Nearly the shortest day already!

 It seems odd that the longest day is next weekend, then it starts to get shorter again! You would think by now I would be used to this cycle, but spring seems to get shorter every year 😞

Sunspots - Sunday June 14th

 Solar flux is 122 and the SSN 41. A=13 and K=2.

Amateur radio now?

Many years ago people came into amateur radio because it was seen as magic. 

With amateur radio you could talk to people all over the world. Politics really didn't come in to it. One day you could be talking with somebody in the USA and the next to somebody in Moscow. Bands were busy.

These days people, in the main, really see amateur radio as a way of getting DXCC on FT8. There is far less chatting.  Build your own gear? Experiment?  Never.

These days you can speak with others across the world for free with the phone in your pocket without a licence. 

I give amateur radio a limited future.

10m 200mW WSPR (Saturday)

 My gear was turned on at 1325z.

UPDATE 1433z:  3 stations have spotted me.

6m 3W FT8 (Saturday)

My gear was turn on at 1322z.

UPDATE  1541z:  30 stations have spotted me.

Iran and the USA

It looks like there may be a "memorandum of understanding" coming that may pause the war. Overall, nothing much has been achieved. I am sure that, had he had his time again, President Trump would not have gone to war.

It looks like the following have been achieved:

1. Strait of Hormuz open (it was before the war).

2. Higher fuel prices around the world.

3. No regime change in Iran.

4. Poorer approval ratings for President Trump.

5. Even worse outcomes for Republicans in the mid-term elections in November.

6. The USA even less trusted in the world.

Well done. 

Inside Russia

With the "special military operation"  in Ukraine, the Russian economy is on a war footing. There are a number of indicators suggesting the Russian economy is suffering, despite what official statistics might say.

Sunspots - Saturday June 13th

 Solar flux is 128 and the SSN 113. A=16 and K=3.

Where I come from

As a child I was brought up in the South Hams in Devon, UK.  

My father's line can be traced without break back to the mid 1500s in Hope Cove, Devon, UK. 

In the next parish I have one record from 1427! 

We have probably been hereabouts for thousands of years.

Breakthrough in chip design?

 Huawei has announced a technique that could revolutionise ICs.