8m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

So far, just spots by WESSEXSDR (267km) of my 2.5W to a dipole.

UPDATE 1040z: ZR1ADI (9777km) again coming through, but no QSO.

UPDATE 1356z:  2 spots from Poland and somebody signing "PA test" on 8m FT8 RX.  Not sure if this is somebody trying their power amp or someone testing in the Netherlands.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Thursday)

My stand-alone 10m WSPR beacon is already being spotted in South America  by PU5ALE (10191km). I assume this is F2 propagation. 

UPDATE 1438z:  24 stations have spotted my 10m QRP WSPR beacon today.

Thursday plans

 Later, I hope to go on QRP 8m FT8 (2.5W) and 500mW WSPR beaconing on 10m.

GQRP SPRAT

Many times, I have said that if I had to give up every radio magazine then SPRAT would be the last one to go. This is still my view. 

SPRAT is published every quarter as a colour A5 magazine. It is packed full mainly of simple construction projects and annual subs are very low. It is entirely run by volunteers with back issues of SPRAT available on a flash stick at a very reasonable sum. Well worth getting.

See https://www.gqrp.com/sprat.htm .

Sunspots - Thursday October 10th

 Solar flux is 220 and the SSN 107 . A=19 and K=2.

70cm FT8 activity contest

This evening starting at 1900z is the 70cm FT8 activity contest. 

It always surprises me how far away stations can be copied. I usually work a few locals, but spend most of the time on RX. I use a 2m big-wheel omni antenna only. 

I wonder if with 70cm FT8 we can tap into some kind of troposcatter?

All this makes me wonder how effective 70cm FT8 would be with a decent beam and reasonable powers.

UPDATE 1936z:  Lots of stations spotted with the furthermost DJ6TA (493km). The more I think about 70cm FT8 is a very under-used band!

UPDATE 2135z:  The map shows the stations spotted on 70cm FT8 this evening.

EI7GL blog

 After being absent for a while, John's excellent blog is back. John has one of the best amateur radio blogs on the internet.

See https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/. 

RSGB convention this weekend

 October 11-13th - RSGB 2024 Convention, Milton Keynes. See rsgb.org/conventon .

70cm activity contest

Every month the RSGB holds a 70cm activity contest on a Tuesday evening.  Because of my voice, I rarely stop on very long. Also, I suspect this contest is attracting fewer entries, people preferring FT8. The map shows the QSOs I managed with 10W and a 2m big-wheel omni antenna.

Fungi or Lichen? - NOT amateur radio

I think this log at nearby Anglesey Abbey was on the blog some months ago. 

It looks like the fungi (or is it lichen?) is changing colour.