Sunspots - Sunday January 8th 2023

Solar flux is 179 and the SSN 104. A=6 and K=1.

King's College Chapel in Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

Even though much of it has scaffolding on it, it is still a wonderful building. 

WSJT-X 2.6.0 on general release?

I have been told that WSJT-X has been generally released as V2.6.0. I use WSJT-X for both FT8 and WSPR. Later today I expect to download this version if it is generally released. 

On the official website, it is still shown as a release candidate. Usually a new version is released about now, so perhaps my informant has advanced information?

Where I come from - NOT amateur radio

This photo was posted on the internet yesterday and shows where I come from in South Devon. Salcombe is left and this shows the Kingsbridge Estuary as the main focus. It is still a very beautiful part of England, and still very rural.

Rain gauge - NOT amateur radio

One of my wife's Christmas presents was a rain gauge, so we can record the rainfall over the year. I have created a spreadsheet. The biggest issue is to record the rain each day and empty it!

Apart from today and yesterday, we have had very little rain. More is forecast later.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Saturday)

 At 1020z, my 500mW WSPR TX beacon was turned on. At 1035z, just SV9KI (2639km) spotting me.

UPDATE  1247z: 6 unique stations have spotted my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon.

UPDATE 1445z:  7 unique stations spotting me today.

Stations spotting me to 1718z

UPDATE 1718z: 14 unique stations have spotted me today. The GMs especially suggest winter Es.

UPDATE 2220z: 15 unique stations spotted me. Now QRT on 10m QRP WSPR TX.

8m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

At 1020z my 2.5W 8m FT8 was turned on 40.680 MHz (TX first). No spots today at 1025z. 

Yesterday EI9KP (649km) again spotted me strongly. This is a really odd distance being (probably) too close for Es and too far for tropo. Perhaps it is MS or aircraft scatter. I would have thought the 15 second transmit period would have been too long for these? The signal report suggests aircraft?  Phil is definitely the person who most frequently spots on 8m.

UPDATE 1240z:  EA3ERE (1153km) has spotted me several times on 8m FT8 this morning. Winter Es I guess. 

Sunspots - Saturday January 7th 2023

Solar flux is 172 and the SSN 101.  A=4 and K=2. 

Winter - NOT amateur radio

These plants were seen in the grounds of King's College, Cambridge. I am not sure what they are. 

In the summer they will look great I am sure.  At the moment they look like mop heads!

QDX arrival date

This QRP FT8 transceiver from QRP Labs is on order. I have asked for a built version covering 20-10m as I can no longer build things, sadly. It will mostly get used on 10m.

When I ordered it just before Christmas, the lead-time was expected to be about a month. At present I am 105th on the list. It is going down. I just have to be patient! Hans makes some good kit. 

Warning - NOT amateur radio

People come from all over the world to see the famous King's College Chapel in Cambridge. Imagine coming thousands of miles and seeing.... scaffolding! Much of the building has scaffolding both inside and out. Some side chapels are closed.

Even though it is only January 6th there were some daffodils and aconites in flower in the grounds, and a kite (bird) overhead. Seeing a kite in central Cambridge would have been amazing 30 years ago.

8m QRP FT8

Since 1359z, I have been on 8m FT8 QRP. So far,  no spots.

UPDATE 1505z:  No spots.

10m QRP WSPR TX

Since 1358z I have been on 10m WSPR TX with my 500mW W5OLF beacon. It is now 1310z and so far no spots.

UPDATE 1326z:  Spotted several times in the Canary Islands. 

UPDATE 1546z:  First spot today from the USA received on 10m WSPR. It is a pity the USA stations no longer have prefixes that point to locations. In years gone past W7 would have meant western USA. No longer!

UPDATE 1707z:  Just 3 unique stations spotted today.

Sunspots - Friday January 6th 2023

Solar flux is 154 and the SSN 103. A=8 and K=1.

Spring coming - NOT amateur radio

We went for a walk at nearby Anglesey Abbey. There are some spring flowers coming. 

As the weeks progress we will see more. In the last 7 days many more snowdrops have appeared and we saw the first daffodils of the season. 

Tactile tree bark - NOT amateur radio

This tree at Anglesey Abbey, not far from us, must be one of the most touched trees in the world. It is on the winter walk there and many people who pass it feel compelled to touch it.

8m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

Since doing a system restore on my shack PC, I have been on 8m with 2.5W FT8 on 40.680 MHz, but no spots at 1030z.

UPDATE  2014z:  Spotted by WESSEXSDR (265km) earlier. Now QRT.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Thursday)

For about an hour I have been on 10m WSPR TX with 500mW from the W5OLF beacon. So far, spots of me from 2 unique stations at 1022z. 

UPDATE 1036z:  FR1GZ (9724km) is now spotting me too.

UPDATE 1241z:  7 stations spotted so far.

UPDATE 1448z:  The 10 spots of my 500mW so far today are shown on the map.

UPDATE 2020z:   14 spots of me today.

See http://wspr.rocks/ .

System restore - NOT amateur radio

As my PC was not communicating with my SignaLink USB since installing the driver for my SDR, I did a system restore. FT8 is again working. I shall try the SDR on a different PC!! 

Sunspots - Thursday January 5th 2023

Solar flux is 151 and the SSN 86. A=21 and K=1.