AA1TJ Mike Rainey

Often it is some time before you realise someone is not around. You just realise they are not there. Often there is a simple explanation, but you are never quite sure. Are they away on a long trip,  have they lost interest in the hobby, have they been, or are they, seriously ill or have they died?

Yesterday, I sent Mike an email asking him for just a quick ping back, but nothing was heard. This afternoon I contacted some of his friends in the USA hoping they have some news.

If you know what has happened to Michael Rainey AA1TJ, please let me know.

Falling asleep - NOT amateur radio

This is very odd. When you fall asleep, you are not aware of it. At some point you are awake, then you drift off into sleep. Usually I fall asleep quite quickly, whereas at other (rare) times it can be hours.

Haggling - NOT amateur radio

One of my pet hates is having to haggle over things like car insurance and broadband prices. 

Having just spent about 2 hours on a web messaging service (chat) to my ISP I have managed to reduce my package costs nearly 50%. Why is this necessary?  Why not just offer existing customers a contract renewal at a competitive price in the first place? I guess they assume many people are too lazy and just accept the new (higher) price. 

I am now paying FAR less for a better package!  At one point I was promised by the BOT that the agent "would be with me in a flash" not realising the BOT had sent the very same message an hour before!!

At least, being retired, I normally have the time. I was dreading the internet going off for just a few seconds and losing everything.

6m 2.5W FT8 (Monday)

Just 9 English stations spotting me so far today. No sign yet of anything further.

UPDATE 1315z:  Now 14 stations spotting me including CT1EEB (1452km).

UPDATE 1730z:  Spotted by 16 stations today. See map.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Monday)

Initially, just spots from EA8BFK (2880km) and local G4KPX (14km) so far today.

UPDATE 1420z: Lots of stateside stations stations spotting me. See table and map.

Map of spots care of https://www.wspr.rocks/ Phil VK7JJ.

Autumn is kicking in - NOT amateur radio

Evenings are getting darker, trees are starting to change colour, "Strictly Come Dancing" is on TV. We are entering the gloomy part of the year. 

Luckily we have compensation in the form of beautiful colours, ripe fruit and, later, Christmas (although looking at many shops you could think Christmas is already here!). 

We must not forget the migrant birds who think we are warmer than some places! Included are waxwings from Scandinavia.

Plans for Monday

Currently my plans for Monday are to go on 6m QRP FT8 with the V2000 vertical (2.5W) and 10m 500mW WSPR with my stand-alone TX beacon.

Sunspots - Monday September 23rd

Solar flux is 163 and the SSN 114. A=5 and K=1.

Reach walk - NOT amateur radio

Last week we did a walk around the next village of Reach and picked some blackberries. 

It is a very sleepy village.

Fake news - NOT amateur radio

It is very easy to believe in news that is faked as some fakes are very easy to create. 

I am particularly concerned in the lead up to the presidential elections in the USA this November. There is already a rumour going around that the recent assassination attempts on Donald Trump were faked to gain votes. In the weeks ahead we can expect many more fake news stories.

In my view we have to gather news from multiple sources and treat 1-off stories with a pinch of salt.