Cambridge late March

At this time of year it is usually quieter here as the university has gone down and there are fewer visitors. The photo shows the back of King's with the River Cam.

Sunspots - Wednesday April 1st

 Solar flux is 141 and the SSN 133. A=7 and K=3.

My war

It would appear that the world is entering recession, has higher fuel costs and Iran will emerge stronger and the USA weaker.

Iran is considered an evil state, but if a war is undertaken it is wise to think about how it might end.

WSPR versus FT8

It is now about 3 months since I got my 10m QDX-M FT8 transceiver and the Zachtek 200mW WSPR TX. Much to my surprise, I am getting more fun from the WSPR beacon than the FT8 transceiver.

There are more people (I think) using FT8, but overall I find 10m WSPR more fun. Most days on WSPR my 200mW gets spotted at amazing distances.

How to win friends

 This was a quote from the BBC website. I will let you guess who said it!!

"You'll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the USA won't be there to help you anymore, just like you weren't there for us."

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c8jke9v9xv9t  .

Economic emergency

 It is clear that the war against Iran is having consequences across the planet.

10m 200mW WSPR (Tuesday)

My beacon was turned on at about 0750z. 

UPDATE 1340z: 4 stations spotting me.

UPDATE 2001z: 7 stations have spotted me. Now QRT.

10m 200mW WSPR (Monday)

In all yesterday I was spotted by 5 stations. 

See map from WSPR Rocks by VK7JJ. 

The spots from the German research base in Antarctica seem almost daily.

Sunspots - Tuesday March 31st

 Solar flux is 152 and the SSN 143. A=12 and K=2.

Zachtek WSPR beacon

I have a 10m 200mW WSPR beacon by ZachTek in Sweden. 

What I really like is that, apart from switching it on, nothing at all has to be done, Maidenhead locator and timing are all done by GPS. 

There is a much cheaper product from China, but this is inferior.

With a very average wire antenna it seems to get spotted widely around the world.