10m 500mW WSPR TX (Sunday)

My beacon was turned on at about 0845z this morning.

UPDATE  1127z: Just EA8BFK (2880km) and one station in Sweden spotting me. 

See https://wspr.rocks/

6m 5W FT8 (Sunday)

My gear was turned on at about 0845z.

UPDATE  1122z:  32 spots of me, many in Portugal and Spain.

Sunspots - Sunday August 24th

 Solar flux is 143 and the SSN 87. A=7 and K=2.

10m 500mW WSPR (Saturday)

My beacon has been on much of the morning.

UPDATE 2040z:  3 stations have spotted me with no sign of Es. Furthest is V51RS (8481km). QRT.

6m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

My 5W to a V2000 vertical antenna was turned on at about 0845z: 

UPDATE 1409z:  26 spots of me so far. Yet again, more northern stations see to be most prominent. This puzzles me: it seems a pattern that repeats towards the end of every Es season. I would be interested to hear any theories as this is too common to be just random.

UPDATE 2043z: 33 stations have spotted me today. If some were Es, it is now less widespread and strong. QRT.

“Blossom always returns”

 This is the motto of a football team. It is a reminder that whatever pain we may be in, life carries on.

Being satisfied

There is a temptation to always lust after the newest shiniest transceiver. 

Steve G1KQH was looking at the ICOM Japan website where they have announced the IC7300Mk2. I think I shall resist it and try to be satisfied with what I have.

Pomegranate

 The photo shows a pomegranate growing at nearby Anglesey Abbey. I have not seen one growing in the UK before. 

No second peak

 It looks like we’re on the downward slope of the solar cycle and there’s little chance of a second peak which sometimes happens. Never mind.

Sunspots - Saturday August 23rd

 Solar flux is 136 and the SSN 51. A=8 and K=2.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Friday)

My beacon was turned on late morning.

UPDATE 1130z:   No spots of me. I get the impression there are fewer WSPR users and more FT8 users.

UPDATE 1150z:  Just 3 spots by V51RS (8481km). No Es. 

UPDATE 1844z: 9 stations have spotted me.

6m 5W FT8 (Friday)

 My gear (IC-705 and the V2000 vertical omni was turned on late morning after we had been for a walk. 

UPDATE 1127z:   16 stations have spotted me. A very non-scientific observation is that stations in Scandinavia are more common late in the Es season. They are not alone with others elsewhere in Europe if the band is open, but I have observed this now quite often. I wonder if some other mechanism is in play?

UPDATE 1855z:  36 stations have spotted me today.

Our local church

 

The photo shows the inside of our local church. It was probably designed by the same man responsible for King’s College Chapel in Cambridge. Most dates from the 1400s but some parts are centuries older. 

Sunspots - Friday August 22nd

 Solar flux is 121 and the SSN 76. A=7 and K=3.

Good year for fruit in the UK

This has been a good year for fruit. 

For many weeks I have picked blackberrries for breakfast and this pear tree in our village is heavily laden.

10m 500mW WSPR (Thursday)

Just a few spots from a station in Austria.

UPDATE 1400z: 3 stations spotting me with the furthest V51RS (8481km) probably by F2.

6m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

With just 27 stations spotting my 5W QRP FT8 today, I think we have come to the end of the main Es season in Europe. Many of my spots were from the UK and I cannot say the type of propagation on the few Europeans that spotted me. It is possible even these were aircraft reflections.

UPDATE 1404z: Spotted by just 30 stations.

How do they do it?

Steve G1KQH has told me of the latest Banggood portable .  2 (yes 2!!) for just over £23 . 😉

Sunspots - Thursday August 21st

 Solar flux is 120 and the SSN 59. A=13 and K=2.

End of Es season?

Today was very quiet here on 10m WSPR and 6m FT8 with very few Europeans spotting me. 

The impression is we are coming to the end of the Es "season". There may still be good days but these will become less often and less widespread. Es is always fun whilst it lasts.

Gmail issues?

Both my wife and I are well within our space allocations of 100G for Google. 

These last few days my wife has had issues with sub-mailboxes of Gmail either appearing very briefly or having nothing in them. 

Some years ago I have a similar issue. In my case these sub-folders came back quite quickly. It is the same on 3 PCs so is definitely NOT a local problem at our end.

I am wondering if others have ever experienced this? 

It is a bit worrying when these mail folders contain some vital information that cannot be seen.

Sunspots - Wednesday August 20th

 Solar flux is 116 and the SSN 36. A=19 and K=4.

10m 500mW WSPR (Tuesday)

 My beacon was turned on late this morning. So far just spotted by one station in Switzerland.

UPDATE 1353z: As we get later in the summer any Es gets more patchy and less extensive. Yesterday was good, whereas today I have had only one spot that might have been Es. V51RS (8481km) often spots me. I guess this is F2/TEP.

6m 5W FT8 (Tuesday)

My 5W was turned on late morning. 20 stations have spotted me.

Neighbour's roses

 

These are just outside our neighbour’s front door.

10m 500mW WSPR yesterday

 In all, 69 stations spotted me yesterday. Most look like Es. This was one of my best days on 10m Es.

6m QRP FT8 yesterday

My 5W 6m FT8 to the V2000 vertical omni antenna was heard all over Europe and in North and South America. In all, 566 stations spotted me.

Sunspots - Tuesday August 19th

 Solar flux is 114 and the SSN 73. A=7 and K=3.

AI and jobs

It seems we are facing a new industrial revolution around the world. Many of the tasks done by humans can be done faster and better by machines running AI.  Jobs we traditionally thought only humans could do are being replaced.

This is a two-edged sword. Boring repetitive work will go. Also, many skilled jobs will go. 

The good side is many people can be employed more usefully. The bad side is many traditional jobs will go and bad actors could use AI for malicious means.

In my view, these things are here to stay and we have to adapt.

The safest jobs will be those that cannot be done by machines i.e. those that need real human interaction.

Many of the jobs that seemed "good" when I was young may not be the jobs to look for in the future.

Longwave broadcasting ending?

It would appear than in the UK Radio 4 longwave on 198kHz is closing September 2026. Many broadcasters have already stopped on LW and fewer radios now include LW broadcasting.

10m 500mW WSPR (Monday)

My beacon was turned on at about 0830z.

UPDATE 1702z: Spotted by 49 stations.

6m QRP FT8 (Monday)

My 5W FT8 to the V2000 vertical omni was turned on at about 0830z.

UPDATE 1143z: So far, spotted by 284 stations, probably a mix of modes. Furthest is EA8/DF4UE (2876km) quite strongly. 

UPDATE 1307z:  304 stations have spotted me including 2 in Newfoundland. Es? See map.

UPDATE 1700z:  Spotted by 5 stations in Newfoundland. Spotted by 526 stations in all. Most, I think, are Es.

North Devon cottage

This was where we stayed in 2012. It was delightful. We spent a week there.

Pipit QRP CW transceiver

 

Way back I designed and built this QRP transceiver for 15m CW. For many months it was the only rig I used. It was really fun and worked remarkably well. It appeared in GQRP SPRAT and is on my website. It produced about 800mW.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/15m-qrp-cw-pipit .

Sunspots - Monday August 18th

 Solar flux is 117 and the SSN 53. A=5 and K=0.

Classic car day

Yesterday was the Classic Car Day at our local museum. It is always hugely popular. As usual, there were plenty of people, cars and motorcycles.

Another old QSL card

Old QSL cards are becoming quite collectable. Some people collect old QSL cards as a hobby. This one dates from 1949.  

I suppose with LOTW, eQSL and similar they are becoming rarer. Certainly it is many years since I sent one.

HackRF One and HackRF Pro

If I was fitter I might seriously consider buying one of these. 

They work on RX and TX from VLF to 6GHz, making them ideal for experiments, especially with an external RF amp. 

Output power is in the low milliwatt range and I expect a low pass filter would need to be added for "on air" use e.g. as a beacon.

I see MLS in the UK supplies them.

The Faroe Islands

One of my friends on 365project lives in the Faroe Is. He posts some amazing photos.

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

6m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

My 5W FT8 to the V2000 vertical omni antenna has been on since about 0856z.

UPDATE 1925z:  153 stations have spotted me.  See map to see where I was spotted today. QRT soon.

10m 500mW WSPR (Sunday)

My beacon has been on since about 0856z.

UPDATE 1929z:  13 stations have spotted me. One looks like F2 and the others probably Es. QRT soon.

Crab apples

This was our grandson picking crab apples yesterday. We make crab apple jelly which is great with some meats.

Sunspots - Sunday August 17th

 Solar flux is 122 and the SSN 123. A=6 and K=1.

6m 5W FT8 (Saturday)

Stations spotting
me on 5W 6m
FT8 this evening

My gear was moved from 10m 1W FT8 to 6m 5W FT8 with the V2000 vertical omni at about 1750z.

UPDATE 2107z: 116 stations have spotted me. Plenty of Es.. Most of my activity is now on FT8 or WSPR. I blame it on my poor voice, but generally there is a move away from other modes on HF and VHF/UHF.  In the end I suspect we are moving into a future in which amateur radio may not exist or be very different. QRT soon.

Wimo video about Yaesu's FTX-1 Field

Wimo has a video on YouTube about the FTX-1 Field. They did this before the radio arrived in Europe. It is quite a decent overview of the product.

It is quite a respectable radio but far too expensive in the UK and, I presume, mainland Europe. It comes without GPS and Bluetooth. If it was £999 or less I might have considered it, but at this utterly stupid price I am afraid, like many, I shall give it a miss.

For a long time I have said Yaesu has lost its way. They make some good products, many of which I have owned, but for some time they have appeared to have been drifting.  I have serious concerns about their future in this market. I hope I am very wrong and the FTX-1 drops in price a long way!

Putin and Trump

These two leaders met in Alaska yesterday. They failed to reach an agreement on peace in Ukraine.

I gather the Ukrainian leader is travelling to Washington for talks with President Trump on Monday. I hope the president treats him better than the last time he went to Washington which won President Trump no friends around the world. It was utterly disgraceful.

We all want peace in Ukraine. I hope a settlement can be reached that is fair to everyone so all think they have won.

In my mind I think something like Germany after WW2 might work: clearly Russia has influence in the east of Ukraine and in Crimea. Maybe (for now) there is Western Ukraine and Eastern Ukraine. In 30 years time things could be very different as in Germany.

Whatever the final outcome Ukraine MUST be involved.

Outside Anfield, Liverpool, UK

Anfield is where UK league champions Liverpool FC play their home football matches. They recently lost a key player in a road accident. Judging by the flowers outside the ground he clearly meant a great deal.

10m 1W FT8 today (Saturday)

My 1W FT8 has been on since just after breakfast.

UPDATE 1747z: 73 stations have spotted me on 6 continents. 1W FT8 seems quite enough.

10m 1W FT8 yesterday

Stations spotted here on 10m FT8

Having been away for a few days, I went on 10m QRP FT8 yesterday when I got back. There was no Es in evidence yesterday.  On 1W QRP my furthest was Israel although several South American stations were copied on RX . See map. 

More earthmode experiments

 This was in 2011 when I was fitter and went out in the Fens to see to see where my 5W reached. 6km was reached but much further would be possible… then I had a stroke 🥴