York - NOT amateur radio

We like the city of York. It has many narrow and very old streets and a magnificent minster. It also has a famous railway museum. The photo shows the railway station in a photo recently posted by a friend on 365project. The approach to the railway station is currently being changed.

See https://visityork.org/ .

10m 10mW WSPR (Monday)

There is some Es about, although I have not been spotted yet with my 10mW.  The impression is this is not yet at the intensity to regularly support QRPP WSPR.

UPDATE 1730z:  No spots of me. It would appear EA8BFK (2880km) is either not monitoring or my signal is too weak.

Wicken Fen - NOT amateur radio

This is a very old National Trust piece of land. In the UK, members can visit any National Trust property for free. Others pay an entry fee. NT properties include old houses, clifftops and other land of interest. It is a great resource.  I think Wicken Fen was the first NT property in the country. We visited here on Saturday. 

We heard lots of cuckoos. Cuckoos like reed warbler nests - there are plenty!  Cuckoos are often heard and not seen.

See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/cuckoo .

6m QRP FT8 (Monday)

With spots of my 2.5W 6m QRP FT8 to the vertical omni antenna from Germany 🇩🇪 , France and Denmark already, there looks like Es is about.

UPDATE 1131z:  23 spots of me. Plenty of Es.

UPDATE 1653z:  34 spots of my QRP so far today. See map.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

 

8 stations spotted my 10mW ERP WSPR overnight . No great DX, but better than I expected really.

Sunspots - Monday May 6th

 Solar flux is 177 and the SSN 152. A=12 and K=2.

Es so far and QRPP 8m WSPR

There have been Es openings in Europe on 10m and 6m, but nothing yet to suggest my 10mW ERP 8m WSPR would be copied. This is the power that anyone may use licence free with ISM rules in the UK as long as IR2030 is met.

I still have to replace my 8m dipole. I shall probably do this the week after this. Hopefully someone during this Es season will get my 10mW ERP WSPR on 40.680 MHz USB dial. My reluctance is ladder work as I get giddy up ladders!  

There are two factors working against me - the low power and too few 8m monitors. Results on 10m suggest 10mW should be enough, but 8m suffers from too few monitors. However, I remain hopeful. 

Es is usually good during May, June and July. In my experience the season goes on during July, August and September, but it is on the wane by August.

6m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

My 2.5W FT8 to the V2000 vertical omni antenna was turned on at about 0915z. So far, just one local spot.

UPDATE 0950z:  9 spots of me.

UPDATE 1823z:  22 spots of my QRP with the furthermost SE3X (1447km) in northern Sweden.

10m 10mW WSPR (Sunday)

EA8BFK (2880km) has spotted me multiple times (F2?).  At 500uW this would probably not have been possible.

UPDATE 1922z:  So far, just EA8BFK has spotted my 10m 10mW WSPR over 100 times!! This looks like single hop F2. I was surprised nobody else spotted me. Perhaps his noise floor is exceptionally low.

Wicken Fen - NOT amateur radio

 The photo shows the old wind pump at Wicken Fen. It is often thought of as a windmill although it is a pump not a mill.