25 Sept 2016

Staying with 10m JT65 overnight

Although I now think it unlikely I'll see any more real DX on 10m tonight, I have decided to stay on the band overnight. There is an outside chance of some more Es and I may get a few UK and near European spots by aircraft reflections. I guess it will be morning before I have any chance of F2 propagation.

UPDATE 1940z:  I have just checked synchronisation to internet time.

UPDATE 2022z:  No further spots on 10m JT65. I think this is it for the night, although I am still on 10m JT65 overnight.

Brazil (already) on 10m JT65

PY2JEA (9596km) has already been spotted on 10m JT65 from Sao Paulo in Brazil. I wonder if my QRP will reach South America on 10m JT65 today? The K index has dropped from 5 to 3.

UPDATE 1512z: Now LU2FHX  (11304km) in Argentina has been spotted on 10m JT65.

UPDATE 1516z: F4GUK (416km) was probably aircraft reflection I think.

UPDATE 1520z:  Best 10m JT65 DX today is reception of CE3GDR (11768km) in Chile. 7 South Americans spotted on 10m JT65 so far today. 9 copied in the last day. Who says "10m is dead"?

10m JT65 log this afternoon
UPDATE 1600z: There seems to be Es now on 10m JT65 with lots of Europeans being copied on 10m. I am also copying ZS6EA (9084km) in South Africa.

UPDATE 1620z: The first report of my own 10m JT65 QRP signal was from SV1JSM (2413km) a few minutes ago.

UPDATE 1624z: It is as if 10m has "woken up" and there are now stations all over the place monitoring 10m JT65. It would be really good to be copied in the USA!

UPDATE 1635z: Now another South African ZS1CF (9649km) is being copied on 10m JT65.

UPDATE1752z:  No more stations copied.  Is that it for today on 10m JT65?

Last Corfu picture - NOT amateur radio

This was a sunrise in Corfu, Greece last week. As we are now home again, this is probably the last Corfu picture that I shall post on this blog.

Sunspots and 10m - Sunday Sept 25th 2016

Solar flux is 83 today and sunspot number 47. Conditions are quite disturbed with K=5. The forecast for 10m F2 is still "poor". We are now in autumn so we may be in for better conditions if the solar activity holds up a bit longer.

6m JT65 and 10m WSPR

This morning I decided to go on 6m JT65 (2 local spots so far, no Es) and 10m WSPR (nothing yet). I shall probably QSY to 10m JT65 only later this afternoon.

UPDATE 1238z:  Still just local spots on 6m JT65 and nothing on 10m WSPR so far today. No Es and no F2 as yet.  Soon be time to QSY to 10m JT65 only. It is funny how there are usually more spots (from the UK) on 6m than 10m.

UPDATE 1242z:  Now active only on 10m JT65 (TX and RX).

24 Sept 2016

Google going backwards? - NOT amateur radio

"We recently announced that the Google Feed API would be retired. As a result, the Slideshow gadget will no longer function and we will remove it from your blog by 29 September 2016."

Funny how Google announces changes to its blog "features". See https://developers.googleblog.com/2016/06/announcing-turndown-of-google-feed-api.html . It seems that they withdraw features more often than they introduce new ones. "Turndown" means the feature is going!  Sorry, "retired" is the euphemism I should be using.

More Rallies!

Sunday 25 SEPTEMBER : CHIPPENHAM & DAR MINI-RALLY
NEW VENUE: Kington Langley Village Hall, Church Road, Kington Langley SN15 5NJ. The doors open at 10am, with disabled visitors gaining access 30 minutes earlier at 9.30am. Admission is £2.00 with under 16s free. There is on site car parking. There will be trade stands, a car boot area and refreshments will be available. The new venue is 1.5 miles south of the M4 J17. Details from Brian, G6HUI on 0772 224 2741. www.g3vre.org.uk.


Sunday 25 SEPTEMBER : BELGIUM AMATEUR RADIO & COMPUTER RALLY
Hall 'Louvexpo', 7 rue du Hocquet, La Louvire. Direct access from the motorway (50km south of Brussels). Open from 9am. to 4pm. Talk-in on local FM repeaters 145.600MHz, 438.875MHz and DSTAR 439.4375MHz. Features 4000m, trade stands from United Kingdom, Holland, Germany, France and flea market. Michel, ON7FI, +32 475 45 45 78, michel.dewyngaert@skynet.be. www.on6ll.be.

A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

Very Quiet on 10m JT65

At the moment, things are very quiet on 10m JT65 with no spots given or received at all so far. No Es and no F2. As well as this, no UK stations copied. I did a re-sync recently and everything is connected and working. Great shame. Maybe things will look up later?

UPDATE 1640z:  Plenty of monitors on 10m JT65 in South America but no spots given or received here so far.

UPDATE 1658z:   I am still awaiting 10m JT65 spots to/from the USA this autumn. As yet I have not been lucky. The solar activity levels suggest this will happen. 

UPDATE 1706z:  See http://www.solen.info/solar/ .

UPDATE 1906z: LU5CQC (11211km) in Buenos Aires, has been spotted on 10m JT65.

UPDATE 1924z: I have now spotted Brazil and Paraguay on 10m JT65, but I have not been spotted in South America.

More Corfu - NOT amateur radio

Fruit and Vegetables For Sale in Corfu Old Town
As you will have read, we enjoyed a lovely week on Corfu last week. We went with my brother-in-law and his wife and had a great hotel just outside Corfu Old Town. We ate sometimes in the town and sometimes in the hotel. It was a great spot to relax and read. Now back home.

Rally and BATC Convention

23 - 25 SEPTEMBER : WACRAL FELLOWSHIP WEEKEND
Elim Conference Centre, De Walden Road, West Malvern, Worcestershire WR14 4DG. Guest speaker on Saturday evening Don Field, G3XTT (Editor of Practical Wireless. Details from Shirley on 01924 229 630.

24 & 25 SEPTEMBER : BATC CONVENTION
RAF Museum Cosford, near Telford.

BATC is the British Amateur Television Club. If you cannot get there, then you can watch it streamed live at https://beta.batc.tv/live/cat16 .

A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

As I have said many times, if travelling any distance check details are correct.