Sunspots - Wednesday February 7th

 Solar flux is 190 and the SSN 175. A=8 and K=1.

UK King's cancer diagnosis - NOT amateur radio

Whatever views you hold on royalty, the announcement yesterday that the UK king has cancer was a shock. Hopefully it has been caught early and it can be cured with treatment. For many now this happens (it is cured) far more times than in the past when cancer felt like a death sentence.

One thing it reminds us all of is that life is finite. Whatever your views are on life after we die, our time on Earth is limited. In every moment there are things around us we have never noticed to be enjoyed. We are all reminded that there is beauty all around us if we look.

Googlese - NOT amateur radio

One of my Facebook memories reminds me of some of the STUPID language used by Google in its communication.

I quote:

Fungus - NOT amateur radio

This fungus on a log at Anglesey Abbey has been on before I think, but this is a different angle.

Postcards- NOT amateur radio

These days people send fewer postcards preferring to send photos by email or WhatsApp. Looking at this shop near King’s College, Cambridge you would find that hard to believe!!

Hellebores - NOT amateur radio

 

Yesterday, we caught up with old university friends we have known since the 1960s (gosh I must be old!!) and went for a walk at nearby Anglesey Abbey. One of the flowers now out are Hellebores. I thought the flowers were meant to face the sun (hence the name), but most of the ones I have seen have heads down!!

HiFer 22m ISM band (Tuesday)

Once again, I am trying my luck with low milliwatts WSPR on 13.5539MHz in the HiFer band using ISM restrictions. For the last 2 days I have been spotted in Europe, but not in the USA. Always hopeful!! 

UPDATE 0944z:  Spots by OE9GHV/Q (871km).

UPDATE 1711z: 3 European spots again, but nothing from the USA.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

18 stations spotted my 10mW QRP WSPR from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground in the last 24 hours. No great DX, but another decent session.

Amateur VLF DX in 2011

 It’s some years since I did experiments at VLF. This was my first DX on 8.97kHz VLF.

SSTV

Apart from a half-hearted attempt at decoding a SSTV (slow scan TV) picture on my smart phone many years ago, I have not really tried this mode. It sounds fun to try. 

The best software looks like YONIQ which is a derivative of MMSSTV.  I shall install this software unless anyone suggests anything better.

The maximum power I can run is 10W pep. I am not sure if I need more.

UPDATE 0842z: I have seen the comment yesterday by Bas about digital SSTV. I must investigate!

UPDATE 0955z: Before running, try walking!  It looks like the first "baby steps" with SSTV should be trying to receive some images, both analogue and digitally. My first few days will be downloading suitable software and having a play.