10m 5W FT8 (Saturday)

 My gear was turned on at about 1140z.

UPDATE 1440z:  So far, spotted by 101 stations.  See map.

UPDATE 1757z:    243 stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 1900z:  QRT.

137kHz E-Field probe

At 137kHz I have only dabbled, but I was surprised and delighted at the performance of this little EFP RX antenna. It was mag-mounted on the car yet copied my low uW ERP beacon on the far side of Cambridge at 24km. At this point I stopped!

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/antennas/137khz-efp-rx-antenna .

All quiet

 

In the summer this beach in S.Devon is busy whereas at this time of year it’s quiet. 

We can trace our family history continuously continuously back to the mid 1500s in these parts .

Sunspots - Saturday December 20th

 Solar flux is 118 and the SSN 33. A=6 and K=0.

VLF upconverter

There is a VLF upconverter on the DXexplorer website. On Christmas Eve there is a special transmission from the historic alternator 17.2kHz  CW transmitter SAQ in Sweden.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexanderson_alternator .

See also https://alexander.n.se/en/

Please note, this converter is fine for a peek "down there", but amateur signals usually are weak and need very high stability, very accurate frequencies and very narrow bandwidths. Details of my own VLF experiments are on my main website.

Hand delivery

We deliver local Christmas cards by hand. We were going to do it yesterday, but the rain was horrendous so we did it today instead in the cold winter sunshine.

Confused?

 Although a certain American would call it fake news, I can attest that the climate is warming.

House sparrows have been nest building in the loft above our bed for the last week and it is December !!

Snowy Wisconsin USA

 Many years ago some of our old neighbours relocated to the USA. They now live in Wisconsin and love it.

Millionaire homes?

 

In the 1800s these were probably poor hovels whereas nowadays they are chocolate box  cottages probably costing millions. This is the village of Dalham not far from where we live.

6m 5W FT8 yesterday

 Although I was only spotted in the British Isles one was in southern Eire at 580km. Not bad for 5W and an omn vertical!