630m QRP WSPR (Saturday)

My 10mW ERP 630m WSPR was turned on about 1855z this evening. So far,  2 stations have spotted me at 1905z.

Village Christmas Fair - NOT amateur radio

About this time every year there is a Village Christmas Fair with profits going to local charities. It was held today. The atmosphere was great with plenty of people and stalls.

Winter - NOT amateur radio

 This frosty cobweb outside the shack says it all!

446 MHz licence free transceivers - NOT amateur radio

 

As an ex-PMR engineer, I am amazed how they can produce a pair of these radios with chargers so inexpensively. There are plenty on Amazon for not much more than £20 a pair. Both the manufacturer and Amazon will be making profits on these too!  In other countries than the UK, there are probably similar licence free UHF bands.   

Had these been available 60 years ago I wonder if I would have got a ham licence?

8m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

 My 8m FT8 gear (2.5W and dipole) was turned on at about 1030z. So far just spotted by local G4WSZ (12km).

UPDATE 1245z:  Spotted by HI0SDR/3 (7008km).

UPDATE 1440z:  Spotted by 5 stations today, with the most in the Caribbean.

UPDATE 1528z:  No further spots. Is that it for the day?

10m 500uW WSPR tests continued (Saturday)

Yet again, I am TXing with my 10m WSPR beacon with the PA off. Even though the beacon is programmed to report 0.5W, the actual power is 0.5mW some 30dB less!!

I0UVN (1542km) reported me this morning, for the second time this week. Will there be others?

UPDATE 1320z: No further spots.

630m QRP WSPR overnight

 Only 9 stations spotted me overnight including 2 in Germany. Still on 630m QRP WSPR.

Brrr - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows our garden yesterday. It is very cold.

Interesting tree rings - NOT amateur radio

 

We saw this on our walk last week. Something looks odd with the tree rings. You may need to blow up the photo. Why are some rings white?

Sunspots - Saturday December 2nd 2023

Solar flux is 162 and the SSN 140. A=56 and K=4.