Overnight on 630m WSPR

Not the greatest of nights with 6 unique stations spotting my 10mW ERP and in turn I spotted 12 unique stations on MF. It has been much better!

Sunspots - Thursday November 9th 2017

Solar flux is 67 today and the sunspot number still zero. A=47 and K=4. On the face of it, not too promising.

Now on 630m WSPR

As there have been no South Americans spotted here for several hours now, I have moved to 630m WSPR (10mW ERP, 20%) for the evening and overnight period.

10m to South America

FT8 seems to work well, even on 10m. Today there were stations all across Europe spotted and as far as Kuwait, plus Reunion and South Africa, so I was surprised when only 3 South Americans were spotted on 10m FT8 today. I was expecting far more.

In a short while I'll move to 630m WSPR.

Would Trump win now? - NOT amateur radio

The BBC asked a number of "experts".  I was surprised by what they said.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41839706  .

Profits - NOT amateur radio

John Lewis in Cambridge yesterday and that god "profit" is clearly visible. Frankly, it makes me sick. Why does Christmas get earlier and earlier? Profits!

Personally I'd ban all Christmas things until December.

Depth - NOT amateur radio

Most of the time we live on the surface. Then something happens to make us think. This week I have had two things that "brought me up short". 

Firstly, I attended the funeral of my old work manager (Rao) who died in his 80s, then I heard that my son's brother-in-law, in his 20s, had died in hospital after being struck many weeks ago by a woman driver who went through red lights whilst being distracted fiddling with her phone. We don't realise how fragile life is: one second and his future would have been so different.

Whatever your religion, or none, life is a precious gift too easily taken for granted. In the midst of life is death, pain and suffering. It has always been so, and always will.

Life goes on, as it should, but from time to time we all need to be reminded that we came from dust and return to dust.  Life is transitory.

Overnight on 630m WSPR

Conditions have been better. My 10mW ERP reached DL-SWL (701km) and 5 others. In all, 13 unique spots of others.

10m FT8 RX

As usual, I am keeping an eye on 10m FT8. 3 spots so far with best DX 9K2NO (4641km) in Kuwait.

UPDATE 1428z:  Best 10m FT8 DX is now FR4OO (9668km) on Reunion Is in the south Indian Ocean.

UPDATE 1510z: Now 10m FT8 propagation is moving west. ZS1TMJ (9563km) now being spotted. Later I feel sure there will be some South Americans.

UPDATE 1525z: First South American was PU2WSQ (9588km).

Sunspots - Wednesday November 8th 2017

Solar flux is 68 today and the sunspot number still zero. A=36 and K=6.

Cambridge Bus Station - NOT amateur radio

This was Cambridge Drummer Street bus station yesterday evening. The service bus did not arrive and the next bus was nearly 1.5 hours later! Notice how many people are on their "devices".

630m WSPR

As usual, I have been on 630m WSPR a lot of this evening. So far, conditions seem typical.

My son's brother-in-law has died - NOT amateur radio

Tragically, my son's brother-in-law, who was knocked over by a careless driver busy fiddling with her mobile phone, has died. He was in hospital for over a month in Australia.  1 second and his future would have been so different. His entire family is devastated.  The woman driver will have this guilt for the rest of her life. In many ways I feel sorry for her too.

Where is the good God who allows this to happen? Right now I find it hard to fathom any good in this situation.

2m UKAC Activity Contest

This evening was the 2m leg of the RSGB's activity contest. As my bus was late getting back from Cambridge, I was not on very long this time, so worked few stations. Normally, I add a map, but this time it is not worth it.

OFCOM monthly update

OFCOM has just produced its update for October.

See http://ofcom.cmail19.com/t/ViewEmail/i/AF858CA5839176DE2540EF23F30FEDED/59D1BD3EA2F08127C67FD2F38AC4859C

Hindu funeral - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday, I attended a funeral for my old manager at Pye Telecom. He was Indian and a really good man. He always told the truth and I had a great deal of time for him. The service was at the crematorium in Cambridge and was a Hindu service. It was very moving. According to Wikipedia there are 960 million followers in India alone.

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

The last 24 hours on 630m WSPR

The last evening and night were quite productive. My 10mW ERP WSPR was spotted by 13 unique stations and I spotted 16 uniques.

10m FT8 RX

Just before breakfast I moved to 10m FT8 RX again. Despite poor solar conditions and zero sunspots, several stations are coming in via F2.

Best DX currently on 10m FT8 VU2TS (8062km) in Southern India.

UPDATE 1048z: Best 10m FT8 RX DX is VK6RK (14469km) in Western Australia. Did someone say 10m was dead? Solar flux is low and the sunspot number is zero! FT8!

UPDATE 1150z: It just get better! VK5SFA (16221km) is now the best DX spotted on 10m FT8 this morning.  FT8 is magic.

UPDATE 2052z: Well. I think today was the best yet this autumn on 10m FT8 RX. Did someone say 10m was "dead"? Well even with low solar activity and zero sunspots the photo shows the spots on 10m FT8 today! Amazing!

Sunspots - Tuesday November 7th 2017

Solar flux is just 69 today and the sunspot number still zero. A=2 and K=1.

630m FT8

This evening I copied DL6TY (629km) calling CQ in FT8 on 630m. Although I called him, he did not copy me. This is the first time I have decoded anyone on FT8 on 630m. This will become the communications mode on most bands. I have now gone back to 630m WSPR.

QSY to 630m WSPR

At 1935z I QSYed to 630m WSPR (10mW ERP, 20%). I should be on overnight.

UPDATE 2055z: GW3UCJ (286km) was copying me 4dB stronger than usual.

Geomagnetic storm?

According to Southgate News we may well get a geomagnetic storm tomorrow (Nov 7th). This was picked up from the spaceweather website.

Cattle Egret - NOT amateur radio

Until recently, cattle egrets were rare in the UK. The latest wildlifeindevon report show no less than five in South Huish. I have the distinct impression these will be the next "big thing" with them being a common sight in the UK within a few years.

Back in the 1980s little egrets were rare in the UK. Now they are all over the place.

See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/c/cattleegret/ .

Our village - NOT amateur radio

Burwell is about 10 miles from Cambridge. Most who live here work in Cambridge. Population is now about 6000, although it still feels like a village, with friendly people who say, "hello" in the streets.

USA and guns - NOT amateur radio

Yet again we hear about a mass shooting in the USA. This time it was a church and a kid as young as 5 was killed among the 26. The USA has a gun culture and a very high rate of killings. OK, gun ownership in Switzerland is high because of National Service, but they don't seem to have a problem.

Why is the USA so violent? Does gun ownership really make you safer?

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41880511 .

Low cost Chinese handhelds

I ordered a pair of Chinese UHF portables for just over £13 a pair. One arrived. I have still to chase the company for the second unit. It seems they had got the order wording wrong.

Sorry, but I ordered a pair and that is what I expect to get - in the end.

Gearbest - remember the name. We'll see how they do in the end.

10m FT8 RX

Just before breakfast, I switched (again) to 10m FT8 RX. I am amazed by what I spot. Although solar conditions are a lot worse than a few years ago, 10m FT8 seems to work.

So far, one German and one Russian RA6WF (3628km) on the Caspian Sea spotted.

UPDATE 1248z: Best DX so far on 10m FT8 RX is A45XR (5796km) in Oman. Although several Europeans and further spotted, 10m does not look as good as yesterday.

UPDATE 1910z: Just one South American on 10m FT8 today. Not a brilliant day.

630m WSPR overnight

As is usual, I was on 630m WSPR last night with my usual 10mW ERP for 20% of the time with the remaining time on RX. In all, 7 unique stations copied me and I spotted 13 uniques.

Herman the German - NOT amateur radio

On Sunday my wife and I did a walk around part of our village. We both commented that we'd not seen "Herman the German" in quite a while. We feared he might even have died.

Quite by chance we later bumped into him walking his dog. He is now 92, frail and not in good health. He was as pleased to see us as we were to see him. He was a prisoner-of-war in WW2 who stayed and married. He is a very nice man that we saw a lot at our previous house. He came to see us a few years ago at our new home. It was so good to see him.

Sunspots - Monday November 6th 2017

Solar flux is 71 today and the sunspot number again zero. A=2 and K=0.

Starlings - NOT amateur radio

We live right next to a 200 year old restored windmill. Although this is not a starling roost, it seems to be a place where they congregate on their way to somewhere else. Their favourite spot seems to be on the sails where they gather late afternoon. At one time a few years ago we saw few starlings, although we see plenty here!

QSYed to 630m WSPR

At 1740z I QSYed to 630m WSPR (10mW ERP, 20%) as I think 10m FT8 is "over" for today. OK, I may miss some DX on 10m FT8, but I have had a good day. There is always another day.

UPDATE 1746z: No spots given or received as yet on 630m.

UPDATE 1747z: LA8AV (1035km) has already been spotted on 630m WSPR.

Rain? - NOT amateur radio

This afternoon we went for a walk around our village. Although it threatened rain, we missed it.

OFCOM - useless?

For some time, I have had a personal view, that may not be shared by others, that OFCOM lacks technical expertise and is very weak when it comes to enforcement.  This view was based on personal experience some years ago when I needed to speak with OFCOM people about VLF. Names escape me. To be honest, the people I spoke with were useless!! Perhaps they had degrees in cooking or football? Technically, I got the impression that they had no idea what I was talking about. All they seemed to be interested in was not breaking the law. Engage brains? Think laterally? Definitely not. I got the impression at the time that all that mattered were services that generated money and keeping these "clean".

Reading Southgate News today only serves to re-enforce my personal view that OFCOM is a bunch of generally non-technical bureaucrats, who know little technical detail. Bring back the GPO inspectors who actually visited and checked! In my early days I had my station inspected several times.

I hope others have had better experiences.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2017/november/ofcom-and-ham-radio-repeater-abuse.htm#.Wf7nLbp2vIU

East Cambs Net - 144.575MHz Mondays 8pm

A small group of us normally comes on 144.575MHz FM (yes, one four FOUR) at 8pm Mondays for a chat. Discussions are generally non-technical, or easy technical, and go on for about 30 minutes. Everyone if very welcome and newcomers to the group are most welcome. Don't be shy! Most stations are located in Cambridge or East Cambridgeshire.

630m WSPR overnight

In the last day, I have been spotted by 7 unique stations and I have spotted 14 uniques. An average period. My ERP is still 10mW.

10m FT8 RX

Although I have only been looking for a few minutes, there are quite a few stations from Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, Russia and the Middle East already spotted on 10m FT8, despite poor solar numbers.

I think it is true that FT8 has transformed 10m with many more people staying on the band and finding DX that, in the past, would have been missed. Concentrating the activity in a narrow, well monitored, slot must help, as does the ability to decode weak signals.

3 cheers for FT8!

UPDATE 1248z: first South American on 10m FT8 today was PV8DC (7830km) in Roraima, northern Brazil. This was made famous by Arthur Conan Doyle in "The Lost World".

UPDATE 1408z: No further South Americans spotted on 10m FT8, but VO1NE (3931km) in Newfoundland recently spotted. It looks like 5 continents today. Still not bad with a poor antenna and no sunspots!

UPDATE 1622z: With 4 North Americans and 4 South Americans spotted, today has been quite good on 10m FT8.

UPDATE 1738z: With nothing new now for a few hours I think I'll QSY to 630m WSPR.

Sunspots - Sunday November 5th 2017

Solar flux is 71 today and the sunspot number is zero again. A=4 and K=0.

Mr President in Asia - NOT amateur radio

So the president of the USA is on an official visit to Japan, South Korea and China. I am not sure if anywhere else is on his agenda. I hope he is presidential and not the butt of more jokes. Maybe he can stop tweeting and actually listen?

Allegedly his views on the causes of climate change are at odds with scientists who have access to facts and evidence. Oh silly me - this is all rubbish and a Chinese plot. I quite forgot. Fake news.

UPDATE 2308z:  Apparently he is also visiting Vietnam and the Philippines.  See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41773310

What made this? - NOT amateur radio

A few days ago we went to Anglesey Abbey which is about 4 miles away. We saw this hole, but I am not sure what creature made it. Moles usually leave a pile of earth. This hole had none. My guess is a mouse or a shrew? The hole was about 3cms (just over an inch) across.