10m 200mW WSPR (Sunday)

My beacon was turned on after lunch.

UPDATE 1437z:   3 stations have spotted me with the best Brazil. See map from WSPR Rocks.

Amateur satellites

Thanks to Tim GW4AXE, my new challenge is to be amateur satellite operation. He tells me some software really helps. See https://oscarwatch.org . 

I think my first step will be FT4 RX using the V2000 omni antenna. I need to download the software later.

Back in the early 1970s I remember the thrill of hearing east coast USA stations on 2m SSB RX via Oscar 6 and 7. My only satellite QSO was 2m to 10m (I think) but I cannot recall the satellite. It must have been near sunspot minimum when 10m was quiet. Probably some time in the 1980s?

UPDATE 0930z:  Excuse my total ignorance but what are “TLEs” please? It sounds like I should know, but don’t!!

UPDATE 1335z:  What should have been really easy wasn’t for me because of my brain fog. I was expecting to get a standard download but instead was presented with a load of GitHub files. I downloaded what I thought was the right one, then nothing. For now I have given up. My brain fog is the result of my 2013 stroke - it’s like walking through treacle all the time and my head is never clear.

160m FT8 RX overnight

 Using my invisible earth electrode “antenna “ in the ground 265 stations were spotted . Nothing yet from across the Atlantic.

Sunspots - Sunday 11th

 Solar flux is 126 and the SSN 99. A=46 and K=3.

160m FT8 RX (Saturday)

Once again, I am on 160m FT8 RX this evening and overnight.

UPDATE 2008z:  160 stations spotted so far.

AI and intelligent life in the universe

We seem to be at a threshold where we are capable of making AI machines that are far more intelligent than humans.

If we can do it, imagine a civilisation that is just a tiny bit more advanced than us. Imagine a civilisation 1000 years more advanced or 1 million years more advanced.  Look how we have developed technologically in just 100 years!

It is quite possible that what in the past we would have interpreted as biological might actually be something else altogether.  

This brings into question what is life. Do AI creations have a sense of their being? Do they have thoughts? Do they feel pain and happiness?

Are all humans AI creations?

10m 200mW WSPR TX (Saturday)

 My beacon was turned on shortly after breakfast.

UPDATE 1430z:  5 stations spotting me and the best is Brazil.

160m FT8 RX overnight

Once again I was monitoring 160m FT8 RX with my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground.

In all, 189 stations were spotted,mostly in Europe. See map.

2m activity contest

Earlier this week was the 2m activity contest (UKAC) organised by the RSGB.  As usual, I went on briefly with my 10W and big-wheel omni antenna. I only stop on briefly because of my poor voice and low power. It is hard for me. 

The map shows the stations contacted.

Russia- USA diesel deal

One could be forgiven for thinking that the current US government is not interested in what happens in Ukraine. As I understand things, most people in the USA want Ukraine to win and live in peace. 

It seems to me what the current motives of the US administration are:  get fuel prices down and try to get the best results in the mid-term elections. If I am wrong, I stand to be corrected.

Is the world now run by rich people only interested in themselves? I am saddened if this is the case. 

High office in any country of the world should come with the interests of the citizens of a nation first and foremost. I see little evidence.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5lye9z4xw4yo