On 2m FT8 again

A few moments ago, I went on 2m FT8 with my usual 10W to the big-wheel omni. My technique is to sit on one frequency calling CQ and see who responds. A quick look on PSKreporter maps shows who is spotting me.

At the moment  (0750z) I have been spotted by 4 stations in 2 countries, but the power was only 6W. On 2m FT8 RX no-one yet spotted. Activity seems low.

UPDATE 0830z:  18 spots of me so far today. Best DX so far are spots by a couple of stations on the Lizard in Cornwall.   Just 1 spot so far on 2m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1112z: 26 spots in 5 countries so far of my 10W to the big-wheel omni including GI and GD (again), Cornwall and GW4VXE (367km) in west Wales.

UPDATE 1235z:  29 spots of my 2m FT8 10W today so far.

UPDATE 1530z:  After a brief period on RX after a QSO, I am back on TX again. 34 stations have spotted me so far today.

UPDATE 2030z: 43 stations have spotted my 2m FT8 10W in the last day. Now QRT.

Amateur radio social distancing humour

We live in strange times. One radio amateur has added a dash of humour!

See http://qso365.co.uk/2020/03/social-distancing/

Oscar 100 activity

Every few weeks I give an update on the activity level on the narrowband transponder of this geosynchronous satellite. At the moment, it would appear that activity levels are broadly similar to a few weeks ago.

This is just my impression and not very scientific!

See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/

Picnic time - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows one of my granddaughters out with her dad on a cycle ride.

Here they are having a picnic stop a few days ago. Her dad is taking the photo. I think this is the River Lee.

Sunspots - Monday March 30th 2020

Solar flux is 68 and the SSN 0. A=7 and K=2.

Life goes on - NOT amateur radio

On our walk earlier we saw several buttercups in flower.

Walks - NOT amateur radio

Nearly every day in these strange days we try to do a walk. We have probably walked further than normal. Today we went on a walk of about 2 miles and saw very few people. We chose routes that avoided seeing many people.

10m WSPR TX

With my W5OLF 10m WSPR TX beacon and my tiny indoor loop, I am on 10m WSPR TX (500mW).  As yet, no spots received, although I am not too surprised. At least I can put out a signal on 10m.

It should be quite effective in the Es season, although this is a bit early. I am not sure how many people are still on 10m WSPR. When I tried WSPR on 80m I was quite surprised by the level of WSPR activity.

UPDATE 1503z:  Still no spots yet on 10m WSPR  TX .

UPDATE 1905z: Now QRT on 10m WSPR TX.  Still no spots all day.

2m FT8

Once again, I am on 2m FT8 (10W and the big-wheel omni). So far today (1145z) 20 stations in 3 countries have spotted me. Best is a spot again by GI6ATZ (479km). I am convinced this is some sort of scatter.

UPDATE 1225z:  22 spots of my 10W so far today.

UPDATE 1432z: Now spotted by 28 stations in 5 countries today.

Stations spotting me
on 2m FT8 today

UPDATE 2118z: 34 stations in 5 countries have spotted me today so far.

BBC weather forecasts - NOT amateur radio

From time to time, I have a moan about the BBC weather forecast. This morning,the BBC weather suggested a low chance of rain and light cloud and sun so we were going to do our health walk practising "social distancing". What did we get? Dark cloud, snow and rain! So we are still indoors.

As they say in the adverts, "if you want to know the weather in your area check the BBC weather app". Whatever the app says, probably the opposite applies!