Sunspots and 10m - Saturday March 25th 2017

Solar flux is 72 today. Sunspot number is 12. A=6 and K=1. 10m propagation is expected to be "poor".

North Norfolk

Yesterday we drove up to North Norfolk. We ate at "The Old Reading Room" in Kelling. This is a simple place run by real locals and serving simple, no nonsense food.

Later we went to the coast for a short walk where we saw these hardy fishermen.

QRP and QRP Club

More from Oleg:

Dear Club 72 members and friends,
members of the Club 72 invites all QRP operators to take a part in the
trial   Evening Rendez-Vous at 18 UTC on 7030 kHz +/- QRM/QRL started
today in Friday March 24.
Next  schedule  is  the same days as traditional 14060 "rendezvous" -
Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays
9 UTC on 14060 kHz
18 UTC on 7030 kHz
alternative 10116 kHz if Contests QRM
All  comments  (soapbox)  and  lists  of  worked/heard  QRP  stations
appreciated after each "rendezvous" to "mr72" e-mail, please.
Each  Sundays  I publish the Weekly QRP Rendez-Vous Report in the "72
Newsletter" (shorted) and on the Club 72 blog-page (full).
Keep your activity and enjoy QRP!

72! Oleg RV3GM / KH6OB "Mr. 72"

This is a periodic Newsletter of the Club 72. Don't reply to Newsletter address! Send any requests or news to mr72@club72.su please.

Back on 6m MSK144 RX again

At breakfast I returned to 6m MSK144 RX.  Best DX so far today is EA2ARD (1010km) in the Basque region of Spain.

UPDATE 1310z: 5 stations in 4 countries on 6m MSK144 in last 12 hours.

UPDATE 1726z: OZ2TG (878km) spotted bringing the total 6m MSK144 RX total today to 6 stations in 5 countries.

Sunspots and 10m - Friday March 24th 2017

Solar flux is 72 today. Sunspot number is 12. A=11 and K=2. 10 propagation is expected to be "poor".

First swallow (bird) seen in Devon - NOT amateur radio

A first swallow was reported in Devon yesterday. If this report is correct, this is the first seen this year. They usually start to arrive about now in Devon, but it is usually later up here in East Anglia.

See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/s/swallow/

UPDATE 1740z 26.3.17: Well apparently the first swallow in South Devon was reported a week earlier, which is very early.

QRP and QRP Club

More from Oleg:

Dear Club 72 members and friends,
I'm happy to inform about new Club 72 member -
RU6ME op. Eugene (# 96)
Who's next?

72! Oleg RV3GM / KH6OB "Mr. 72"

This is a periodic Newsletter of the Club 72. Don't reply to Newsletter address! Send any requests or news to mr72@club72.su please.

VLF (8.97kHz) TX

8.97kHz 5W TX

Before my stroke in 2013 I did a fair bit of experimentation at VLF, successfully receiving quite a few European amateurs on VLF doing radiated tests. I did some "through-the-ground" utilities assisted earth-mode tests out to 6km using just a 5W transmitter. At some point I'd like to do more.

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/vlf/8-97khz-earth-mode-transmitter

6m MSK144

This morning, I am again on 6m MSK144 RX. At the moment, the best DX is Switzerland.

UPDATE 1806z: GI4SNA (488km) brings my country total on 6m MSK144 to 17 now.

UPDATE 1834z: 7 stations in 5 countries received on 6m MSK144 RX today so far.

UKAC results

The results of the 2m and 70cm UKAC activity contests have been published and I notice I had points deducted for logging errors. These were me being careless - sometimes it is as if my brain runs at a slower rate than it once did and I fail to get everything written down. Later, I see there are missing data, but it is too late. I notice this with driving too - these days I drive slower as my reactions are not as fast.

Nonetheless, on both bands my scores were still respectable considering I use just 5W and a big-wheel omni on 2m and 5W and a 2m halo fed with lossy coax on 70cm! I enjoy these contests but I need to take more care with the logs in future. In the end, it is more about taking part than the actual scores, but I need to try harder. Getting accurate logs should be straightforward.