Lode cottages

 

We went for a walk around this village near us after lunch. It has many fine cottages. Nice to see the sun.

WhatsApp "share location"

Yesterday I was in Cambridge for much of the day and turned on WhatsApp "share location" feature. I usually use the Apple "Find my iPhone" feature.

The battery drain with the WhatsApp location feature enabled was very high. In fact I was worried that the battery (which was 100% when I left home) would be flat. I shall not use this feature again.

Iran war

Everyone knows that Iran is treated as the pariah of the Middle East and that a more "western leaning" Iran  would be more supportive of President Trump and the Israeli government.

What I do not understand are the true motives and end game in this current conflict. President Trump was allegedly voted into office partly on the grounds that the USA would stop getting involved in "forever wars". Hmmm....

If he stops the threat from missiles, drones and nuclear weapons threatening Israel will he stop and walk away?  This war could end quickly or it could go on for years. In my personal view the USA could have done far more good peacefully in the world. As it is the Middle East (possibly elsewhere) has been turned into turmoil.

10m 2.5W FT8 (Thursday)

My gear was turned on just before breakfast. After a very brief TX period I returned to RX only.

UPDATE 2015z:  1696 stations have been spotted with the best FK8HA (16470km) in New Caledonia in the Pacific. 10m is as good now as I can ever remember it.  It is soon going to go downhill. Now QRT.

Sub 10kHz amateur DX in 2011

Back in 2011 I was very involved in amateur VLF below 10kHz.  

To be successful bandwidths of tiny fractions of a Hz are needed and integration periods of hours or even days.  As would be expected stability has to be perfect with many locking their signals to GPS or similar. 

Remember, amateurs have limited power and space for antennas!

DJ8WX was a regular signal back in 2011.

Sunspots - Thursday March 5th

 Solar flux is 141 and the SSN 71. A=7 and K=0.

10m WSPR Tuesday

When I am on a VHF band, I can use 10m 200mW with my Zachtek WSPR beacon. A point in case was yesterday when I switched to 10m WSPR TX late afternoon.

UK VLF record - 2011

In 2011, I received G3XIZ (45km) which was the most distant UK amateur I copied sub-10kHz. I cannot recall the bandwidth, but it would have been very narrow.

Bury-St-Edmunds

This is a market town in East Anglia, UK with some fine old buildings. Unlike Cambridge about 40km away it feels very East Anglian with locals who have families in these part for centuries. I really like it.

10m FT8 (Wednesday)

As I was in Cambridge much of the day I was on 10m FT8 RX only . 

UPDATE 1854z: So far, 1015 stations spotted. QRT soon.