Sunspots - Tuesday November 7th 2023

 Solar flux is 146 and the SSN 67. A=40 and K=4.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

Disappointed as spotted by only 7 stations. I am no expert but wondering if MF conditions are worse when there is an aurora?

8m QRP FT8 (Monday)

My 2.5W FT8 TX to a dipole has been on for about 20 minutes. Already spotted by HI0SDR(7062km) and other stations.

I was puzzled why my SWR had gone up to over 3:1. I removed the SWR bridge completely and the SWR shown on the rig was very low. It was the SWR bridge!!

UPDATE 1649z:   My best day ever on 8m QRP FT8. Spotted by 7 stations and 2 QSOs, one of which was PJ4MM (483km) in Bonaire, Caribbean. Not bad for 2.5W and a dipole on 8m.

Quince jelly - NOT amateur radio

On a walk around the village last week we chanced upon these quinces which were free. I think some quince jelly is called for! I have never tried eating (or making) this.

See https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/quince-jelly.

UPDATE 0930z Tuesday:  2 jars made, but they are not set. Adding more sugar and boiling again.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Monday)

 Accidentally, I left my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon on overnight. There were no spots through the night, but this morning I have been spotted by 15 stations.

UPDATE 1510z: Spotted by 50 stations today.

UPDATE 1620z:  55 stations have spotted me today.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

 In all, 13 stations spotted me overnight.

Our village - NOT amateur radio

 This is our village. The population has almost doubled since we moved here in 1975, but it still has a village feel.

Sunspots - Monday November 6th 2023

Solar flux is 155 and the SSN 81. A =57 and K=4.

630m QRP WSPR (Sunday)

At 1615z, my 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground was turned on. This is earlier than normal. So far, 3 stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 1752z:  5 stations have spotted me.

UPDATE 1930z:   10 spots of me so far this evening.

UPDATE 1942z: The map shows the stations that have spotted me in the last 12 hours.

Justification for a small 8m amateur allocation

When conditions are good, DX may be possible even as high as 6m. When conditions are more marginal, the MUF may go as high as 41 MHz, but no higher. This is true of F2 and Es.

A tiny (narrow digital only) allocation at 8m would enable us to see how often the MUF reached 8m. This is especially valuable research around sunspot maximum. 

It seems odd to me that some administrations seem dead set against such a tiny allocation. Just 5 kHz of spectrum at low ERP would be all that is necessary.

If you can persuade your administration to consider this, this would be a step in the right direction.

QRSS software?

QRSS receive is not something I have tried. I am wondering what the best software I should use? Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Solar cycles

One of the best places for solar data is https://www.solen.info/solar/. There are others too, but this is the site I usually go to. It is updated pretty often too.

Good HF conditions

My main HF band is 10m. I mostly go on 10m WSPR TX with 500mW. At the moment conditions on 10m seem to be good. I suspect all the higher HF bands are good too. We have (maybe) just passed the solar maximum. Conditions may not be this good again for a while, although I hope to be around for the peak of solar cycle 26!

2200m RX?

 It occurs to me that my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground should work well on 2200m RX. Apart from my CW/QRSS beacon, I have no means of TXing. Looking at the WSPRnet, it would appear there is very low WSPR activity on the band in Europe. 

This begs several questions. 

*  Should I try monitoring the band?
*  What time in the UK is best?
*  What mode?

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Sunday)

 My 500mW 10m WSPR beacon was turned on about 0930z. Already a couple of F2 spots.

UPDATE 1000z:  Already spotted by 6 stations.

UPDATE 1222z: So far today, spotted by 18 stations .

UPDATE 1952z:  Spotted by 28 stations.

8m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

My 2.5W 8m FT8 was turned on about 0930z. No reports yet.  It looks, to me, as if there are more monitors on 8m in Europe.

UPDATE 1430z:  4X1BG (3532km) has been a big signal on 8m FT8 this afternoon.

Brain filters? - NOT amateur radio

Recently, I have had some thoughts about the brain. 

In recent years, possibly as a result of my 2013 stroke, I have become very fearful of driving. In the early years after my stroke this was not an issue. It is as if my brain has to work far, far, harder assessing potential risks.  Touch wood, I have never had an accident.

I wonder if normal brains have a filter to allow information to be processed without overload? Perhaps this does not work properly in people with dyslexia or certain brain injuries? Maybe this changes with age?

Certainly, most people are able to block out certain traumatic events. If we worried about everything, life would be incredibly hard.

Sunspots - Sunday November 5th 2023

 Solar flux is 155 and the SSN 95.  A=14 and K=2.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

 

12 stations spotted me overnight with the furthermost Norway.

630m QRP WSPR (Saturday)

At about 1845z, I QSYed to 630m WSPR with my 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. Two stations spotting me so far. Both were G stations.

UPDATE 2224z:  7 stations have spotted me so far this evening (see table).