My 500mW beacon was turned on before breakfast.
UPDATE 1100z: Just V51RS (8481km) spotting me.
I only really use WSPR as I can do it without tying up the PC. If I use other modes I need the PC, so I can only use one band at a time if I did this. Using 10m QRP WSPR with the beacon I can also go on 6m FT8.
UPDATE 1242z: Just V51RS and one HB9 spotting me.
My gear was turned on before breakfast.
UPDATE 1315z: 47 spots of me including several in the south of Europe, that I assume are Es.
At the moment it is flowers, but in the summer it is laden with blackberries.
I often pick some to have with breakfast.
My whole career and amateur radio hobby really started with a Heathkit Electronics Workshop that my late dad bought for Christmas in 1961. Little did I know then what it would lead to.
These days kits are often too expensive whereas in the 1950s and 1960s kits were often far less expensive and you had the satisfaction of saying, "I made that". Kits often made the hobby affordable.
You may be interested in this video about the company and its origins.
In many ways we have been the fortunate generation. Certainly in the UK and USA we have avoided war, although we did live under a constant threat of nuclear war.
Now, we seem to be returning to the cycles of wars , that really serve no purpose at all. Yet again, greed comes to the fore. In many nations we seem to be ruled by idiots who have their eyes on other nations. Sadly, it appears human nature is to fight and not live in peace.
Most wars seem to be the result of some childhood trauma in the leaders. It is a great pity that we cannot live in peace with our neighbours and put our efforts collectively for the benefit of the planet rather than weapons.
It is likely future world wars could be different from those in the 20th century. War is likely to involve cyber warfare and possibly biological warfare. Perhaps these will be countered by the MAD (mutually assured destruction) definition meaning "if you do it to us we can do it to you".
Even though it wasn’t issued to me until far later, OFCOM said it had to run from when I applied!! Really “switched on” logic 😢. £50 for far less than 12 months! OFCOM or OFCON?
I have now given up on 8m.
There is a mix of old and new properties in Burwell, UK.
At the start of each month I like to take stock of solar activity by looking at my favourite site for solar data.
It still looks like were on the start of the slow decline, although we can expect HF conditions on the higher bands to be good for some time.
My 500mW beacon was turned on before breakfast.
UPDATE 1906z: 11 spots of me. All are probably via Es.
My impression is there are fewer people using WSPR these days. Even though I am using 10dB more power on 6m FT8, I am getting about 10 times more spots than on 10m WSPR.
In the late 1960s Heathkit made some great radios. Take, for example, the SB101. Then the Japanese started making transceivers that meant t...
