Trains - NOT amateur radio

This was part of a photo on 365project.org earlier. 

Apparently the North York Moors Railway (a private preserved railway in the UK, usually steam) has a diesel weekend.

10m 500mW WSPR TX

My QRP 10m WSPR beacon has been on since 1115z.

UPDATE 1232z:  No spots of me. I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that 10m WSPR is rarely worth the effort.

UPDATE 1341z: Just EA1FAQ (1249km) spotting me today.

UPDATE 1850z:  13 stations spotting me around Europe.  WSPR gets me spotted around the planet, but I always get far more spots on 6m FT8. I get the feeling that if the noise floor is poor it is harder for the RXing station with WSPR. Signals are buried deeper in the noise. QRT soon.

6m 5W FT8 (Saturday)

My gear was turned on at about 1115z. 

Stations spotting me

UPDATE 1853z: Spotted by 255 stations. 282 stations spotted here on RX. See map for stations spotting my QRP. Most look like Es. Furthermost on RX is OD5KU (3468km).

UPDATE 2108z:  On 6m FT8 RX D2UY (6525km) and many stations in Florida spotted here. Now QRT.

Seen on our walk earlier - NOT amateur radio

These flowers were seen on our walk around the village earlier.

Sunspots - Saturday June 14th

Solar flux is 143 and the SSN 134.  A=66 and K=3.

6m DX

Way back in 2007, I worked a station in the USA on 6m CW with just 1W to my vertical V2000 colinear. I see Lofty had a big antenna which must have helped!

As yet, I have not seen any Far East stations on 6m FT8 RX. This regularly happens about now and is thought linked to the formation of noctilucent clouds.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/vhfuhfmicrowaves/super-dx .

Lightning risk

So far this year, we have escaped thunderstorms and torrential rain. As thunderstorms could strike us overnight, it is probably wise to disconnect everything. Of course, if I do this we'll get no rain and no  thunderstorms! It is worth checking the lightning maps to assess the risks.

See https://www.lightningmaps.org/

Is WSPR declining in popularity?

When I go on 10m WSPR it is not uncommon to get few spots these days. On the other hand my 6m 5W FT8 gets loads of spots. The difference in power means that they are about equal in S/N ratio at the receiver as FT8 is roughly 10dB less effective than WSPR. Perhaps WSPR gets buried in local noise more often?

The major reason for using 10m WSPR is the PC is not needed and the 10m antenna is available when I go on 6m FT8.

I am seriously wondering if it is really worth carrying on with 10m WSPR.

Visiting a new place - NOT amateur radio

When we go somewhere new we like to go around on a "hop on, hop off"  bus to get the "feel" of a place and then stopping off later where we know what to see. 

This week we went to Stratford upon Avon and this is one of the bus stops. We bought a ticket that lasted a day.

10m 500mW WSPR

 Well, if you turn the PSU on the wall it helps. Yesterday, I got no 10m spots at all .I can see why now!

Today my 500mW beacon has been on since early morning with the PSU on!

UPDATE 1103z:  So far, just EA1FAQ (1249km).