Sunspots - Tuesday July 16th

 Solar flux is 233 and the SSN 205. A=6 and K=3.

10m QRP FT8 (Monday)

Quite late in the afternoon, I went on 10m QRP FT8  with my QMX+ rig. On TX, spots from eastern Europe and on RX spots from Europe, Africa and South America.

UPDATE 1804z:  So far, 37 spots of my QRP 10m FT8 with the furthermost VP8NO (12273km) in the Falkland Islands. See map.

UPDATE 2142z: 121 spots of my QRP FT8 on 10m. This is very good considering I did not start until late afternoon. Now QRT.

European Es : not over yet

Looking at the Es reports in Europe, it looks like we are still seeing plentiful Es in Europe. My motto is stick with the higher HF bands and lower VHF looking for Es.

See https://www.tvcomm.co.uk/g7izu/radio-propagation-maps/europe-sporadic-e/ .

Pye PF70

One of my early jobs in the labs at Pye Telecom was rebanding the PF70 to the band that included 2m. This involved optimising coils and capacitors. 

In the end I was in development for nearly 40 years before I retired. I used to come home and say my work was my hobby. Mostly it was great fun and I enjoyed it.

Plans for today

Today I have several aims:

• Sort out PuTTY so I can increase the audio level on FT8 using my QMX+.
• Try the QMX+ on 6m FT8.
• Try the QMX+ (again) on 10m FT8.

UPDATE 1937z:  I failed!  In the end I just went on 10m QRP FT8. That's the problem with being retired: there is always tomorrow. Things can wait.

Cars - NOT amateur radio

There were several vintage cars at our local museum and windmill on Sunday.

See  https://burwellmuseum.org.uk/ .

Bikes at the windmill - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday it was briefly sunny and these bikers 🚴 enjoyed a visit to the windmill next door.

By the way, this is our hedge in the front.

472kHz transverter breadboard

This photo from many years ago shows me breadboarding my 472kHz transverter.

UPDATE 0812z:  In the early autumn, I shall try again on 472kHz WSPR. Last season was very successful despite the low ERP.

PuTTY trouble

I am sure it’s finger trouble on my part, but I have never used a terminal emulator on Windows 10 before or any machine, so what should be easy with my QMX+ seems very hard for a PC idiot like me! 

One of my challenges today is to find out what I need to do to get it working. It can not be hard. It does not help that my brain gets so fuddled.

Sunspots - Monday July 15th

 Solar flux is 234 and the SSN 217. A=5 and K=1.

The recent uptick in solar activity must have pushed the peak of solar cycle 25 into later this year.