Threads exhibition - NOT amateur radio

 

At Ely Cathedral is an exhibition of very intricate embroidery used in attire worn by the clergy.

Crystal sets

 

These can be very simple or, in some cases, very complicated. On my website is a page about crystal sets. No batteries are needed.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/crystal-set-dxing .

Sunspots - Monday March 10th

 Solar flux is 148 and the SSN 90. A=35 and K=2.

Ely, UK, market - NOT amateur radio

 

A drop of sun and everyone seems to come out!  This was Ely market a few hours ago.

World religions - NOT amateur radio

From a very young age I was brought up as a Church of England Anglican. In my late teenage years I had quite a strong belief, if unconventional!  

As an adult I am more aware of other belief systems, sincerely held by those who believe in them. I am sure if I was brought up in the Middle East I would probably be a devout Muslim. Likewise if I was brought up in the Jewish faith or in India I would have been equally devout in some other religion.

They cannot all be right or wrong.

What puzzles me is the holy books. In every world religion (I think) there is a holy book that is very thick, composed of writings written down for adherents to follow. What makes something sacred? 

It is only a few hundred years since we believed in witches and supported slavery. In the last century we put to death millions of Jews.

Although I still remain agnostic in my beliefs I prefer to think that all religions are attempts by humans to explain their place in the universe. Hints.  I think every religion has compassion and kindness at its heart.

No, religions puzzle me.

10m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

My 2W from the tiny QDX was turned on at about  0915z.

Stations spotting my
2W 10m FT8 today

UPDATE  1907z:  114 stations have spotted me and I have spotted 559 stations here. QRT soon.

Not for me!!

This array of G0KSC antennas was seen earlier. It is not for me!! An impressive array nonetheless.

Sunspots - Sunday March 9th

 Solar flux is 148 and the SSN 90. A=21 and K=5.

RX noise

An increasing issue especially in built-up areas is noise on receive. Increasingly, people are using switched mode PSUs with, for example, TVs. Also, there are inverters with solar panels. The result of all this is the noise floor, especially on the lower HF bands is going up and up. 

One solution is to use a separate antenna for receive and transmit. One approach is a low dipole for RX and a vertical on TX as in this video. Vertical antennas can pick up lots of local noise.

Anglesey Abbey walk - NOT amateur radio

 

My wife made this collage of our walk earlier this week.