Sunspots - Monday March 30th

 Solar flux is 152 and the SSN 125. A=14 and K=2.

Internet archive

In case you have not come across this treasure trove, the Wayback Machine has many snapshots of websites dating right back to the very early days of the internet. I managed to find a 1996 snapshot of one of my very first websites.

One amazing resource is the DLARC collection of amateur radio related documents. It truly is amazing. If you have not looked before I highly recommend it.

10m 200mW WSPR (Sunday)

My beacon was on before breakfast.

UPDATE 1942z:  Spotted by 10 stations with the best Antarctica (again). Now QRT.

British Summer Time

This is 1 hour ahead of GMT meaning we get lighter evenings. It changed last night. I think it was first created in WW2 so farmers had light in the evenings to grow food. It always takes me a few weeks to get used to BST rather than GMT .

Sunspots- Sunday March 29th

Solar flux is 162 and the SSN 116. A=10 and K=3.

10m 200mW WSPR (Saturday)

My beacon is on.

UPDATE 1318z:  Spotted by 5 stations.

Trump Report

These videos are on most days I think. Usually some high profile people are interviewed. 

Does he know his plan?

One could be forgiven for thinking the US President does not fully appreciate the implications of the war in Iran. 

Maybe I am totally wrong and there is some incredible plan being enacted. After all, I am a minion not privy to intelligence and security briefs.

These facts are clear already:

1.  Inflation is likely to rise across the world including in the USA.

2.  Many (most?) face shortages of fuel and many other things.

3.  This is an asymmetric war between those with power and those with certain levers.

4.  Many innocent people will suffer.

10m 200mW WSPR to Antarctica (Thursday)

Yesterday my tiny WSPR beacon was copied in Antarctica 11 times in 12 hours. I think this is a record.

Sunspots - Saturday March 28th

 Solar flux is 156 and the SSN 152. A=6 and K=2.

Joe Blogs videos

 

These videos are on YouTube and are very informative.

Sibling reunions

My wife's elder brother died last November and we have her remaining brother staying with us with his wife for a few days. 

He is 80 in a few weeks so my wife made him a present of photos from our sibling reunions which we managed to hold every year for 22 years.

The photo shows my wife's brother holding the photo with my wife and I.

Wood spurge?

Most definitely I am not a plant expert. When it comes to trees, I am even worse! 

This plant, about 2cms across each flower head, was seen at Anglesey Abbey earlier. I think it is called wood spurge.

10m 200mW WSPR (Friday)

My beacon has been on since before breakfast.

UPDATE 1540z:  Spotted in Antarctica yet again today several times.

UPDATE 1630z:  5 stations in 4 continents have spotted me.

Antarctica again

 Yet again my 200mW WSPR was spotted at the German research base in Antarctica. It has been reported many times recently on 10m.

Sunspots- Friday March 27th

 Solar flux is 152 and the SSN 113. A=10 and K=2.

Brunch

My wife has a balance class in nearby Soham, so I do some shopping and have brunch. 

It is always very good.

See https://aromacafesoham.co.uk/

Joe Blogs videos

These are usually about economics and politics, but I watch them most days and enjoy them. This one was a bit different.

10m 200mW WSPR TX (Thursday)

My beacon was turned on at about 0850z.

UPDATE 1231z:  Just one spot by a station in Kenya.

How?

AliExpress is selling a G106c HF QRP transceiver for £42.99. I think I read this correctly. The shipping cost is nearly as much as the rig! 

Even with VAT and any duty, this is still very low cost. 

I know labour costs in China are very low (the old joke about a bowl of rice...) but 2 companies are supposed to be making profits.

UPDATE 0912z:  Is this just the straps? It would seem not. See https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005010477508773.html

Sunspots - Thursday March 26th

Solar flux is 140 and the SSN 103. A=17 and K=1.

First female archbishop

For the Church of England, this was an historic day. 

The very first female Archbishop was enthroned in Canterbury Cathedral.  

Many die-hard Anglican priests will be horrified, but many priests are now women. 

Whatever your beliefs (or none!) this is a moment in history.

Windmill fantail

We are lucky enough to live right next door to a fully restored 200 year old windmill. The fantail ensures the main sails always point into the wind. Today, the shadow of the fantail was on the museum next door (see photo).

See https://burwellmuseum.org.uk/

Lady Day (March 25th)

This used to be a very important day in the UK. It is Lady Day, which marked the day of the annunciation of Mary in the Christian calendar.

In secular affairs it was a Quarter Day on which long contracts were often settled. 

I remember it as the day in 1959 when we moved house!

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

10m 200mW WSPR (Wednesday)

 Although my beacon has been on since before breakfast, no spots yet.

UPDATE 1611z:  Spotted by 4 stations with the best PP5ZX{10058km). See table.

Sunspots - Wednesday March 25th

 Solar flux is 128 and the SSN 113. A=16 and K=3.

Iran crisis

 Most days I watch the Joe Blogs videos. Escalation in the Iran war is a real risk.

 

Donut batteries - really a solid state battery with no lithium?

For weeks I have been following the 2 bit Da Vinci videos on the Donut batteries recently announced. It really looks as if this is real.

I truly think we are on the edge of a real breakthough at last.

10m 200mW WSPR (Tuesday)

 At about 1505z, I changed to 10m WSPR with my beacon.

UPDATE 1544z: 4 spots by EA8BFK (2880km).

10m 5W FT8 (Tuesday)

 Later I hope to go on 10m FT8, mainly RX.

UPDATE 1505z: 24 stations spotted on TX. See map.

Sunspots - Tuesday March 24th

 Solar flux is 124 and the SSN 94.A=28 and K=3.

Pebble HF

 

A lot of excitement has surrounded the launch of a single HF band radio kit for less than $50.  It is multi-mode and is a 5W 20m rig. 

All being well it should be available in July. Most of the parts are already placed on the PCB.

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6cWHiaaO9w&t=18s.

See https://www.pebblehf.com

Solid state batteries - almost there

In my view these are almost there. 

By next year probably several companies will be launching EVs with huge ranges and fast charging times. Many will charge their car overnight at home when needed.

Electric cars, if low cost and with >700 miles on a single charge, will transform motoring. Fast charging times are a bonus. 

At the moment China is ahead. In my view, the USA is in great danger of missing out on the coming revolution.   In my opinion, we are on the cusp of a revolution as big as the death of CRTs and film cameras.

Sold state batteries could be transformative.

See https://www.autonocion.com/us/solid-state-battery-race-continues/.

Meshcore and Meshstastic

These feel like the future. 

More and more people are looking for a means of communication that does not depend on the internet. These are mesh based messaging systems, so the more nodes the better.  In urban areas there are more and more nodes springing up. In rural areas, nodes may be far apart.

They use 868MHz in Europe (I think), licence-free LoRa. Units - including solar powered external repeaters suitable for mounting on houses - are available on-line at low cost.

I have the feeling things will mature in the coming years. At the moment it feels like the early days of the internet.

In about 10 years' time I can see this getting there. It's not there yet.

It would appear there is far more experimentation (and licence free!) than with traditional amateur radio. In the future I can see ISM and other licence free systems replacing amateur radio.

10m 5W FT8 (Monday)

Today conditions seem a little down. 

On 10m FT8 RX South Africa spotted, but the band feels less lively than normal. 

Although on TX very briefly, spotted by a couple of European stations.

UPDATE 1138z: 8 stations spotted. Again I had problems with ChromeOS not displaying PSKreporter maps correctly. On Firefox all was normal. See map.

UPDATE 1604z: 76 stations spotted here. See logbook extract.

UPDATE 2130z:  QRT.

10m 200mW WSPR (Monday)

 My beacon was turned on at about 0915z.

Sunspots - Monday March 23rd

 Solar flux is 120 and the SSN 96. A=75 and K=4.

10m 200mW WSPR (Sunday)

 My beacon was turned on at about 1516z.

UPDATE 2142z: Spots lots of times by EA8BFK (2880km). Now QRT.

QRP drawbacks

Because of my poor voice, I mainly use WSPR and FT8 these days. Especially with FT8 there are couple of things making QRP operation harder these days.

Firstly, it is quite possible to be "clobbered" by a stronger station. Often this station is inaudible and a person does not know he or she is co-channel with a much stronger signal.

Secondly, in some places, the noise floor can be high due to all the noisy electronics many people use like switched mode power supplies in TVs, PCs and the like. Over time the noise floor, especially in towns and cities, is well above what it was even 30 years ago.

You are far less likely to be "sat on" by a stronger station with WSPR than FT8, but cycle times are nearly 2 minutes rather than  just 15 seconds.

Iran war

 "Poking the hornets nest" comes to mind. Let's hope those who started it know how to end it.