10m WSPR TX

Since early this morning I have been on 10m WSPR TX again (500mW, 100% TX, randomised frequencies).

UPDATE 1232z: So far, 20 different stations spotting me from all over Europe and North Africa. Best DX so far today on 10m WSPR is a spot by EA8BFK (2880km) in the Canary Isles.

UPDATE 1812z: Now 36 different stations spotting my little 500mW 10m WSPR beacon today.

6m FT8

There is a lot of Es evident on 6m FT8 today. After a very brief TX session (4 G spots at 2.5W) lots of EUs spotted. So far (1111z) well over 120 different stations spotted in 26 countries. Amazing Es. Best DX A92AA (5069km) in Bahrain.

UPDATE 1645z: Best 6m FT8 RX DX is now WP4G (6803km) in Puerto Rico at 1528z. This is my first spotting of 6m FT8 from the Americas. Es today has been superb on 6m and 10m.

UPDATE 1859z: My first South American on 6m FT8 RX! YV5LI (7559km) in Brazil is now the best DX on 6m this season.

UPDATE 2120z: Haiti and The Dominican Republic now spotted. But will I spot the USA on 6m this season?

UPDATE 2008z: Best DX today on 6m FT8 RX is PV8DX (7832km).

Sunspots - Sunday June 3rd 2018

Solar flux is 74 today and the sunspot number 20. A=17 and K=3.

Battery Technology

Since I retired 10 years ago, I have rather lost touch with advances in battery technology.

There is no doubt that if electric cars are to really take off, then ranges have to be increase significantly (300 miles on a single charge), batteries have to get much cheaper, materials have to be commonplace and charge times have to be fast. I have not heard any real news to confirm these are progressing.

There is no doubt that a lot of research must be going on in this area for PCs, mobile phones and electric cars.

6m FT8 RX

Although there was Es quite late yesterday, nothing spotted yet on 6m FT8 today. A brief TX period (2.5W) resulted in spots from 2 local Gs. Strange that nothing received today on 6m FT8 so far, not even Gs.

UPDATE 0912z: One spot so far of IZ7TLV (1660km).

UPDATE 1435z: Apparently in the last 24 hours I have spotted stations in 43 countries on 6m FT8. Today so far, 58 stations in 18 countries.

Sunspots - Saturday June 2nd 2018

Solar flux is 74 today and the sunspot number is 22. A=26 and K=4.

Trump-Kim summit back on - NOT amateur radio

"Mr Trump said it was "a very interesting letter and at some point it may be appropriate" to share it. He later said he had not yet read it."

This was on the BBC website. I assume it is correct. It looks like the USA - North Korea summit on June 12th in Singapore is back on again.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44339003

MLS weekend deals

Yet again, MLS has some deals for the weekend.

See https://www.hamradio.co.uk/

2 years to next minimum

Recent relatively high sunspot numbers may lead hopeful souls to think cycle 24 has ended and we are starting cycle 25. Sorry to be the bringer of bad news, but it looks like we have another 2 years until the next minimum according to http://www.solen.info/solar/. It looks like the recent improvement is temporary.  No, I think 2019 and 2020 will pass before we see any real signs of things getting better. All the forecasts suggest cycle 25 will be quite poor.

See http://www.solen.info/solar/images/comparison_recent_cycles.png .

Visa hiccups - NOT amateur radio

They tell us that Visa payments failed throughout Europe today because of "network issues". Well, I hope this is true and not an elaborate hacking attempt. There are certain countries that would like to cause chaos by disrupting computer networks by cyber terrorism.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44335804