Solar flux is 220 and the SSN 140. A=11 and K=2.
26 Nov 2024
25 Nov 2024
Cambridge Today - NOT amateur radio
24 Nov 2024
Birthday girl - NOT amateur radio
Today is my wife's birthday.
Faroes - NOT amateur radio
Some places are much hotter whereas some (like the photo posted by a friend in the Faroe Is) are much colder.
There was snow on the hills and temperatures of 4 degrees C in September! I expect they see the northern lights far more often up there.
Exceptional E-W F2 MUF
In the last few weeks the F2 MUF has exceeded 50MHz "across the pond" on a few occasions. I would expect this at times at the height of a good(ish) solar cycle. It would reach 8m far more often. Indeed my 8m 2.5W FT8 to a dipole was regularly spotted in Canada, the USA and Caribbean in autumn 2023 as well as this autumn.
In my view this is where 8m FT8 could score. Just occasionally for a short period, the MUF will be high enough. These openings are far less likely to be spotted on CW or SSB, whereas with 8m FT8 and PSKreporter it is far more likely these brief openings will be noticed.
As the sunspots decline the N-S MUF may support 8m FT8 to South Africa more often than we might think.
70cm activity contest
It is a dead certainty that I have never even come close to winning the AL section of this contest! Why? 10W to a 2m big-wheel omni antenna and well less than an hour of operating.
The results were published earlier and I remain 51st out of 92 stations in the low power (AL) section. I am certain that if my voice allowed me to stop on longer, a much better score would be possible. I only really take part because of the activity. It is also good for my voice.
6m QRP FT8 (Sunday)
My QMX+ has been on since about 1035z. So far, 5 English stations have spotted me. The QMX+ initialised after a few minutes!