Amsterdam

 This is a fantastic city. We have been here 7 times and I have been here for work.

Amazing fact - human brains

Yesterday, I read that the capacity of the human brain has been estimated as 2.5 million gigabytes, which is huge.  When you think of a lifetime of memories it has to be enormous. 

It makes our computer memories look tiny by comparison. I wonder if they will work out how to create artificial memories as large one day? Imagine being able to store this much data!  If possible, perhaps we could have "add on" memories to store, for example, a new language.

You could imagine that memory research based on neural networks (much like the human brain) is rich for exploration. I could imagine that in 50 years' time huge memories might be possible making those of today look tiny.  I imagine that the US and Chinese governments are already working on this.

Imagine the computing power of these mega-computers working in parallel. Frightening.

Sunspots - Monday September 1st

 Solar flux is 217 and the SSN 188. A=8 and K=1.

This autumn

As Es is likely to be much less frequent than in the spring and summer, I shall probably switch to 10m QRP FT8 before long, with the occasional outing on 6m FT8. 

I can imagine 10m FT8  being quite good this autumn.

Solar activity - up?

 In the last few days, solar activity seems to have improved somewhat.  I am not sure if this will alter the smoothed sunspot peak, but it will be worth keeping an eye on my favourite site for solar data.

QR codes

These days, they seem to be everywhere! 

If my dad came back now (he died in 1987) he wouldn't have a clue. This was before the internet really and mobile phones. QR codes would be even more amazing. You wonder what our grandchildren will have when we are pushing up daisies!

It seems I have an option to create a QR code for each page. Not quite sure why anyone would want to do this!  

10m QRP WSPR (Sunday)

 My 500mW beacon was turned on just before breakfast.

UPDATE 0811z:  Plenty of spots by 2 stations in the Canary Islands, presumably via F2.

UPDATE 2006z: Spotted by 9 stations with the furthest again being V51RS (8481km). Now QRT.

6m 5W FT8 (Sunday)

My IC-705 at 5W to the V2000 vertical omni antenna was turned on just before breakfast.

UPDATE 2004z:  79 stations have spotted me with the furthest many stations in Finland.   The number spotting me in S.Europe is very small. Now QRT.

New Beofang portable

Beofang are selling their UV5-R mini at ridiculous prices. Steve G1KQH found them at £26 for a pair delivered to the UK. That is £13 each!! 

This is for a 5W dual band handheld!

Sunspots - Sunday August 31st

 Solar flux is 317 and the SSN 183. A=7 and K=2.

ICOM IC-5200 announced

At the recent Tokyo Ham Fair ICOM announced the IC-5200 VHF/UHF mobile transceiver. 

It is still in development, so we might see it in 2026. I have no idea about the sort of price.

Burtrand Russell quote

 He is supposed to have made this quote

"I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong"

Holiday 13 years ago

 

In 2012 we went on holiday in Slovenia 🇸🇮 which is like Switzerland 🇨🇭 but far less expensive.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Saturday)

My W5OLF beacon was turned on at 0808z.

UPDATE 1355z:  2 stations in the Canary Isles have spotted me multiple times. Single hop F2?

6m 5W FT8 (Saturday)

My gear was turned on at 0808z.

UPDATE 1939z:  39 stations have spotted me. For the last few days numbers have been declining suggesting, on average, there are fewer Es openings and/or people are leaving 6m now the Es season is drawing to a close.

Late summer cheer

 A while back I planted some sunflower seeds in the ground and a trough. Most are now in flower  bringing cheer to the late summer. 

Sunspots - Saturday August 30th

 Solar flux is 222 and the SSN 195. A=6 and K=2.

Granddaughter

 

This was one of my granddaughters earlier.

10m 500mW WSPR (Friday)

My beacon was turned on mid-morning.

UPDATE 1723z:  9 stations have spotted me.

6m QRP FT8 (Friday)

My gear was turned on late morning.

UPDATE 1748z: 101 stations have spotted me including one in South Africa. Not bad for 5W on 6m to a vertical omni antenna!

UPDATE 1925z:  120 stations have spotted my 6m FT8 QRP including South Africa and Indonesia. The latter seems genuine judging by this station's other spots.

Friday plans

 Assuming we have no thunder, I plan to go on QRP 10m WSPR and 6m FT8 QRP later.

What is reality?

Recently, I have bought non-alcoholic gin and tonic in cans. I could have sworn there were two left. My wife swears they were non-alcoholic beer cans. I think she must have been correct.

This begs the question "what is reality?".  I guess it is what an individual experiences and for everyone this will be different.

By the way, I find non-alcoholic beers every bit as good as beers with alcohol: they have progressed enormously in the last few years.

Rain in East Anglia, UK

Every day for the last few years I have measured the rainfall with a rain gauge . It is easy to forget the rain each month. See attached table. I measure the rain each morning at breakfast time. 

The table shows the rain (going left to right) for 2025 (so far), 2024 and 2023.

Sunspots - Friday August 29th

 Solar flux is 232 and the SSN 201 . A=7 and K=2.

10m 500mW WSPR (Thursday)

My beacon was turned on at about  0830z.

UPDATE  1754z:  Spotted by 49 stations. Map courtesy of WSPRrocks.

2m FT8 (Thursday)

 Very briefly, I tried 2m FT8 in desperation to see why the IC705 was not working on FT8 RX.

UPDATE 0915z:  Spotted by 11 stations in 4 countries in just a few minutes.

6m 5W FT8 (Thursday)

My 5W 6m FT8 was turned on at about 0830z. 

For some reason (although nothing has changed in my settings that were working well yesterday) my FT8 RX is not working with the IC705. Later I shall try a complete reset of the IC-705 and see if that cures it. I have already restarted the PC.

UPDATE 0900z:  So far, 26 spots of me.

UPDATE 1857z: My 6m FT8 RX was not working as the USB input was muted (no idea why). All now fixed.  So far,  54 stations have spotted me.

Heathkit shack

 This was spotted earlier. Heathkit are a shadow of their former self.

Sunspots - Thursday August 28th

Solar flux is 226 and the SSN 227 (high). A=8 and K=1.

10m 500mW WSPR (Wednesday)

My beacon was turned on just before breakfast.

UPDATE 2055z:  Spotted by 96 stations, mostly in Europe. I think this is the best day on 10m WSPR in months.

6m 5W FT8 (Wednesday)

My gear was turned on just before breakfast.

UPDATE 1349z:  255 spots of me. This looks like Es. Mostly Europe with one in Algeria and the Canary Is.. See map.

UPDATE 2051z:  482 stations have spotted me today. One of my best days.

Wednesday plans

 It looks like solar conditions are promising , so I plan to do the same as yesterday with 10m QRP WSPR and 6m QRP FT8. 

Faroe Islands

 

One of my friends on 365project lives in the Faroe Islands and posts some spectacular photos such as this one.

Sunspots - Wednesday August 27th

 Solar flux is 226 and the SSN 193. A=9 and K=2.

What propagation mode?

When we see short-skip on 6m into Europe we often associate this with Es.  But we are near the top if the solar cycle and we often see short-skip into Europe on lower frequencies like 20m, even in the quiet years. 

Now, I am no expert on propagation and wonder what mode of propagation many of these spots are? I presume Es, but maybe I am wrong? 50MHz seems too high for F2.

500mW 10m WSPR (Tuesday)

My beacon has been on since 0912z.

UPDATE 1920z:  12 stations have spotted me. QRT soon.

6m 5W FT8 (Tuesday)

 

Stations spotting my
6m 5W FT8 today

My gear has been on since 0912z.

UPDATE 1918z:  85 stations have spotted me. Widespread across Europe and North Africa. QRT soon. It is interesting that in the last few days I have been spotted by progressively fewer stations.

WISPY RX

This was originally designed as a WSPR receiver but it works equally well as an FT8 receiver with a suitable crystal. It is extremely simple yet works very well. It allows the main rig to be freed for something else.

Lunch

Yesterday, someone put a photo of their lunch on 365project.

It was a lobster roll with chips and coleslaw - delicious 😉.

Time

We are aware of time flowing from the past into the future, but this may be a human illusion. 

As the poet T. S. Eliot said maybe time past, time present and time future are all present now. See the poem Burnt Norton in his Four Quartets.

This ties in to some extent with quantum mechanics.

6m QRP FT8 yesterday

With 103 stations spotting me yesterday I think we can safely say that the Es season is still with us. 6m was filled with European stations . 

The season will end …but not yet!!

Sunspots - Tuesday August 26th

 Solar flux is 175 and the SSN 136. A=8 and K=1.

TX-500MP

The original TX-500 (I think) had a Russian pedigree. I think production was shifted to the Middle East to avoid sanctions. I may be totally wrong on this. If I am wrong, my sincere apologies.

They have produced the TX-500MP which is a handheld with built-in ATU. There is a video about it. I have no idea about price. It looks like a useful product.

Beetles

Yesterday I posted a photo of the display cabinet of butterflies at the Zoology museum in Cambridge. This is the display of beetles.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Monday)

My 500mW  10m W5OLF beacon was turned at about 0815z.  

UPDATE 1902z:  Spotted by 32 stations with the furthest EA8BFK (2880km).

6m 5W FT8 (Monday)

My gear was turned on at about 0815z. 

UPDATE 1921z:  So far, 89 spots of me.  

Monday plans

As 6m QRP FT8 was good yesterday I shall try again today, as well as 10m QRP WSPR.

Yesterday on 6m QRP FT8

Much to my surprise I was copied widely in southern Europe on 6m FT8 with 5W. The band is still in pretty good shape. In all, 186 stations in Europe and Morocco 🇲🇦 spotted me. 

Sunspots - Monday August 25th

 Solar flux is 152 and the SSN 102. A=6 and K=1.

Zoology museum, Cambridge, UK

Living near Cambridge it is all too easy to take everything for granted. In the UK the main museums are free as are bus journeys for old people. So it is possible to enjoy lots without paying a penny!

Take, for example, the excellent Zoology museum we called at yesterday.

We often joke that people come across the planet to see Cambridge. We can see it every day .... for free.