10m 200mW WSPR (Sunday)

 My beacon was turned on around breakfast.

UPDATE 2021z:  Spotted by 48 stations including quite a few in the USA. See map by Phil VK7JJ.

6m FT8 yesterday

Yesterday was quite a good day with spots by 49 stations across Europe spotting my 5W to the omni vertical. See map.

Sunspots - Sunday February 1st

 Solar flux is 141 and the SSN 126. A=5 and K=1.

The future of our hobby

For a long time I have expressed my concerns for the future of amateur radio. 

The things that appealed to us years ago no longer appear as the magic they did to us long ago. 

Various suggestions have been made to correct this and get more people into the hobby and retain these. It is very hard to generalise and in some places the hobby is growing. 

It was interesting to read on Amateur Radio Weekly one person's "take" on this.

See https://ke9v.net/2026/01/24/your-fault.html

In my view, despite everything, I expect amateur radio  to be very different in less than 20 years.

6m 5W FT8 (Saturday)

 My IC-705 at 5W to the V2000 omni was turned on late morning.

UPDATE 1525z:  spotted by 11 stations with the best OE6JCG (1256km).

Sunshine!!

 

Apart from the first few days, we’ve had a miserable January with rain and dull weather. Today the sun shone, so we enjoyed a walk.

Internet Archive

Just out of curiosity, I put my callsign into the Internet Archive to see what appeared. It looks like my YouTube videos are archived along with my Scrapbook.

See https://archive.org/details/sbjuly22/page/22/mode/2up

Everything I have ever done is free to be shared. 

10m 200mW WSPR (Saturday)

My beacon was turned on at 1123z.

UPDATE 1155z: Spotted by EA8BFK (2880km).

Sunspots - Saturday January 31st

 Solar flux is 128 and the SSN 112. A=10 and K=2.

Long UK winter?

Apart from a few sunny, cold, days in early January in the UK, it has been dull, rainy and miserable. This year more than most, I am looking forward to lighter evenings and better weather. 

All seasons have their beauty, but I am fed up with this misery!

The birds seem to have got the message, with several singing this morning. Things are heading in the right direction in the northern hemisphere.

The photo shows the windmill next door this afternoon when the sun came out. The photo was through the lounge window.