Sunspots - May 25th

 Solar flux 163 and the SSN 100. A=9 and K=1.

630m QRP WSPR (Friday)

My 630m 10mW ERP WSPR from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground was turned on at about 2040z.

UPDATE 2115z: 2 stations have spotted me so far this evening.

500uW 10m WSPR (Friday)

My beacon is on and sync'd to internet time.  No spots. 

UPDATE 1839z:   2 spots in Germany of my 500uW WSPR. A reminder that my WSPR beacon is hard programmed to report 0.5W even though with the PA turned off it is actually 500uW only.  I think these German spots were the first in several days.

European Es

At the moment European Es does not look too great although things can quickly change.

See https://www.tvcomm.co.uk/g7izu/radio-propagation-maps/europe-sporadic-e/.

Amazing flowers - NOT amateur radio

 

My wife does not usually buy peonies, but these are looking great at the moment.

10mW 6m FT8 (Friday)

My QRPP 6m FT8 was turned on at about 0750z.

UPDATE 0830z:   No spots.

UPDATE 1523z:  11 spots of me.

630m WSPR overnight

For a change I went on 630m WSPR overnight with my 10mW ERP from the earth electrode “antenna” in the ground. In all, 7 stations spotted me. This was more than I expected. No real DX.

Sunspots - Friday May 24th

 Solar flux is 176 and the SSN 130. A=10 and K=2.

630m QRP WSPR (Thursday)

For a change, I am again on 630m WSPR with my 10mW ERP from my earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground.

UPDATE 1908z:  So far, just spots by G8OCV/SDR.

Puzzled

At the moment, I remain puzzled: at 10mW I was surprised that FT8 worked at all on 6m. Already today (presumably by Es) 10 stations have spotted me on 6m FT8 at 10mW.  

At 13dB weaker my 10m WSPR at 500uW remains unspotted. I had assumed that signals 13dB weaker might have been harder, but then WSPR works with signals considerably weaker than FT8.

Probably Jan OZ9QV is correct, that the far shorter TX period for FT8 (about 15 seconds) catches very brief Es bursts with FT8 that the 120 seconds needed for WSPR does not decode: the Es cloud has to remain around for longer.  Perhaps Es just bubbles up for very short periods more than we thought. Maybe FT4 would be better still, even though it is even less sensitive?

With FT8 I am pleasantly surprised how well just 10mW works with 6m FT8.  Of course the WSPR signal at 500uW is more likely to be buried in noise too. Overall, I suspect the briefness of FT8 must help more than I was expecting.

Rally this Sunday

 The following rally has been notified to me. As always, I recommend contacting organisers to check details.

Sunday May 26th - Durham and District ARS Radio Rally. Bowburn, DH6 5AT. Contact dadars@gmx.com .

Cambridge bookshops - NOT amateur radio

When I first came to Cambridge in 1970 there were loads of bookshops and it seemed a sleepy academic town. 

Many people nowadays prefer to buy their books online, so there are fewer bookshops left. 

The photo shows one that is still around although it would not surprise me if much of its business is now online. Many of the books they sell are secondhand.

10m 500uW WSPR (Thursday)

 My 10m WSPR QRPP beacon is on again. 

UPDATE 1553z:  No spots.

European Es (Thursday)

At the moment, Es in Europe looks promising. Time will tell.

See https://www.tvcomm.co.uk/g7izu/radio-propagation-maps/europe-sporadic-e/ . 

All change - NOT amateur radio

 

We change our bedding plants for the spring and summer. 

These were planted yesterday. I hope they grow and thrive.

6m 10mW FT8 (Thursday)

Once again, I am on 6m FT8 with 10mW and the V2000 vertical omni antenna. So far, no spots.

UPDATE 1220z: 8 spots so far.

UPDATE 1705z: 20 spots of my 10mW 6m FT8 today (see map).

UPDATE 1713z:  23 stations have spotted me today.

Greenpeace and a multinational oil giant - NOT amateur radio

This morning, I received a WhatsApp message from a friend urging me to sign a petition. 

Sadly, these days I get very paranoid about links thinking the link could be a virus or bot being installed. If you are unsure of a link never, ever click it. Check that it is genuine by some other way if in any doubt. Often scammers try to work on your better nature trying to oblige a friend. A common one is "are you in this video?".

In this case I think it was genuine about a multi-billion pound profit multinational oil giant suing Greenpeace. Deep state gone mad again.

See https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/ .

Sunspots - Thursday May 23rd

 Solar flux is 196 and the SSN 120. A=4 and K=1.

QMX+ plunge taken

This 5W multi-band, multi-mode transceiver has been ordered, assembled and cased. 

QRP Labs make some fantastic kit and I look forward to using it.

In the past, I would have enjoyed building it. Sadly, those days have passed and my fine motor skills are just not up to it any more.

See https://www.qrp-labs.com/qmxp.html .

Our back garden - NOT amateur radio

Spring is a great time of year. Blossom briefly appears, leaves have a fresh green appearance and everything is new. Spring soon goes and the fresh green turns to a tired green.