Sunspots - Friday June 6th

 Solar flux is 128 and the SSN 92.  A=12 and K=2.

10m 500mW WSPR (Thursday)

 My W5OLF beacon was turned on mid morning.

UPDATE 1046z:   No spots.

6m 6W FT8 (Thursday)

 My gear has been on since early morning.

UPDATE 1358z:  199 stations have spotted me and I have spotted 85 stations here.

Immigration - NOT amateur radio

Some people are fearful of losing their national identities in a flood of immigration. 

However, in many countries we are seeing falling birthrates and a fear of how we will finance things in future. 

Being seen as tough on immigration is a vote winner. This is being exploited in many countries by the hard right parties.

In the end I do not have an answer. As the planet warms up, we can expect more migration to milder countries from those that are very hot. 

The answer in the end is probably to acknowledge that some controlled migration is a good thing.

It is important that people are well accepted by their new countries and that they learn to integrate. At the same time, they bring new ideas with them which we, in turn, must learn from. Think of the USA in past centuries and the Huguenots coming to England.

6m FT8 RX yesterday

 

In the 1032 stations spotted here on 6m FT8 yesterday there were 2 deep down in Brazil. 

This means I have spotted North and South America,The Caribbean, Africa, Asia and Europe on 6m FT8 RX in recent weeks.  

Not bad for the vertical colinear via CB RG58 coax!  See map.

Non-alcoholic gin and tonic - NOT amateur radio

Certainly non alcoholic beers have improved vastly in the last 10 years. Certainly the two I like taste just the same as their alcoholic equivalent. These days there is plenty of choice.

So, I thought I would give the G+T a go without alcohol, so bought some at the local supermarket.

I couldn’t tell any difference.

End of the good times? - NOT amateur radio

Increasingly I am fearful of the future. 

In the West we depend on long and complex supply chains chasing ever lower costs. Much of our energy (including electricity) depends on gas.

Just imagine if a terrorist or state actor seriously disrupted our gas supply or food supply chain. In the worst case, lots of things could fail: electricity for traffic lights, water pumping, sewage, internet, cash machines, banks, airlines, trains, etc.. Think about what happened in Spain!!

What I am saying is we are very vulnerable to a cyber attack, more so than we realise.

Is it all bad?  No, a new realisation of how things work would, ultimately, be good. Humans do adapt. Longer term, we might realise just how inter-connected these things really are and how we need, as individuals, to build up some resilience.

What can we do now?

• Increase vigilance against cyber attacks
• Make sure batteries are charged.
• Have some emergency food stuffs.
• Grow some food.
• Have some cash.

Hopefully, we will be stronger in future.

630m (472 kHz) QRP WSPR

For a few years I have not been on 472 kHz. This video was made some years ago and shows the results using just my earth-electrode "antenna" in the garden.

Sepura portables

A long time ago now (2008), I designed TETRA portable transceivers with Sepura. To be accurate others did the design and I managed the teams! 

Since then, things have inevitably moved on. These days I am very out of touch with my old company.

See https://sepura.com/

Sunspots - Thursday June 5th

 Solar flux is 134 and the SSN 92. A=26 and K=3.