Packhorse Inn - NOT amateur radio

Last year we (by accident) discovered this place to eat. We have now been there 5 times! It is the Packhorse Inn in Moulton,near Newmarket. We have never been disappointed. They always serve a (free) starter of breads, savoury popcorn and savoury macaroons. Both food and service are excellent.

6m JT65

Last night I received a report from G0LRD that my JT65 timing was out and I was consequently not decoding. To be fair it had been running a long time and possibly my internet timing had not been corrected. At the moment I am not on 6m JT65 or 10m WSPR.

Sunspots and 10m - Monday July 25th 2016

Solar flux is 78 today and the sunspot number down to 16 (K=4). The forecast for 10m F2 propagation is "poor" again. Whether it improves in the autumn remains to be seen.

4X1RF's amazing spots on 6m JT65

Although I have yet to be spotted on 6m JT65 by 4X1RF (me being vertical probably does not help!) he does spot some amazing DX on the band regularly. Every time I look I see spots by him at great distance on 6m. He only uses a 3 element according to PSKreporter - nothing too grand.

I assume these long distance spots are Es, but some could be tropo across the Med, but unlikely.  I still wonder about chordal-Es as he seems to regularly spot stations a long way away. I have been spotted in Israel this summer (1W ERP) and I have spotted a station in Kazakhstan twice. Kazakhstan is a very long way!

6m JT65 but no 10m WSPR today

Although I am still on 6m JT65 (1W ERP), I gave 10m WSPR a miss today. I seem to get better results and far more reports on 6m JT65. There is far less Es about today compared with yesterday.

45 years - NOT amateur radio

45 years married!

45 years ago today my wife Lis and I got married. Since then so much has happened and we do not know where the years went.

Lis has been good to me and she has had a tough time coping with me in recent years. Although I don't say it enough she is still the same girl I met and loved all those years ago.

The picture,taken earlier today, shows the both of us outside our bungalow with the windmill just visible.

Sunspots and 10m - Sunday July 24th 2016

Solar flux is 84 today. Sunspot number is 34 (K=1). The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".

QRP and QRPClub

More from Oleg:

Dear Club 72 members and friends,
QRP Rendez-Vous report (July 19 to 24, 2016)
Visitors  of  the week: UA1ADF, OH6NPV, RV3GM, G0HIO/p, UR7VT, ON6KZ, F/ON4EM/p, OM6TC, IT9QAU, IK2YYM, F6ABG, RU3NJC, OK/DL2DXA/p, UR5EFD,F5HTR/p, US3EN, UA1CEG, HB9DAX, G3XJS, DL4KCA/p, UR0ET, IZ1ASM, OZ7JZ, DJ5AA/p,  SM7DIE,  DL1RWG,  RW3AA,  UR3VZ,  RV3DSA/0,  I5LHY, UA1ASB, OE3VBU, UA1CEX, UA4NU, SM2FIJ, DH0DK, OK2PXJ, UT8NR
DH0DK became Honor Frequenter - congrats!
See full report with comments on the Club 72 blog page - http://qrp-club72.blogspot.ru/
Welcome all QRP operators on the next week "rendezvous", see schedule
on the Club 72 web page - www.club72.su
72! Oleg RV3GM / KH6OB "Mr. 72"

10m WSPR

On 10m WSPR I am still using 500mW. At the moment the Es seems to be favouring northern Europe and Scandinavia on 10m.

Recent 10m WSPR spots (500mW)

Israel on 6m VHF

4Z5ML (3571km) in Tel Aviv, Israel was spotted on 6m JT65 about 99 minutes ago. This was the furthermost on 6m today. Although there is plenty of Es about, I am not so sure of the conventional wisdom that this is multi-hop Es. I feel sure that one day the experts will discover "chordal hop Es" or similar. This could explain quite a few long distance Es paths. Of course, I could be totally wrong. It would not be the first time!

UPDATE 1430z: Plenty of Es today on 6m JT65. I see that I have been received in Israel. See https://pskreporter.info/pskmap.html . It's funny how when there is a lot of 6m Es, it looks like 20m! I have still to spot, or be spotted, transatlantic on 6m this summer on 6m JT65.

6m Es today (JT65, 1W ERP vertical omni)