31 Jul 2026

Israel, Gaza and the West Bank

Let me say from the very outset that I abhor violence of any kind. 

Recently, in the UK, there has been an uptick of anti-semitism with attacks on synagogues which is totally unacceptable.

This is what I wrote on Facebook in 2015!!

“Israel - as a nation SHAME ON YOU for the attack on a Palestinian home in the occupied territories. No amount of apologies from the Israeli head of government can make this other than STATE terrorism.”

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpvwjmme3p0o . Hmmm...and Israel will agree??

Sunspots - Friday July 31st

 Solar flux is 152 and the SSN 130. A=5 and K=1.

30 Jul 2026

Local walk

The photo was of the nearby village of Lode. 

We went there for a walk this morning. 

This used to be on the bus route, but it now bypasses it on the way to Cambridge.

The Es season

At the moment the Es season in the Northern Hemisphere is still good.  

In my experience it peaks May, June and July but continues with less force into August and even September. As time progresses the openings get fewer and fewer.

Usually Es means short skip on 10m, 6m and 4m, and even 2m at rare times. 

We also see far more distant E openings, but I am less sure about the mechanism: some may be multi-hop Es, but I am sure some must be some sort of chordal hop E layer. Maybe this is more common in the Es season?

Even better EVs?

 It looks like electric vehicles are getting better and better.


Trump running in 2028?

The USA constitution prevents a president running for office more than 2 times. Sadly, Trump and his friends could change this so this could happen.


10m 200mW WSPR (Thursday)

 As mentioned before, my beacon was already on.

UPDATE 0901z: So far today, 33 stations have spotted me. Good Es.

UPDATE 1127z: 10m opened to the USA again. 37 stations have spotted me today.

6m 1W FT8 (Thursday)

 My gear was turned on at about 0851z.

UPDATE  0856z: So far, 5 spots with some Es.

10m 200mW WSPR overnight

 As an experiment, I left my beacon running (suitably supervised) overnight. Quite surprised to get several spots at daft times!

Sunspots - Thursday July 30th

 Solar flux is 143 and the SSN 123. A=5 and 1.