6m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

My 2.5W 6m FT8 has been on all afternoon. So far, 6 stations have spotted me is CT1EOD (1688km). 15 stations have been spotted on RX all in Europe.

Rally this weekend

 The following has been notified to me. Check before going if travelling any reasonable distance.

Sunday Aug 11th - Flight Refuelling ARC Hamfest, Merley near Wimbourne, BH21 3DS.  Contact tbaker@tiscali.co.uk .

Solar activity

There is no doubt that we have seen some very high solar activity of late. 

Both solar flux and sunspot numbers have been high. As the peak of the solar cycle is an average, it will be many months after the event that we will know when the peak actually occurred. The good news is solar conditions will be good for several years yet.

See https://www.solen.info/solar/ .

OFCOM consultation

Apparently OFCOM is consulting about applying code powers to LF Holdco 2 Ltd. 

Don't even ask what the hell this means!! I am sure it must be very important!  😄

As you know, I am not a great fan of OFCOM, although I suppose this keeps these people in a job.

G3XBM shack

As you may know, most of my fun is seeing how far I get with low power. 

Some years ago I made a page about my shack. Although I tend not to change gear often, the photo shows the shack as it was a few years ago.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/other-amateur-radio/shack .

Dying of cancer - NOT amateur radio

One of my wife's friends is dying of cancer. She was told she had perhaps 5 years to live, but she has lived with it for about 7 years.

She is now in the very last stages and has days or weeks to live. She was in hospital, but has come home to die.

It must be incredibly difficult for her, her husband and all their family. It is so hard to know what to do for the best. 

It brings our own limited time on this planet into focus. I am reminded of the famous poem "Spring and Fall' by Gerard Manley Hopkins.

See https://poets.org/poem/spring-and-fall .

East Anglian Church blog - NOT amateur radio

After a very long break I have updated my churches visited blog. On Tuesday we visited 3 Suffolk churches. So far I have added just one (Hessett) but intend to add the other ones too.

See https://eachurches.blogspot.com/ . 

2m FT8 UKAC activity contest

Last night was the 2m FT8 activity contest. This clearly illustrates the popularity of FT8 with 66 stations spotted here as the map shows.

Sunspots - Thursday August 8th

 Solar flux is 303 and the SSN 242. A=7 and K=1.

DX Explorer video

This site is great. He always tries new things. I like that he is a true experimenter.