Village Christmas Tree - Not amateur radio

Every year a Christmas tree 🌲 is erected outside our post office.

10m 500mW WSPR (Thursday)

My beacon has been on since late morning. At 1334z 17 stations had spotted me with several in the USA and Canada.

UPDATE 1657z: 29 stations have spotted me.

6m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

My QRP has been on 6m FT8  since about 1215z.  At 1230z 8 stations have spotted me, all in England.

UPDATE 1641z:  18 stations have spotted my 6m QRP FT8 today.

Sunspots - Thursday December 12th

 Solar flux is 161 and the SSN 114. A=6 and K=2.

Changing times

Back in the 1960s, 2m was almost exclusively AM and 70cm was the frontier. These days many (probably most)  prefer digital modes like FT8. When first active in the late 1960s people used to come on just to chat. 

These days there are many other ways to do this not involving amateur radio or licences. Radio is no longer magic for most: video chats across the world for free on the internet are easy. My wife talks to a friend in Australia on video as if she is in the next room.

Back in the late 1960s I really wanted a Heathkit Twoer HW30 kit. This was a 5W AM transceiver with a super-regen RX. In those days of very low activity, this was probably all you needed. Selectivity was poor, not that it really mattered most of the time.

Interesting reflection - NOT amateur radio

 

This photo was taken by my wife some years ago. It is of a glass on a restaurant table.

6m QRP FT8 (Wednesday)

My QRP  6m FT8 has been on since about 1100z. So far, I have been spotted by 14 English stations at 1133z.

UPDATE 1444z:  23 stations have spotted me on 6m QRP FT8, mostly English.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Wednesday)

My stand-alone 500mW 10m WSPR beacon has been on for a little while.  At 1125z, I had been spotted by 3 Finnish stations.

UPDATE 1445z:  21 stations have spotted me today.

Optical DX - NOT amateur radio

For years I have been fascinated by mirages and increases in refractive index at optical frequencies. What is often not realised is that how far we can see changes depending on the refractive index .This photo was a Facebook memory from some years ago.

Sunspots - Wednesday December 11th

 Solar flux is 172 and the SSN 125. A=8 and K=2.