Sunspots - Saturday October 25th

 Solar flux is 134 and the SSN 99. A=10 and K=0.

Autumn colours

In the sunshine we went for a walk at nearby Anglesey Abbey. 

The autumn colours are really good this year. Apparently it is due to the high sugar content because of the growing conditions.

10m 2W FT8 (Friday)

My gear was turned on at about 1000z.

UPDATE 1117z: 130 stations have spotted me so far this morning. 

UPDATE 1755z:  572 stations have spotted me with lots in North America. See map.

King’s College , Cambridge

These are the grounds at the back of King’s. I used to go to a weekly meeting in a room just off this photo when I first came to Cambridge in 1970.

Batteries for the future

We all know that electric cars (maybe hydrogen) are probably the future. 

However, they are, on the whole, expensive with a limited range. They also tend to need batteries with materials that are not that common. 

What is needed is a real breakthrough allowing a far greater range and a battery technology that uses easily obtainable materials. 

It would be good to have lower weight. I am sure that across the world a lot of research is going on to make these breakthroughs as whoever gets there first would have a huge commercial advantage. 

One avenue is a solid state battery. Another is a technology that does not need lithium such as sodium. It would be good to be able to top up the charge quickly too although if the range was considerable, many could charge at home quite infrequently.

There is a lot of hype around and I am not sure what the answer is. I suspect this breakthrough is not many years away.

What do A and K indices mean?

Most days I give the solar data. Several people wonder what the A and K indices mean.  Hopefully this ARRL file will explain.   

Basically a high solar flux is good for HF conditions and low A and K indices mean stable geomagnetic conditions, which are good. 

As a rough indicator look for a high solar flux and low A and K indices for good HF conditions.

See https://www.arrl.org/files/file/Technology/tis/info/pdf/0209038.pdf

BST and GMT

This weekend we return to GMT from daylight saving time (BST) in the UK. This means darker evenings and an earlier drawing of curtains. It's amazing how we adapt.  

Sunspots - Friday October 24th

 Solar flux is 134 and the SSN 92. A=10 and K=3.

10m 500mW WSPR

My beacon was turned on just before lunch.

UPDATE 1851z:  31 stations spotting me with the USA and Canada the furthermost. See map showing stations spotting me today. Now QRT.

6m 5W FT8 (Thursday)

My gear was turned on just before lunch.

UPDATE 1804z:   14 stations have spotted me including 1 in Sweden and 1 in Italy. See map. Now QRT on 6m.