Electric cars - NOT amateur radio

These provoke strong feelings. 

In my view we will all be driving electric cars, when certain criteria are met. At the moment these are: range (too little) and price (too high) and too long to charge even if you can find a place to charge!  

In my view they will considerably increase range (1000+  miles on a charge) and there will be a big drop in price with a new battery technology perhaps solid state batteries. There is a lot of investment going towards this. 

Remember cathode ray tubes and film cameras?

There is a lot of stupid hype about electric cars at the moment, when the truth is the technology is not quite there. I give it under 5 years. By 2030, fossil fuelled cars will seem so old fashioned and so last century.  

My prediction is the Chinese will be first.

QSL cards

In earlier years, these were the common way of confirming contacts.  I remember the ones from the old USSR were of poor quality. 

More recently, QSL cards are often colourful although people exchange QSL cards less frequently as there are other means of confirming contacts.

8m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)

 At 1135z my 2.5W 8m FT8 had been on for about an hour. No spots.

UPDATE 1615z:  No 8m FT8 spots.

10m QRPP WSPR TX (Tuesday)

My 500uW WSPR has been on for about an hour at 1130z. No spots. 

630m WSPR overnight

In all, 12 stations spotted me with my 10mW ERP. No great DX but fun nonetheless.

Sunspots - Tuesday January 2nd

 Solar flux is 136 and the SSN 44. A=10 and K=2.

630m QRP WSPR (Monday)

My MF QRP WSPR (10mW ERP from the earth-electrode antenna) was turned on at about 2020z. So far, 2 stations spotting me. This my first time on 630m this year.

UPDATE 2050z:  Now spotted by 3 stations with the furthermost EI0CF (602km).

UPDATE 2137z:  Now spotted by 4 stations with the furtnermost GM0UDL (659km)

Rick Andersen KE3IJ

Yesterday, I posted a circuit that appeared on Rick's KE3IJ's website back in 2012. This website seems to be no longer there. Does anybody have any information please?

Going home - NOT amateur radio

Our younger son and his children have been here for a few days and went home this morning. 

This photo in our garden was just before they left.

8m QRP FT8 (Monday)

 My 2.5W FT8 gear was turned on at about 1000z. No spots yet.

UPDATE 1515z:  Although I have been on 8m FT8 all day, no spots on RX or TX. This could just be holiday season, or a slack time of year with fewer F2 and Es openings. Also, most people have worked all the stations available. We need more countries and experimenters on 8m.