Sunspots - Tuesday February 20th

 Solar flux is 152 and the SSN 64.  A=3 and K=2.

6m QRP FT8 (Monday)

 A few moments ago (at about 1554z) my QRP 6m FT8 (2.5W and a V2000 vertical omni) was turned on. So far (at 1605z) spotted by just 1 G.

UPDATE  1738z:  Spotted by 4 Gs.

500uW 10m WSPR success again

 My 500uW (0.5mW) 10m WSPR TX was spotted by EA8BFK (2880km) this afternoon,

Turing statue - NOT amateur radio

This statue in honour of WW2 code breaker Alan Turing is in King’s College in Cambridge. 

It is in a really obscure place and should be moved so visitors can appreciate it. I only took it by walking in areas the general public cannot access. Why not put it where people walk?

Granddaughter's photo - NOT amateur radio

 

This photo was taken by one of our granddaughter's last week.

It gets better and better on 630m WSPR!

In the last day and overnight, 33 stations have spotted my 10mW ERP WSPR from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground, with spots from Finland yet again. This was even better than yesterday.

Sunspots - Monday February 19th

 Solar flux is 157 and the SSN 84. A=6 and K=1.

630m QRP WSPR (Sunday)

My 630m 10mW ERP WSPR from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground has been on since 1930z. So far, spotted by 11 stations (see table). Furthermost is EI0CF (602km).

UPDATE  2036z: In the last 2 weeks 50 stations have spotted me.

Yaesu: multi-band, multi-mode, portables - gone?

Just now, I took another look at the Yaesu, Japan website. The FT818 has gone and is no longer shown. Many have been waiting for years and years for a decent successor to the FT817. It never came.

There can be several reasons:

• Yaesu is of the view there is too little profit as the competition is now high.
• They are working on a successor.
• They are thinking (...zzz), but have not decided what to do.

In my view, there is a market gagging for a decent product. Yaesu has the skills to make a good product. They have shown this with the FT710. 

We are on the downward slope (probably) of the solar cycle. This really is their last chance.

Yaesu - wake up!!

10m QRPP WSPR (Sunday)

Yes, I know - don't say it!! Yet again I am trying 500uW (0.5mW) 10m WSPR.  Conditions are probably not good enough.

UPDATE 2030z:  No spots all day. I tried!

6m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

This morning, I am on QRP 6m FT8 with 2.5W and the V2000 vertical omni antenna. One QSO with G0PQO (90km).

UPDATE 1132z:   9 English stations have spotted me this morning.

UPDATE 1444z:   13 English stations have spotted me. No DX noticed here today.

Best QRP 630m WSPR session

 

39 stations spotted me including Norway and Finland.

Sunspots - Sunday February 18th

 Solar flux is 170 and the SSN 100.  A=4 and K=2.

SpectrumView app -137kHz QRSS3?

Many years ago I downloaded this free app on my Apple Touch. I see it is available for the iPhone too, so I have downloaded it. It is a spectrum analyser for audio frequencies and you can record up to about 150 seconds of audio on a spectrogram depending on the settings. 

I was thinking of trying this on QRSS3 with my 137kHz beacon locally. It would take the audio from the FT817 and produce an audio spectrogram. I am not quite sure how I shall do this yet.

 

The app is created by Oxford Wave Research Ltd. It is a most useful app and highly rated. I last used an earlier version in 2013, so I have to re-learn it and see any changes made. 

I was quite surprised to still find it, wondering if the company had long gone. The app is still free.

See the Apple app store for details.

It is not available as an Android app as far as I can tell.

Weekend treat - NOT amateur radio

At the weekends, I have a cooked breakfast as shown in the photo.

10m QRPP WSPR (Saturday)

 My 500uW (0.5mW) WSPR beacon is on again, but no spots this morning.

UPDATE 1815z:   No spots all day.

What are these? - NOT amateur radio

We saw these at Hare Park, Chippenham, near Cambridge. They are wooden, not stone, objects. They are about 3m from the tree. If they are part of the tree roots, they are odd.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

The last day and overnight was the best this season with my 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. 24 stations spotted me including 3 spots by OH1LSQ (1733km). Earlier it was 29 spots!

Sunspots - Saturday February 17th

 Solar flux is 169 and the SSN 97. A=4 and K=0.

630m QRP WSPR (Friday)

Today, I am sticking with 10mW ERP 630m WSPR. Surprisngly, 5 English stations have spotted me in just the last hour.

UPDATE 2140z:  17 stations have spotted me.

UPDATE  2148z:  22 stations have spotted me with the furthermost a station in Germany.