Our garden in Brittany - NOT amateur radio

This was our host's garden in Brittany. Vast!

Sunspots - Sunday July 14th 2019

Solar flux is just 66 and the sunspot number still 0. A=6 and K=2. Pathetic again.

Dinard airport - NOT amateur radio

We flew back from Brittany yesterday from Dinard. This is a very small airport. Getting through it was easy unlike London Stansted! Despite having only cabin bags we faced a HUGE queue for passport control. At one time years ago Stansted was a small and intimate airport.

OFCOM consulting on mobile repeaters

OFCOM is consulting on mobile phone repeaters.  Please see their website.

With our Brittany hosts - NOT amateur radio

We are now back home after a great few days in Brittany with our son's French mother and father-in-law. They live at Le Vivier-sur-Mer not far from Concale and St Malo.

The photo shows us with them a few days ago in St Malo.

2m FT8

Stations spotting me on 2m 

FT8 since I got home.

As I have just returned from Brittany, I have gone on 2m FT8. My initial CQ call was widely copied as far as Germany. Now I am RX only.

Sunspots - Saturday July 13th 2019

Solar flux is 66 and the SSN 0. A=8 and K =1.

Tiny snails - NOT amateur radio

We saw these snails near the sea on the north coast of Brittany today.

Brittany yesterday - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday we went for a walk with our hosts. This is the view. The coast is pretty good.

Rallies this Sunday

The following rallies are on this Sunday:

Sunday 14 JULY : CORNISH RADIO AMATEUR CLUB RALLY
Penair School, St Clements, Truro TR1 1TN. Doors open 10.30am until 4pm. There will be trade stands and a Bring & Buy. Catering is available on site. Contact Mike Halloway on ‪01209 211 069‬, email mike.g1nrf@hotmail.com.

Sunday 14 JULY : McMICHAEL RADIO RALLY AND BOOT SALE
Reading Rugby Football Club, Sonning Lane, Sonning on Thames. RG4 6ST. Doors open 9.30am to 3.30pm, admission £3. Car boot sale pitches £10 (setup from 7:30). There will be trade stands and exhibition displays. Catering is available on site as well as a bar. More from Min, G0JMS on ‪07917 830 410‬ or by email to G0JMS@RADARC.ORG. www.mcmichaelrally.org.uk

Sunday 14 JULY : 23rd RED ROSE QRP FESTIVAL
St Joseph's Hall, Mather Lane, Leigh, WN7 2PR. Free car parking, all on one level halls. Doors open 10.30am (traders 8am). Bring and Buy, RSGB bookstall, refreshments, bar. Details from Colin M0IQY on ‪07419363131‬ or on manchesterradiorally@gmail.com.

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

Sunspots - Friday July 12th 2019

Solar flux is 67 today and the SSN 0. A=4 and K=0.

OFCOM Annual Report and Accounts

No doubt you will join me in being extatic over the OFCOM Annual Report and Accounts for last year now available on their website. I cannot contain my joy 😂!!

Sunspots - Thursday July 11th 2019

Solar flux is 67 today and the SSN 0.  A=4 and K=0.

St Malo, Brittany - NOT amateur radio

The picture shows some of the boats in the harbour this morning.

Sunspots - Wednesday July 10th 2019

Solar flux is 67 and the SSN 0. A=4 and K =0.

Brittany - NOT amateur radio

This is the house where we are staying for a few days with our son's in-laws.

70cm UKAC

A reminder that the 70cm UKAC activity contest is on now.

Sunspots - Tuesday July 9th 2019

Solar flux is 67 and the SSN 0.  A=9 and K=3.

6m FT8 today

Yet again, I am on 6m FT8 RX at the moment. There are lots of EU stations being spotted by Es. As yet, no "real DX"  being spotted here. At the moment, my small system is not copying as much (30 stations) as I did with JT65. My antenna is just the V2000 omni vertical fed with CB coax.

UPDATE 1709z: Now 101 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX today.

Micronations - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday I discovered the Savage Islands.  Today I have discovered that there is a Wiki about small nations. Some appear to have been created by cranks. Fun to read!

See https://micronations/wiki

Sunspots - Monday July 8th 2019

Solar flux is 67 and the SSN 12.  A=5 and K=3.

Savage Islands - NOT amateur radio

Until a chance finding on Google I never know these islands existed! I am not sure if these are the Dry Salvages (the English name) in T.S. Eliot's "Four Quartets". I had always thought these were off the N.E. USA.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savage_Islands

Later, I consulted Wikipedia and confirmed that T.S.Eliot was referring to a rock formation off Cape Ann, Massachusetts.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dry_Salvages

Hanging baskets - NOT amateur radio

We have 2 hanging baskets, but they need lots of water as they can easily dry out.

They look good when healthy, but you have to be prepared to water them often. Often a feed does them good too. I am no expert!

6m FT8 RX

One of the beauties of FT8 RX is I can leave the rig on and monitor what is coming through on any PC anywhere. My reception is on the FT991A with WSJT-X (free) on the PC and spots are automatically uploaded to PSKreporter maps, so I can see there is a lot of EU Es DX on 6m at the moment.

UPDATE 1452z: Quite a few Europeans spotted plus a couple of Canadian stations on 6m FT8 RX today. 173 stations spotted in total so far today.

UPDATE 1953z: At the moment 186 stations spotted today on 6m FT8 RX. It is only early July, but I am sure there is less "real DX" this year. No South Americans copied this year and no Far East. Caribbean, North America, Middle East and Europe copied OK. Just seems less this year than last. I may be wrong.

VHF NFD this weekend

Usually I just forget, but this year we have a visitor, so I cannot go on. This weekend is VHF NFD in the UK.

Years ago I took part in VHF NFD with the Pye Group from the Quantocks in Somerset and were 2nd I think. This would have been in the 1970s.  I joke that there is still a very rusty Kingshill PSU up there somewhere under the heather! We slept in tents and getting the gear up there was a logistical nightmare! On my own it would not be my idea of fun, so I have great respect for SOTA operators who activate rare peaks.

There are lots of well equipped stations with big antennas on hilltops for VHF NFD, so it is a good chance to work some new squares. I think (but check the rules) it covers the VHF and UHF bands up to 23cm.

Sunspots - Sunday July 7th 2019

Solar flux is 67 and the SSN 0. A=3 and K=1.

Cambridge punts - NOT amateur radio

Cambridge is famous for its punts. Today we had some drama as it rained and all the umbrellas went up. Someone lost his punt and dived in (did he realise how shallow it is?) and there was a crash into a wall.

Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

As we have been in Cambridge much of the day, the radio has not been turned on. Several streets in the city were closed off for the "Extinction Rebellion" demo.

I have never seen Cambridge so busy ever.  Many of the visitors were from the Far East. Are we seeing more visitors this year?

Sunspots - Saturday July 6th 2019

Solar flux is 66 and the SSN 0. A=5 and K=1. Still looks like we are bumping along the bottom.

Boris - NOT amateur radio

At the moment, the UK Conservative party members are voting to elect their new leader. It is likely to be Boris Johnson, who will also become the new (unelected) UK Prime Minister. He sounds a bit like another Donald Trump.  I fail to understand why so many want him as their leader.

Personally, I am not impressed by either candidate. Most Conservative voters are in the older age bracket. Boris is, allegedly, a teller of untruths, although this is based on the media, so I may be wrong.  Both are public school boys, now grown up. I believe Boris went to Eton and Jeremy Hunt to Charterhouse.

My view is that whoever is elected will try, and fail, to get the EU to move in an attempt to get approval in Parliament for the EU withdrawal bill A vote of no confidence is possible, followed by a General Election.

God help us. 😢

Cookies - NOT amateur radio

No, not the food variety. If you are in the EU we have new data protection measures under the GDPR banner. Now, certainly in the EU we have to click to accept website cookies. No doubt someone, somewhere thought this a good idea. What happens? Most of us just click "accept" or similar and never read the text. It totally fails. This is stupidity and bureaucracy gone stark raving mad! It sickens me and achieves nothing.

Parkin - NOT amateur radio

 

As we have a guest staying later, my wife has a good excuse to do some baking. Among the things she bakes is parkin, which is a soft, ginger based cake that is great with cheese. The photo shows the mix going in. I had to sample some last night, with some cheese! It passed the test, but I think it needs retesting. Hmmm. 😜

See https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1940684/parkin

Hong Kong - NOT amateur radio

After a very long and 2 hour delayed flight, my son and family have arrived in Hong Kong on their way to Brisbane. As they missed their flight, they have been rebooked on a flight this evening and put up in a hotel for a few hours.

They have been there before, as have I.  It used to be a real "east meets west" place with post boxes and double decker buses. I have only been through the new airport once since China took over and remember being intrigued by the W. H. Smith shop at the airport! That was 2004 I think.

6m FT8 RX

Already (0808z) I am on 6m FT8 RX. As yet, no spots. No early Es here.

UPDATE 0835z: Mind you, it does help to plug the antenna in! Antenna now connected. So far, just G3WOS (128km) spotted.

UPDATE 0917z: Now they are coming in thick and fast. So far, 28 stations spotted with best DX EA8DBM (3016km).

UPDATE 1046z: Now 61 stations spotted this morning on 6m FT8 RX. Although Japan was being worked again on 6m FT8 from the UK, again nothing spotted here. 😕

Sunspots - Friday July 5th 2019

Solar flux is 67 and the sunspot number still zero. A=5 and K=1.

Initial feedback on the FT-991A transceiver

As reported yesterday, I have a new Yaesu FT-991A radio. So far it has only been used on 6m and 2m where the power is limited to 50W. On HF at the moment I have no antennas.

Initial feedback is good. On 6m it has worked SSB DX via Es and been used on FT8. On 2m I have used it on a local FM net and FT8. So far, I have used my Signalink USB for interface between the PC and transceiver.

My main criticisms are:

• The fan is on more often than I expected.
• The waterfall display speed seems too slow.

Now the speed of the waterfall may be adjustable after I read the manual! At 5W and on RX I would have expected the fan to be off.

Overall good.

Son and family on their way to Australia - NOT amateur radio

At the moment our younger son and his family is on a plane bound for his in-laws in Australia. Currently they are over Estonia. They have a long way to go still!

UK pound versus the euro - NOT amateur radio

We have already seen quite big falls in the value of the UK pound against several major currencies. With the continued uncertainty over the UK Prime Minister and BREXIT, things are likely to get worse. Personally, I can't see any quick fix on the horizon. What is more likely is the UK pound will continue to lose money.

We are ruled by a bunch of public school toffs who haven't a clue about life for the majority. Sadly we voted them in!

It is in their (financial) interest to show non-Conservatives in a bad light. Remember, most of the written media is owned/controlled by right wingers. We are manipulated more than we realise.

Corpus clock - NOT amateur radio

One of the most photographed things in Cambridge must be the strange clock outside Corpus Christi college shown here in the photo. The picture was taken yesterday.

2m FT8

At the moment I am still using my Signalink USB with my FT991A and the big-wheel omni. As far as I can tell, the interface to the rig is the same as for the FT817 via USB.  If I can work out the drivers, the rig can be CAT controlled and audio interfaced directly from the PC over USB.

A recent 2m FT8 CQ got 17 spots including 2 from Cornwall. FT8 works! I was also copied in Germany earlier on 2m.

UPDATE 1357z: As well as working a station in N.Wales on 2m FT8, I have spotted so many stations on 2m FT8 RX with the big-wheel omni antenna. The map shows where my 2m FT8 signal has reached so far today on TX.

UPDATE 1900z: Amazing! OK I am running 50W at the moment but I have worked (i.e. 2-way)  DL6YBF (471km) and received 31 spots on 2m with just the big-wheel omni antenna. 2m behaves so differently with FT8. Stations I could never ever imagine working are possible. And this is probably flat conditions!

2m FT8 spots of my 

transmission today

UPDATE 1955z: I have never before been received in Eire from this QTH on VHF, but EI2GLB (499km), along with many others, is spotting me. 60 reports so far today on 2m FT8 TX.