Sky last night - NOT amateur radio

Last night we did a walk in the village. It had been a hot day. This was the sky.

Sunspots - Sunday July 15th 2018

Solar flux is 73 today and the SSN still 0.  A=5 and K=1.

10m WSPR TX (500mW)

Today just IK0DMQ (1484km) spotting me. In the last day, 8 different stations spotted my 10m WSPR TX.

UPDATE 1714z: 9 different stations have spotted my 500mW WSPR beacon today with the best again being by EA8BFK (2880km).

Genuine 6m from the USA

Around teatime last night a couple of USA stations in Florida USA were spotted on 6m FT8 RX.  Best DX was WX4G (7171km). This station was widely spotted in the USA and Europe, so I am pretty sure this is genuine.

Yet again, G stations are spotting and calling Japanese stations on 6m FT8 this morning, although none have been spotted here.

So far this season, 5 continents spotted on 6m FT8 RX, even with my V2000 omni vertical and CB coax feed. Others with better systems will have done much better, but it shows just a basic set-up works!

UPDATE 0914z: Just EU Es and Gs spotted here today so far on 6m FT8.

UPDATE 1006z: So far today on 6m FT8 RX, 31 different stations in 11 countries.

UPDATE 2013z: A good Es day on 6m FT8. These are the stations spotted on the band in the last half day.

UPDATE 2042z: A brief 6m FT8 QSO with an EA7 was spotted widely in southern Europe at up to +4dB S/N. Classic Es. And I was still using 2.5W to my vertical omni V2000. Although I was going to go QRT, I decided to stay on RX.

Patio flowers - NOT amateur radio

Our grass is very brown. We never water the grass, but it usually recovers fine after our rain (frequent).

The flowers usually get watered every other day and look fine this year. Our cosmos has only just flowered and we expected this to be out weeks ago.

Sunspots - Saturday July 14th 2018

Solar flux is 73 and the sunspot number still zero. A=6 and K=1.

10m WSPR TX (500mW)

Although I have been on 10m WSPR TX, no spots so far today.

UPDATE 1300z: A couple of German stations spotted me on 10m WSPR about an hour ago.

6m FT8

JAs were being called by UK stations earlier on 6m FT8. Sadly, I spotted none. I called CQ with 2.5W and got 6 spots and a QSO with G3TXF (334km) in north Devon on 6m FT8. There is some Es about on the band from southern Europe, but it is not exactly "humming".

UPDATE 1302z:  22 different stations in 9 countries so far today on 6m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1652z:  Pirate? I am very suspicious of a station spotted on 6m FT8 RX that is supposed to be in Guinea (3X9KFM). The only spots of him are very strong reports from the UK. If real, I would have expected spots more widely. These days, sadly, pirates are all to common. I hope I am proved wrong.

UPDATE 1656z:  Es widely applicable on 6m FT8 RX today. Best DX (excluding the 3X9) is 4X4DK (3580km).

Irish low VHF allocations

Amateurs in Eire have been given generous allocations at low VHF and a bandplan has now been created. This aligns with allocations made in other countries for beacons. It would be great if small allocations at 40MHz could be made across Region 1. Even a small allocation would allow Es research. Will it happen? Yes, if more people press their national bodies. These allocations could be quite small and take-up is likely to be small as no commercial gear is available.

See https://www.irts.ie/cgi/st.cgi?downloads .

International Lighthouse Weekend

In August (18th-19th_, there will be activations from several lighthouses around the world.

See  https://illw.net/ for more details.

How do they do it?

It is 10 years now since I retired. I am amazed how 7dayshop can sell a pair of Motorola 446MHz transceivers for £24.99 delivered. In my view, this company has some very good deals. I expect these rigs can be reprogrammed for 70cms.

I expect these are made in China and that nowadays these are very integrated. Maybe I'll find a "tear-down" video somewhere showing just what is inside. And to think our first UHF handhelds sold for £700+ in the early 1970s!

See https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm#inbox/164939fe6ccb816c

OFCOM

OFCOM has published its annual report and plan. Reports for other years may also be seen.

See https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/annual-reports-and-plans .

UK Rallies

15 JULY 2018 : 22nd RED ROSE QRP FESTIVAL

St Joseph's Hall, Mather Lane, Leigh, WN7 2PR. Easy access from all major motorways, A580, A579, etc. Car parking, disabled access. Doors open 11am (traders 8.30am, table hire £8 per 6ft table), admission £2.50. Bring and Buy, refreshments, bar. Details from Les, G4HZJ, on 0779 626 4569.

15 JULY 2018 : CORNISH RADIO AMATEUR CLUB RALLY

Penair School, Truro, Cornwall, TR1 1TN. Doors open 10.30am, admission £2. There will be traders, Bring & Buy, club stalls, car parking. Catering is available onsite. Contact Mike, G1NRF on 01209 211 069, mike.g1nrf@hotmail.com for more information.

A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

10m WSPR TX (500mW)

Just a single 10m WSPR spot today so far by F4CWN (969km). At the moment, disappointing.

6m FT8 today

At the moment there is far less Es about on 6m than yesterday. Mid morning saw a little Es from northern Spain and Sweden.  A brief 6m QRP CQ after breakfast received 4 UK spots, but no QSOs.

Windmill at sunset - NOT amateur radio

We live right next door to a 200 year old restored windmill. One of our grandchildren believes the grass around it is part of our garden! This is a view of the mill at sunset last night taken from our garden.

The windmill is part of our excellent museum. This is probably one of the best local museums in the whole UK. It goes on and on and on. There is so much there. Most who come say it exceeds their expectations.

See http://www.burwellmuseum.org.uk/

Sunspots - Friday July 13th 2018

Solar flux is 73 today and the sunspot number still 0. A=8 and K=2.

10m

This season, I have been concentrating on 10m WSPR TX. Certainly 6m FT8 is easier with spots every time I TX with QRP.

On 10m WSPR TX (500mW) it seems much harder. I have had days with loads of European spots and the occasional days with spots from South America.

This Es season I have not tried 10m SSB or CW. I suspect it would be easier to get 10m SSB QSOs than WSPR spots!

UPDATE 0910z: No 10m WSPR spots.

UPDATE 1752z: 7 unique stations spotted me today. Best DX spot was by EA8BFK (2880km).

UPDATE 2147z: QRT.

6m FT8

Although I have been on 6m FT8 for about 30 minutes, the only spots on RX are Gs. As usual, a brief QRP CQ brought spots from several Gs, but there were no Es spots.

UPDATE 0857z: Plenty of 6m FT8 RX spots now from the Canary Is, Iberia and Bulgaria. Best DX on 6m FT8 RX so far is EB8AC (2989km).

UPDATE  1755z: Too many 6m FT8 RX Es spots today. The logbook is filled with EU stations and Canary Is. spots.

UPDATE 2147z: QRT.

4m (70MHz) band

More and more countries are getting access to the 4m band.  The latest seems to be Israel that has been given access this summer on a temporary basis. I keep saying that I should try the band - maybe next year?

Although I have been on the band briefly with a very unsuitable antenna and homebrew transverter and working over 200km with about 1W CW, this was many years ago.

Also, I remember working ZB2VHF with 4W of AM on 70.26MHz from university in the late 1960s. I don't recall the antenna, but it was not a beam I seem to remember.

See http://www.70mhz.org/

Transatlantic FM DX

Southgate News reports that Newfoundland Band II FM signals were copied in Northern Ireland.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2018/july/88-mhz-trans-atlantic-signals-heard-in-ireland.htm#.W0Zy8fZFzIU

Sunspots - Thursday July 12th 2018

Solar flux is 73 today with the SSN still zero. A=8 and K=1.

Trump balloon - NOT amateur radio

President Trump is visiting the UK and many here do not want him. Apparently there is a balloon of him in a nappy (diaper blimp flying over London). He has already managed to upset the German chancellor by his remarks.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-44798408/donald-trump-baby-blimp-ready-to-take-first-steps

Echolink

For the first time in about 6 years, I had a couple of QSOs via distant repeaters using Echolink on the PC. It was so long since I used the system that both my email had lapsed and I had forgotten my password! I had to send a copy of my licence to get re-validated.

This morning I was listening to a repeater QSO in Christchurch, New Zealand and this afternoon I had a QSO with a hand-portable via a repeater near London and then a QSO via a repeater in northern Hungary with HA9OX. Quite fun.

The overall impression was repeater activity around the world is low: I had to work quite hard to find anyone to talk with. Maybe I should try Zello or IRN? Activity levels in the USA surprised me. I thought it would be quite easy to find activity in the local mornings on the urban repeaters over there, but all were quiet.

Now I know it works I can try again.

Double-yoker - NOT amateur radio

We have bought free range eggs for years, but today we saw our first double-yoker in ages when we had gammon and eggs for lunch.

6m FT8

Already plenty of Es on 6m. I am on 50.313 FT8, mostly RX. DX from Scotland, Italy, Hungary and Romania so far on 6m FT8 RX. A brief TX period (calling an HA) resulted in spots by S52D (1234km) 22 minutes ago. As usual, I am running 2.5W to my V2000 omni vertical antenna. ERP is probably about 1W as the CB coax feeding it is lossy.

UPDATE 1047z: So far today, 18 different stations in 5 countries spotted on 6m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1505z: Now 23 different stations in 5 countries on 6m FT8 RX. Es seems to have "gone off the boil".

UPDATE 2046z: At the end of the day, 24 stations in 8 countries on 6m FT8 RX. After a promising start, disappointment. Time to go QRT.

10m WSPR

As the antenna is free, I am again on 10m WSPR TX (500mW). Only one spot so far. This was EA1FAQ (1249km) in northern Spain. This was Es.

UPDATE 1507z: Just EA1FAQ spotting me and he has only spotted me twice this morning.

UPDATE 2048z: No more spots, so time to go QRT.

Sunspots - Wednesday July 11th 2018

Solar flux is 72 today and the sunspot number remains zero. A=7 and K=2.

Dart Valley Railway - NOT amateur radio

I love steam engines. The photo shows my brother last week watching a train on the Dart Valley Railway in Devon.

Late Es

In earlier years I seem to notice more northern Es spots later in the season.  This year seems to be similar with GM3POI in the Orkney Islands spotted already on 6m FT8.

70cm UKAC RSGB activity contest

After the World Cup football on TV this evening I went on the July leg of the 70cm UKAC activity contest. I did not stay on long (poor voice) and made 3 QSOs with G4CLA (105km) as the best DX. I was using 5W to a 2m halo.

Human Consciousness - NOT amateur radio

Human consciousness is perhaps the biggest puzzle we know. All of us have the gift of being able to contemplate ourselves and our universe. Some say we just expire when we die along with our bodies. Some say something of us lives on. The truth is no-one knows. It is the mystery all religions try to answer.

It is like living in a one dimensional world and trying to imagine a 3 dimensional world. Human consciousness is indeed the biggest mystery of all. I don't have the answers.

10m WSPR

As I am home again and the antenna is free, I am on 10m WSPR TX (500mW). No spots of my beacon as yet.

UPDATE 2134z: No spots all day. Now QRT.

Sunspots - Tuesday July 10th 2018

Solar flux is 72 and the sunspot number 0.  A=2 and K=2.

6m FT8 once again

As I am now home again, I am back on 6m FT8 and 10m WSPR. Last night I managed a brief FT8 QSO with M0BEW (194km) and this morning I was heard by several G stations when again calling CQ. All TX periods are with 2.5W to the V2000 omni vertical.

Although Es is still likely, it seems quieter now. Certainly there is no Es evident here as yet.

UPDATE 1208z: Still no Es seen here. Just 9 Gs so far today with best DX on 6m FT8 RX being G0SYP (222km).

UPDATE 1535z: Just one Es spot so far about an hour ago: IZ6BXQ (1457km).

Crystal Ball - NOT amateur radio

I am experimenting with crystal ball photo apps.  There seem to be several around. This is an old picture taken about 9 years ago.

Sunspots - Monday July 9th 2018

Solar flux is 72 today and the SSN remains zero.  A=4 and K=1 .

KV5R site

Funny how you find new sites all the time. This one may be good for USA visitors in particular. It has some useful data on propagation.

See kv5r.com

BREXIT secretary resigns - NOT amateur radio

So I awoke to the news that the man running the UK exit from Europe negotiations has resigned. Not quite sure where this leaves things. In a fine mess I think.

Brother's garden - NOT amateur radio

A view of part of my brother's garden.

Few have a golf course in their garden! In all he has about 5 acres.