Ely - NOT amateur radio

We have our "London" grandchildren here for a few days. After lunch we visited Ely and went to Ely cathedral. They had a great time.

Yet again, 10m has been good today

Yet again, 10m WSPR has been good again. Lots of spots of my 500mW beacon from the USA after lunch and Australia this morning. Lots of life in the band still.

Australia with 500mW this morning on 10m

My 500mW 10m WSPR beacon was spotted in Russia and Australia this morning. I have gone QRT on 6m WSPR (I was on overnight, but no spots given or received) but I still have my tiny 10m beacon running. This was recently re-synced although the Australian spotted me earlier - VK5MR (16144km) at 0934z.

Later, I may go back to the FT817 which allows me to run more power and listen on RX.

Sunspots and 10m - Sat Feb 13th 2016

Solar flux is 111 today and sunspot number 74 (K=3). 10m propagation is forecast to be "poor" today.

Late USA 10m WSPR spot

My 500mW 10m WSPR beacon was spotted in the USA by WA4ZZW (6873km) in Alabama at 1720z this evening. No other USA stations spotted me on 10m today.

Back on 6m WSPR

As well being on 10m WSPR with my 500mW beacon, I have now returned to 6m WSPR (20% TX 1W ERP, 80% RX) since about 1530z this afternoon. On 6m I am only hopeful of some Gs. Even these be a bonus. Anything else would be totally unexpected.

UPDATE 1035z:   No WSPR spots given or received on 6m WSPR today.  I was hoping for some GDX but found nothing at all on this band.

Gravitational waves detected - NOT amateur radio

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35553549 .

It amazes me how some astronomical experiments are done. Some work require mS timing and  
staggering distances. Often, the co-operation of researchers scattered across the planet is needed. The hunt for gravitational waves is no exception.

600m DX QSO

Steve, G1KQH has brought my attention to a Southgate News item about a DX QSO on 600m CW across the Pacific.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2016/february/greater_distance_achieved_on_600m_band.htm.

Reverted to W5OLF 10m WSPR beacon

At 0950z I reverted to my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon by W5OLF. This is 100% 10m TX at 500mW but with randomised frequencies changed every 2 minutes. This does not need a PC and is entirely self-contained and tiny. With 6dB less power I wonder what difference it makes to spots? It will take about 20 minutes for things to settle.

Possibly, I may go on 6m WSPR later as I cannot go on another HF band as I need the antenna for the 10m beacon.

UPDATE 1344z:  Several spots of my 500mW 10m beacon by EA8/DL9XJ (2981km) today as well as spots by GM4WJA (624km). I wonder if my 500mW 10m WSPR beacon will be spotted in the USA later?

UPDATE 1440z:  Several spots received from Brazil this afternoon on 10m with the 500mW WSPR beacon. 6dB lower? - you'd never know! Perhaps I'd get more spots at 2W, but I'm getting plenty at 500mW from a tiny box not much bigger than a pack of cards. Fabulous fun for almost nothing.

Sunspots and 10m - Fri 12th Feb 2016

Solar flux is good at 120 and the sunspot number is good at 68 (K=2). Even the 10m propagation forecast is "fair" whereas it has been poor for a while. Already this morning I was being spotted in Brazil on 10m WSPR, which is promising.