10m JT65 - South America yet again

PU2TWU (9572km) spotted me a little while ago on 10m JT65. I spotted EA8 (Canaries) about an hour ago. The latter could have been Es or F2. This is in the same direction as the South American station who spotted me. I am amazed how regularly I get spotted on 10m JT65 in South America with just 2W.  My antenna is low and nothing special, so I hope my results encourage others to try 10m QRP.

Fenland Country Fair - NOT amateur radio

We have grandchildren here this week. Today, we went to the Fenland Country Fair at nearby Stow-cum-Quy, where we have been for several years.

Sadly, the toy Land Rovers (electric cars) were not there. Our grandson enjoys driving these.

They went on lots of rides and enjoyed their ice creams!

QRP and QRPclub

More from Oleg:

"Dear Club 72 members and friends,
Weekly QRP Rendez-Vous report (August 22 to 28, 2016)
Visitors  of  the  week: R2FAE, UR0ET, Z35M/p, OH6NPV, RV3GM, IU4HGH, US3EN,  DL1YAY,  RU3NJC,  R1CAF, OK1KW, EA2DT, IZ8FNY, UA1ASB, G3XJS, UR5EFD,  EW1CY,  UA1CEG,  OK1ITK,  DK5TM,  HB9FAB/p, OE5EIN/p, RD3DN, OH5LP, US5ERQ
OE5EIN became Frequenter of the QRP Rendez-Vous round tables
See full report with comments/pictures on the blog page - http://qrp-club72.blogspot.ru/
Thanks to all for activity and comments! See all QRP stations in next week  Tuesday,  Thursday,  Saturday  at  9.00  UTC on 14060 (10116 if contest). Results, comments, reports, pictures are welcome.
72! Oleg RV3GM / KH6OB "Mr. 72" "

Sunspots and 10m - Monday August 29th 2016

Solar flux is 87 today. Sunspot number is 64. K=2 . Yet again, the forecast for 10m F2 propagation is "poor".

Brazil (yet again) on 10m JT65

https://pskreporter.info/pskmap.html

PU1PJR (9573km) and PT9IR (9662km) were recently spotted on 10m JT65. It remains to be seen if my 2W JT65 on 10m makes it to deepest South America this evening. Most times I've been on in recent weeks I have spotted, or been spotted, deep into South America on 10m JT65.

UPDATE 1930z: LU2FGL (11167km) in FF97 square was the best DX spotted on 10m JT65 this evening at 1902z.

UPDATE 2036z: With 4 different South Americans spotted on 10m JT65 (the latest was Paraguay), this is the best DX on the band for some time. I am still curious about the Es link as there was good Es in the right direction.

Rally today

Milton Keynes Amateur Radio Society 2016 Rally 

Sunday 28th August 2016

The Irish Centre, Manor Fields, Watling Street, Bletchley, MK2 2HX(Opposite Dobbies Garden Centre - see map below)
ENTRANCE FEE £3.00 - FREE PARKING
The Milton Keynes Amateur Radio Society (MKARS) annual radio rally is to be held at this superb new location, which has excellent modern facilities together with free on site parking, indoor catering, a public bar and disabled facilities.
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC FROM 10AM
The new venue is located on the edge of Fenny Stratford on Watling Street.
From M1 Junction 13 - 7 miles (approx. 16 mins)
From M1 Junction 14 - 6.4 miles (approx. 15 mins)
Follow MKARS signs from the A5 roundabout Fenny Stratford 
TALK IN ON 145.550MHZ (S22)
Indoor trade stalls, club stall, electronics components tools and accessories. Antenna and rigging hardware, computer and electronics surplus.
Disabled parking area

AFTERWARDS WHY NOT VISIT THE RSGB NATIONAL RADIO CENTRE AT NEARBY BLETCHLEY PARK

Return to 10m JT65

A short while ago, I QSYed back to 10m JT65 from 6m. There is more chance of  DX on 10m especially this afternoon and evening.

UPDATE 1246z: We had a little rain about 30 minutes ago, but the weather looks good for most of the week ahead. We have grandchildren here, which is good.

UPDATE 1304z: Since returning to 10m I have not been spotted, or spotted, anyone yet!

UPDATE 1500z:  All the 10m JT65 spots were Es at breakfast time, with nothing since, as yet.

Our garden - NOT amateur radio

Our garden is better in spring when the blossom is freshly out.

Our grass is going brown in places as we had quite a decent August after a poor start to summer. It always recovers after some rain.

The picture shows me next to one of our rowan trees in our garden with the windmill in the background. Richard G3TFX took the photo. He thinks I should string a long wire to the top of the mill! Of course the top and sails turn to face the wind. It moves several times in a week. Currently the sails are facing west. In this picture they are facing south.

5MHz

Southgate News reports that the SARL is trying to get a 100kHz slot at 5MHz. I think this is wise. A larger contiguous band would be so much more useful than the 15kHz worldwide allocation that was granted at WRC 2015. I hope CEPT countries try for a 100kHz wide 5MHz band. It could happen that quite a few countries allocate a 100kHz wide band on a secondary basis to the amateur service. In the coming quiet solar years this could become an important band.

New rig - not at the moment

I was going to invest in an IC7300, but, for the moment, I have decided not to bother. The FT817 serves me well and I am not that interested in running more power. If the price drops a lot I might think again.  The FT817 certainly serves my needs on 10m and 6m JT65 even on the middle power setting. I also have a transverter for 630m (see my design in the latest QST). I also have a stand-alone 500mW WSPR beacon for 10m.