Not long now - NOT amateur radio

We are in the depths of winter and, in this part of the UK, we have not had any snow yet. Despite this, snowdrops, aconites and hellebores are coming out. I have even seen a few daffodils in flower. 

Spring is just around the corner.

Overnight on 630m QRP WSPR

In the last day 19 stations have spotted my 10mW ERP  from the almost invisible earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground (see table).

Sunspots- Thursday January 25th

 Solar flux is 172 and the SSN 108. A=10 and K=1.

My impression of speed - NOT amateur radio

Back in 2013, I had a stroke and was in hospital for 3.5 months. Apart from feeling giddy and my poor voice, I made a good recovery. In the car I drove hundreds of kilometers with no problem.

In the last few years, it is as if my concept of speed has changed.  Glancing down at the speedometer when I think I am going 60-70mph and see I am only going at about 46mph!! Everything on the roads seem to be going fast.  My wife says it is all in the mind, but I go at what think is the right speed, but actually it is slow. It also my worry that my reaction times are slower.

Now, this could just be old age or it could be a result of my stroke 10.5 years ago.

I am wondering others would are "old" also experience this?

Driving is no longer fun.

Anglesey Abbey - NOT amateur radio

We go for a walk in the grounds of this National Trust property near Cambridge every month probably. Parts of the house are very old. The gardens have something to see in every season. 

Being only a few kilometers away makes it very convenient. Should it ever be closed, there are some great walks in the village of Lode nearby.

See  https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cambridgeshire/anglesey-abbey-gardens-and-lode-mill. 

10m 500uW WSPR (Wednesday)

For several weeks I have had spots of my QRPP 10m WSPR most days. Interestingly, there have been no spots of me this week. It looks as if conditions have to be really good to get spots at 500uW (0.5mW).

Round Church, Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

The Round Church in Cambridge is very old.  It is one  of just a few in England.

See https://roundchurchcambridge.org/ .

630m QRP WSPR overnight

 

22 stations spotted my 10mw ERP WSPR in the last day.

Family history - NOT amateur radio

My father's genealogy can be traced continuously to the mid 1500s in South Devon.  I have an isolated record in an adjoining parish from the mid 1400s.

What I did not realise is if you go back 22 generations our ancestors number more than the entire population of the entire British Isles!

This means we are probably related to everyone alive today if we go back far enough. So, we are probably all related to the English royal family. Some of our ancestors may have moved here from abroad and almost certainly some of our distant ancestors married people who were distantly related.

This is quite humbling.

Sunspots - Wednesday January 24th

 Solar flux is 180 and the SSN 123. A=7 and K=3.

630m QRP WSPR (Tuesday)

 My 10mW ERP 630m WSPR was turned on about 2130z. At 2200z I have been spotted by 6 stations.

Granddaughters - NOT amateur radio

 

The photo shows our granddaughters at Christmas.

Confused - G4KPZ

For years my old work mate Richard lived in Ely. I thought his call was G4KPZ. Now I see this is issued to someone called Vernon, who lives in Ramsey. Unless the callsign has been re-issued, or I wrongly remember it, I am confused.

UPDATE  1928z:   Richard is G4KPX. Yes, I am going gaga.

Angry sky - NOT amateur radio

 

The photo shows the view from our kitchen window last night. It is now wet and windy.

10m QRPP WSPR (Tuesday)

My 500uW10m WSPR is on again, but no spots now for the last couple of days. 

Pretty sure conditions have to be very good and the RX noise floor low.

6m QRP FT8 (Tuesday)

My 2.5W FT8 to the vertical V2000 antenna was turned on about 1300z. So far, just UK spots of me.

UPDATE 1948z:  Some spots from Portugal of my 2.5W QRP 6m FT8 today.

630m WSPR overnight

Although no great DX, there were more stations spotting my 10mW ERP 630m WSPR from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground last night. In the UK we are between storms and yesterday was much calmer, certainly here. One thing is I do not have to worry about antennas and towers in storms!

Sunspots - Tuesday January 23rd

Solar flux is 196 and the SSN 139. A=9 and K=2.

630m QRP WSPR (Monday)

 My 630m QRP WSPR (10mW ERP) was turned on at about 1820z. So far,  9 stations have spotted me. The furthermost is EI4HQ (588km).

70cm FT8 (Monday)

As 8m (2.5W FT8) and 10m (500uW WSPR) resulted in no spots today, I am trying my luck with 2.5W 70cm FT8 to the vertical omni V2000 antenna. After about 10 minutes, no spots.

Outside of contests, I have no idea of activity levels. I might be better the 2m horizontal omni antenna.I shall swap antennas at 1700z.