Famous Five books (for adults) - NOT amateur radio

In several places recently I have come across "Famous Five" books designed for adults. Depending where you buy these, the prices are from about £2.99 to £8.99. They are cheapest on Amazon. As a child, I enjoyed the Enid Blyton "Famous Five" books. The adult books have really made me laugh. I might buy some.

See https://www.amazon.co.uk/Five-Brexit-Island-Blyton-Grown/dp/178648384X/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid

So called "facts" - NOT amateur radio

Recently I have seen adverts on Facebook about famous people who are reported to have died. All these turn out to be untrue. Apparently it is called "clickbait" designed to make you click the link, no doubt to then try to download something nasty to your computer. I have "shared" news items in all good faith only to find out later that they are not factually correct. In this age of "post-truth" news, one has to be very careful. Do not take things at face value!

See http://www.snopes.com/category/facts/

Back on 10m JT65

After quite a decent outing on 2m WSPR last night and overnight, I returned to 10m JT65 at 0817z. No spots as yet on 10m JT65, but things have been very quiet of late.

My old work colleague Ted G4NUA erected a 20m dipole a few weeks back (to replace a half sized G5RV) and seems to be going "great guns" on 20m JT65. I just looked at his log for the last day and he is being spotted all over the place. Since erecting his 20m dipole, the difference is remarkable. I have told him that he will be able to work the world now with QRP.

UPDATE 1345z: G0OYQ (177km) has been spotted on 10m JT65.

Sunspots and 10m - Friday January 27th 2017

Solar flux is 82 today and the sunspot number has fallen to 31. A=13 and K=4.

Return to 2m WSPR

I have returned to 2m WSPR from 10m JT65. 10m JT65 was disappointing again today. I have tuned the FT817 to 144.488980 which should put the rig on 144.489MHz USB when stabilised. This could take some while though!

UPDATE 2038z:  2E0DWP (203km) just spotted. G8LDJ (112km) spotted 7 times so far. Nobody has yet spotted me on 2m WSPR.

UPDATE 2100z: G6AVK (78km) and G8TTI (186km) have now spotted me on 2m WSPR.

UPDATE 2246z: G8OFA (189km) has now spotted me on 2m WSPR. I'll stay on 2m WSPR overnight. Despite 2m WSPR not being recommended, I seem to be managing pretty well with 2W and my big-wheel.

Amaryllis growing - NOT amateur radio

Our amaryllis plant is growing at a rate of about 1cm a day. Although not in flower yet, it soon will be. We planted this a few weeks ago.

Sunspots and 10m - Thursday January 26th 2017

Solar flux is 85 today (not bad) and sunspot number 46.  A=6 and K=2.

10m JT65

Slightly earlier than usual I have QSYed to 10m JT65. My XYL had to go out at 0900z, so I did the QSY at around 0740z. As yet, no 10m spots, although it is very early on 10m. I have not yet checked solar conditions, although a lot depends people being active on 10m. Of late, solar conditions have been quite reasonable, but activity levels dire.

UPDATE 1108z: Yet again, G4CJC (73km) has been spotted on 10m JT65. So far, this is the only spot on 10m JT65.

2m WSPR frequency stability

Most users (including me!) have real issues with accurately getting to, and staying on, frequency with 2m WSPR. The WSPR slot is just 200Hz wide and the short-term and long-term rig drift can be a real problem. With WSJT-X v1.7 one can see most stations drifting wildly.

Last night I was greatly helped by David G0LRD who uses a GPS stabilised frequency reference, so he knows his frequency very accurately. He is also very strong with me, so I could see his signal clearly. All I had to do was net my rig so I was reporting to WSPRnet his correct frequency on RX. I did this late last night. My rig had to be set 20Hz low (144.488980MHz) to get G0LRD as close as possible. Of course, during the night I drifted off again, but in the short-term I knew I was on the correct window in the 2m band.

Longer term, the answer is a more accurate, and stable, frequency reference. Ideally this would be a GPS locked source. An accurate TCXO would be an affordable second best.

I was very grateful to G0LRD last night.  Incidentally, David put up my 2m antenna some time ago. Kindness itself - thank you David!

I've now QSYed to 10m JT65 for the day.

Return to 2m WSPR

As 10m JT65 proved dire today,  have returned to 2m WSPR for a second evening (144.489MHz USB dial, 2W) using the big-wheel horizontal omni antenna.

Early evening 2m WSPR spots tonight