£11 for a dual band hand held?

This came from Steve G1KQH:

A Dual band HT .... wait for it £11.00!!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BAOFENG-2014-UV-5RA-UV-5R-Dual-Band-136-174-400-480-MHz-FM-Ham-Two-way-Radio-/262743557532?hash=item3d2cbc859c:g:LWYAAOSwj85YPwGe

This includes free postage from China! Just how do they do it?

South Devon - NOT amateur radio

Many years ago I came from, and was brought up in, South Devon. The picture shows where our family lived for hundreds of years. The earliest record I have is 1428, although I am sure we've ancestors in this part of the world going back thousands of years. Very humbling.

WRC 2019

The next WRC is in 2019. I understand the IARU is trying to get a harmonised 6m band 50-54MHz in all parts of the world.

These are the things I'd like to see:

• a 500kHz wide 4m allocation worldwide
• a 100kHz wide allocation at 60m worldwide
• a small 8m allocation worldwide. 50-100kHz wide would do
• open sub 8.3kHz to all worldwide on a non-interference basis
• a small allocation worldwide at 73kHz.

I doubt these will happen. What would you like to see?

10m JT65

I am still using WSJT-X V1.6.  V1.7 download will have to wait, probably until next week.

About 30 minutes ago I turned on 10m JT65 again. Usually I try 630m at night, but as I was out I gave this a miss. We have visitors over the weekend, so I am unsure of activity this evening. and overnight.  On 10m JT65 I use 2W and on 630m 5mW ERP WSPR.

As yet, no 10m spots but I see Bas in Holland was spotted yesterday on 10m JT65 presumably by aircraft reflection?

UPDATE 1532z: Still no 10m JT65 spots given or received here today.

With my brother - NOT amateur radio

This photo was taken earlier this week in the delightful Suffolk village of Moulton, which has plenty of thatched cottages. It show me (RHS) with my brother (LHS) who stayed with us for a few days.

Sunspots and 10m - Friday December 9th 2016

Solar flux is 73 today and the sunspot number has fallen to 14. A=23 and K=3.

Packhorse Bridge - NOT amateur radio

On Monday, I mentioned in an earlier posting that we went out to nearby Moulton for a meal with my brother. Moulton is a small village not far from Newmarket. It has a famous, very old, packhorse bridge as it was once the main route from Cambridge to Bury St Edmunds. Packhorses went over the bridge and horses and carriages went across the ford. The bridge dates from the 13th or 14th century and is a mix of brick and stone.

Geomagnetic Storms?

Southgate News reports that a minor geomagnetic storm (G1) which may result in good auroras is likely.

10m JT65 and overnight on 630m WSPR

Overnight I was on 630m (472kHz) WSPR but nothing new. I did get copied again (many times) by DL-SWL (701km) when using the 5mW ERP, but I am spotting, and being spotted, by the same few stations. There certainly appear to be fewer on this band and mode than this time last year. I wonder if I should try beaconing in JT9-1 on MF? Any advice?

For about 20 minutes now I have been back on 10m JT65 but no spots as yet.

UPDATE 1305z:  No spots yet today on 10m JT65 here.

Sunspots and 10m - Thursday December 8th 2016

My source is around today!

Solar flux is 77 today and the sunspot number has dropped to 18. A=11 and K=3.

10m today? It should be no goos, but I am often surprised.  Keep 10m JT65 or WSPR running as you never know!