23 Jul 2024

Granddaughter with world famous ballerina - NOT amateur radio

On Sunday, one of our granddaughters (who is ballet mad)  met the famous ballerina Darcey Bussell.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darcey_Bussell .

6m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)

 

My QRP FT8 on 6m is on. So far, 31 spots of me. I am not sure if this is Es or F2 propagation. 

On 6m FT8 RX 8 stations have been spotted here.

UPDATE 1748z:  39 stations have spotted me today.

10m QRP WSPR (Tuesday)


My 500mW WSPR beacon is on 10m with 2 stations spotting me. These are a local G4KPX (14km) and a station in Portugal CT2IWW (1383km).

Grasshopper- NOT amateur radio


This is a common grasshopper seen in the UK.

Sunspots - Tuesday July 23rd

 Solar flux is 185 and the SSN 173. A==9 and K=1.

22 Jul 2024

Lavender - NOT amateur radio


At this time of year lavender is plentiful. A lesson taught to me was 888 meaning 8th month, 8th day, 8 inches, which is meant to be when and how to prune them.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Monday)

My 500mW 10m WSPR beacon has been on for about 15 minutes at 0936z.  No spots. 

UPDATE 1000z: Spotted by local G4KPX (14km) and OZ7IT (853km) multiple times.

UPDATE 1309z:  YO2MAX (1802km) has spotted me. F2?


UPDATE 1917z: 
 5 stations have spotted my 500mW 10m WSPR today.

UPDATE 2131z:  12 stations have spotted me.

6m QRP FT8 (Monday)

My 6m QRP FT8 has been on for about 10 minutes at 0933z. Just 4 English stations have spotted me so far.

UPDATE 1142z:  21 stations have spotted me so far with the furthermost IT9TYR (1948km) probably Es. The impression is Es is less frequent. It still occurs but not as commonly as a month ago.Although less sensitive than WSPR I think FT8 can be more successful as the TX period is just 15 seconds as opposed to 120 seconds for WSPR2 so very brief openings are caught. There may now be more people monitoring FT8 than WSPR. 

UPDATE 1322z: 30 stations spotted today. See map.

UPDATE 2115z: 
146 stations spotted me on 6m QRP FT8 today when I was using the QMX+.

European Es

At about 0900z, there is some Es in Europe confined to the central area in the main.

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

Plans for Monday

 In a few moments I shall probably try QRP 6m FT8  with the QMX+ and 10m QRP WSPR with my 500mW W5OLF beacon.