10m QRPP WSPR TX (Wednesday)

My 500uW (0.5mW) beacon is running and already 2 spots from EA8BFK (2880km). At these powers, my mind is "blown away".  This is just amazing.  With WSPR, it would seem the impossible becomes possible.

UPDATE 1530z:  EA8BFK (2880km) has spotted me 5 times today. Even though the beacon is pre-programmed to report the power as 0.5W, it is actually 30dB lower at 0.5mW.

Our grandson - NOT amateur radio

They grow up all too fast. This was our older grandson yesterday.  It seems just a few minutes ago he was a baby! Now he is taller than I am.  

Sadly, he has no interest in radio.  Our other grandson is fascinated. He is amazed by my QSL cards and blog numbers. At some future point I could see him getting a licence.

The moral is to enjoy them at every age.

20m QRP FT8 (Wednesday)

For a change, I am trying the coax to my 2m big-wheel omni matched by my Z-match ATU at 2.5W on 20m FT8. 96 stations have already spotted me. I have only been on for about 10 minutes! This is too easy!!

UPDATE 1737z:   Spotted by 425 stations. There is no challenge in this.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

In all, 14 stations spotted my 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in  the ground. No great DX.

Sunspots - Wednesday Jan 3rd

 Solar flux is 142 and the SSN 59.  A=8 and K=1.

2m activity contest UKAC (Tuesday)

In the end I gave up after working just one station at 105km with my 10W pep to the omni antenna. Usually I work 5-10 stations in about 40 minutes. 

The low level of activity is probably for several reasons. Firstly many may just have forgotten thinking today was a Monday. Some may prefer FT8 these days. Also, the wind in the UK has been very strong, so there are probably fewer /P stations out this evening.

Granddaughter - NOT amateur radio

Our ballet bonkers granddaughter is usually very lively. Here she is in pensive mood.

630m QRP WSPR (Tuesday)

At 1907z, I have been on for a couple of hours. So far, 6 stations have spotted my 10mW ERP.

UPDATE 2047z:  10 stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 2205z:   The map shows the stations spotting me this evening.

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.