (see map). It is interesting that the main DX seems to be via F2 now rather than Es.

UPDATE 1643z:  7 spots (mainly F2) today. Spotted in Antarctica 6 times in the last few days. DP0GVN/3 (13685km) just spotted my 500mW. 

6m QRP FT8 (Wednesday)

 After about an hour plenty of spots of my 2.5W to the vertical omni antenna including Italy and Northern Ireland.

UPDATE 1248z:  Any Es today looks fleeting with no further Europeans spotting me in recent hours.

Solar activity

In the last month, apart from today, solar activity has been poorer than the month before. As the last solar minimum was only in 2020, I cannot believe we have already gone past the peak of solar cycle 25. In the last cycle there was a bigger peak after the first.

What is certain is that solar activity can remain good for several years after the peak. Even if this was a very early peak and not a blip, we can expect solar activity to remain good for several years yet. If the peak really is a way off, this means we can expect solar activity to be pretty good until at least 2026.

It is my belief that it is often low activity rather than conditions that make the higher HF bands seem dead. With modes like FT8, we may well find 10m, for example, is "open" far more often than we once thought.