Sunspots - Saturday September 27th

Solar  flux is 165 and the SSN 137.  A=7 and K=2.

15m 5W FT8 (Friday)

 Earlier, for a change, I went briefly on 15m FT8. I did not stop on long.

6m 5W FT8 (Friday)

My gear was turned on at about 1300z.

UPDATE  1328z:  So far today, spotted by 7 English stations. Reports suggest I might be copied at 1-2W, although this will depend on the local noise floor. In most urban areas this is getting worse. I think my chances of being spotted "across the pond" this autumn by F2 with my low ERP are very slim! It is very unlikely the MUF will climb this high and with my low ERP it is very unlikely I would be spotted.

"Our" tree

Every year we take a photo of the same tree at nearby Anglesey Abbey. 

I take a photo around this time when the leaves are changing colour before the leaves fall for a few months over winter.

UV-5R Mini

This was bought recently and I am now familiar with the menu and have successfully programmed some channels using Bluetooth. 

It will probably be used mainly on RX.

How much pull can you get with a VXO?

A VXO can be pulled more by adding an inductor in series with the crystal or putting more crystals in parallel. My own experience was that the more a VXO is pulled the less crystal control is obtained. So it is important not try to pull a crystal too much. DX Explorer has a video showing some experiments with pulling a VXO.

10m 500mW WSPR (Friday)

My beacon was turned on at about 0815z.

UPDATE 1313z:   11 stations have spotted me today. This looks like F2 propagation. The furthest is K6RFT (6958km).

10m 500mW WSPR yesterday

As well as plenty of stations in the USA and Canada I was again spotted in Antarctica. 

I think I have been spotted in Antarctica 7 times this week.

Sunspots - Friday September 26th

 Solar flux is 170 and the SSN 149. . A=8 and K=2..

The USA or China?

If I was a 3rd world country looking at the USA or China, which would I lean towards?  

The USA is in grave danger of failing on the world stage and it would not surprise me if the US dollar was overtaken as the world's reserve currency.

There is a lot wrong with China, but at the moment few would look to the USA as a beacon of freedom and democracy sadly. The USA is no longer able to hold the moral ground. I find this sad as every American I have known has been kind and generous. Individually every person from the USA I have known has been really nice.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_currency .

UV5r Mini

Four days ahead of the expected delivery, this arrived from China. I am still reading the manual (very good English) and will try to program the radio later. 

Impressed so far? Yes.

Sunspots - Thursday September 25th

 Solar flux is 184 and the SSN 155. A=8 and K=1.

Con?

All the scientific evidence, and just looking around with my own eyes, shows that climate change is real and is happening. Surely the evidence is now overwhelming. Tell me, can anyone really deny this by looking objectively at the evidence?  

People may argue if this is because of man or is cyclical, but we definitely live in a warming world. "Drill baby drill" or migrate to a world we can sustain?

Renewables have dropped considerably in price.  Luddites or adapt?

10m 500mW WSPR (Wednesday)

My stand-alone beacon was turned on at 1314z. 

UPDATE 1602z:  21 stations have spotted me, of which 20 are in the USA. See map.

UPDATE 1712z:  25 stations have spotted me.

6m 5W FT8 (Wednesday)

My gear was turned on at 1314z.

UPDATE 1740z:  So far, spotted by 7 stations. The furthest is Denmark.

AliExpress - a warning

On September 17th I ordered a Beofeng UV5 Mini via AliExpress. The money was taken from my PayPal account, but the order was not shown when I looked for it. I thought the order had been "lost in the system". 

I contacted AliExpress who told me the order had been placed in a different way (paying via PayPal?) and to log in again using Google. The order appeared thankfully. 

The goods are due to arrive in the coming days.

I have had no problems with AliExpress in the past. In fact I have been impressed.

10m QRP FT8 (Wednesday)

For a change I am on 10m FT8 with 5W today. 

UPDATE 0927z: Spotted by 127 stations. With the sunspot count and solar flux high, even 5W FT8 gets you all over the planet on 10m.

UPDATE 1300z:  351 stations have spotted me. See map.

Sunspots - Wednesday September 24th

 Solar flux is 171 and the SSN 172. A=14 and K=1.

10m QRP WSPR yesterday

As well as all the USA and Canadian stations spotting my 500mW, I was spotted by the German base in Antarctica DP0GVN (13685km) 5 times!

Tuesday plans

 As we have old university friends here, I doubt I shall be on the radio today. I shall try to be sociable!! 😄