As Es is likely to be much less frequent than in the spring and summer, I shall probably switch to 10m QRP FT8 before long, with the occasional outing on 6m FT8.
I can imagine 10m FT8 being quite good this autumn.
31 Aug 2025
Solar activity - up?
In the last few days, solar activity seems to have improved somewhat. I am not sure if this will alter the smoothed sunspot peak, but it will be worth keeping an eye on my favourite site for solar data.
QR codes
These days, they seem to be everywhere!
If my dad came back now (he died in 1987) he wouldn't have a clue. This was before the internet really and mobile phones. QR codes would be even more amazing. You wonder what our grandchildren will have when we are pushing up daisies!
It seems I have an option to create a QR code for each page. Not quite sure why anyone would want to do this!
10m QRP WSPR (Sunday)
My 500mW beacon was turned on just before breakfast.
UPDATE 0811z: Plenty of spots by 2 stations in the Canary Islands, presumably via F2.
UPDATE 2006z: Spotted by 9 stations with the furthest again being V51RS (8481km). Now QRT.
6m 5W FT8 (Sunday)
My IC-705 at 5W to the V2000 vertical omni antenna was turned on just before breakfast.
UPDATE 2004z: 79 stations have spotted me with the furthest many stations in Finland. The number spotting me in S.Europe is very small. Now QRT.
New Beofang portable
This is for a 5W dual band handheld!
30 Aug 2025
ICOM IC-5200 announced
It is still in development, so we might see it in 2026. I have no idea about the sort of price.
Burtrand Russell quote
He is supposed to have made this quote
"I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong"
Holiday 13 years ago
In 2012 we went on holiday in Slovenia 🇸🇮 which is like Switzerland 🇨🇠but far less expensive.
10m 500mW WSPR TX (Saturday)
My W5OLF beacon was turned on at 0808z.
UPDATE 1355z: 2 stations in the Canary Isles have spotted me multiple times. Single hop F2?
6m 5W FT8 (Saturday)
My gear was turned on at 0808z.
UPDATE 1939z: 39 stations have spotted me. For the last few days numbers have been declining suggesting, on average, there are fewer Es openings and/or people are leaving 6m now the Es season is drawing to a close.
Late summer cheer
A while back I planted some sunflower seeds in the ground and a trough. Most are now in flower bringing cheer to the late summer.
29 Aug 2025
10m 500mW WSPR (Friday)
My beacon was turned on mid-morning.
UPDATE 1723z: 9 stations have spotted me.
6m QRP FT8 (Friday)
My gear was turned on late morning.
UPDATE 1748z: 101 stations have spotted me including one in South Africa. Not bad for 5W on 6m to a vertical omni antenna!
What is reality?
Recently, I have bought non-alcoholic gin and tonic in cans. I could have sworn there were two left. My wife swears they were non-alcoholic beer cans. I think she must have been correct.
This begs the question "what is reality?". I guess it is what an individual experiences and for everyone this will be different.
By the way, I find non-alcoholic beers every bit as good as beers with alcohol: they have progressed enormously in the last few years.
Rain in East Anglia, UK
Every day for the last few years I have measured the rainfall with a rain gauge . It is easy to forget the rain each month. See attached table. I measure the rain each morning at breakfast time.
The table shows the rain (going left to right) for 2025 (so far), 2024 and 2023.
28 Aug 2025
10m 500mW WSPR (Thursday)
My beacon was turned on at about 0830z.
2m FT8 (Thursday)
Very briefly, I tried 2m FT8 in desperation to see why the IC705 was not working on FT8 RX.
UPDATE 0915z: Spotted by 11 stations in 4 countries in just a few minutes.
6m 5W FT8 (Thursday)
My 5W 6m FT8 was turned on at about 0830z.
For some reason (although nothing has changed in my settings that were working well yesterday) my FT8 RX is not working with the IC705. Later I shall try a complete reset of the IC-705 and see if that cures it. I have already restarted the PC.
UPDATE 0900z: So far, 26 spots of me.
UPDATE 1857z: My 6m FT8 RX was not working as the USB input was muted (no idea why). All now fixed. So far, 54 stations have spotted me.
27 Aug 2025
10m 500mW WSPR (Wednesday)
My beacon was turned on just before breakfast.
UPDATE 2055z: Spotted by 96 stations, mostly in Europe. I think this is the best day on 10m WSPR in months.
6m 5W FT8 (Wednesday)
My gear was turned on just before breakfast.
UPDATE 1349z: 255 spots of me. This looks like Es. Mostly Europe with one in Algeria and the Canary Is.. See map.
UPDATE 2051z: 482 stations have spotted me today. One of my best days.
Wednesday plans
It looks like solar conditions are promising , so I plan to do the same as yesterday with 10m QRP WSPR and 6m QRP FT8.
Faroe Islands
One of my friends on 365project lives in the Faroe Islands and posts some spectacular photos such as this one.
26 Aug 2025
What propagation mode?
When we see short-skip on 6m into Europe we often associate this with Es. But we are near the top if the solar cycle and we often see short-skip into Europe on lower frequencies like 20m, even in the quiet years.
Now, I am no expert on propagation and wonder what mode of propagation many of these spots are? I presume Es, but maybe I am wrong? 50MHz seems too high for F2.
500mW 10m WSPR (Tuesday)
My beacon has been on since 0912z.
UPDATE 1920z: 12 stations have spotted me. QRT soon.
6m 5W FT8 (Tuesday)
 |
| Stations spotting my 6m 5W FT8 today |
UPDATE 1918z: 85 stations have spotted me. Widespread across Europe and North Africa. QRT soon. It is interesting that in the last few days I have been spotted by progressively fewer stations.
WISPY RX
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This was originally designed as a WSPR receiver but it works equally well as an FT8 receiver with a suitable crystal. It is extremely simple yet works very well. It allows the main rig to be freed for something else.
Lunch
It was a lobster roll with chips and coleslaw - delicious 😉.
Time
We are aware of time flowing from the past into the future, but this may be a human illusion.
As the poet T. S. Eliot said maybe time past, time present and time future are all present now. See the poem Burnt Norton in his Four Quartets.
This ties in to some extent with quantum mechanics.
6m QRP FT8 yesterday
With 103 stations spotting me yesterday I think we can safely say that the Es season is still with us. 6m was filled with European stations .
The season will end …but not yet!!
25 Aug 2025
TX-500MP
They have produced the TX-500MP which is a handheld with built-in ATU. There is a video about it. I have no idea about price. It looks like a useful product.
Beetles
Yesterday I posted a photo of the display cabinet of butterflies at the Zoology museum in Cambridge. This is the display of beetles.
Yesterday on 6m QRP FT8
Much to my surprise I was copied widely in southern Europe on 6m FT8 with 5W. The band is still in pretty good shape. In all, 186 stations in Europe and Morocco 🇲🇦 spotted me.
24 Aug 2025
Zoology museum, Cambridge, UK
Living near Cambridge it is all too easy to take everything for granted. In the UK the main museums are free as are bus journeys for old people. So it is possible to enjoy lots without paying a penny!
Take, for example, the excellent Zoology museum we called at yesterday.
We often joke that people come across the planet to see Cambridge. We can see it every day .... for free.
10m 500mW WSPR TX (Sunday)
UPDATE 1127z: Just EA8BFK (2880km) and one station in Sweden spotting me.
6m 5W FT8 (Sunday)
UPDATE 1122z: 32 spots of me, many in Portugal and Spain.
23 Aug 2025
10m 500mW WSPR (Saturday)
My beacon has been on much of the morning.
UPDATE 2040z: 3 stations have spotted me with no sign of Es. Furthest is V51RS (8481km). QRT.
6m QRP FT8 (Saturday)
My 5W to a V2000 vertical antenna was turned on at about 0845z:
UPDATE 1409z: 26 spots of me so far. Yet again, more northern stations see to be most prominent. This puzzles me: it seems a pattern that repeats towards the end of every Es season. I would be interested to hear any theories as this is too common to be just random.
“Blossom always returns”
This is the motto of a football team. It is a reminder that whatever pain we may be in, life carries on.
Being satisfied
There is a temptation to always lust after the newest shiniest transceiver.
Steve G1KQH was looking at the ICOM Japan website where they have announced the IC7300Mk2. I think I shall resist it and try to be satisfied with what I have.
Pomegranate
The photo shows a pomegranate growing at nearby Anglesey Abbey. I have not seen one growing in the UK before.
No second peak
It looks like we’re on the downward slope of the solar cycle and there’s little chance of a second peak which sometimes happens. Never mind.
22 Aug 2025
10m 500mW WSPR TX (Friday)
My beacon was turned on late morning.
UPDATE 1130z: No spots of me. I get the impression there are fewer WSPR users and more FT8 users.
UPDATE 1150z: Just 3 spots by V51RS (8481km). No Es.
UPDATE 1844z: 9 stations have spotted me.
6m 5W FT8 (Friday)
My gear (IC-705 and the V2000 vertical omni was turned on late morning after we had been for a walk.
Our local church
The photo shows the inside of our local church. It was probably designed by the same man responsible for King’s College Chapel in Cambridge. Most dates from the 1400s but some parts are centuries older.
21 Aug 2025
Good year for fruit in the UK
For many weeks I have picked blackberrries for breakfast and this pear tree in our village is heavily laden.
10m 500mW WSPR (Thursday)
Just a few spots from a station in Austria.
UPDATE 1400z: 3 stations spotting me with the furthest V51RS (8481km) probably by F2.
6m QRP FT8 (Thursday)
With just 27 stations spotting my 5W QRP FT8 today, I think we have come to the end of the main Es season in Europe. Many of my spots were from the UK and I cannot say the type of propagation on the few Europeans that spotted me. It is possible even these were aircraft reflections.
UPDATE 1404z: Spotted by just 30 stations.
20 Aug 2025
End of Es season?
Today was very quiet here on 10m WSPR and 6m FT8 with very few Europeans spotting me.
The impression is we are coming to the end of the Es "season". There may still be good days but these will become less often and less widespread. Es is always fun whilst it lasts.
Gmail issues?
Both my wife and I are well within our space allocations of 100G for Google.
These last few days my wife has had issues with sub-mailboxes of Gmail either appearing very briefly or having nothing in them.
Some years ago I have a similar issue. In my case these sub-folders came back quite quickly. It is the same on 3 PCs so is definitely NOT a local problem at our end.
I am wondering if others have ever experienced this?
It is a bit worrying when these mail folders contain some vital information that cannot be seen.
19 Aug 2025
10m 500mW WSPR (Tuesday)
My beacon was turned on late this morning. So far just spotted by one station in Switzerland.
UPDATE 1353z: As we get later in the summer any Es gets more patchy and less extensive. Yesterday was good, whereas today I have had only one spot that might have been Es. V51RS (8481km) often spots me. I guess this is F2/TEP.
10m 500mW WSPR yesterday
In all, 69 stations spotted me yesterday. Most look like Es. This was one of my best days on 10m Es.
6m QRP FT8 yesterday
My 5W 6m FT8 to the V2000 vertical omni antenna was heard all over Europe and in North and South America. In all, 566 stations spotted me.
18 Aug 2025
AI and jobs
It seems we are facing a new industrial revolution around the world. Many of the tasks done by humans can be done faster and better by machines running AI. Jobs we traditionally thought only humans could do are being replaced.
This is a two-edged sword. Boring repetitive work will go. Also, many skilled jobs will go.
The good side is many people can be employed more usefully. The bad side is many traditional jobs will go and bad actors could use AI for malicious means.
In my view, these things are here to stay and we have to adapt.
The safest jobs will be those that cannot be done by machines i.e. those that need real human interaction.
Many of the jobs that seemed "good" when I was young may not be the jobs to look for in the future.
Longwave broadcasting ending?
It would appear than in the UK Radio 4 longwave on 198kHz is closing September 2026. Many broadcasters have already stopped on LW and fewer radios now include LW broadcasting.
6m QRP FT8 (Monday)
My 5W FT8 to the V2000 vertical omni was turned on at about 0830z.
UPDATE 1307z: 304 stations have spotted me including 2 in Newfoundland. Es? See map.
UPDATE 1700z: Spotted by 5 stations in Newfoundland. Spotted by 526 stations in all. Most, I think, are Es.
Pipit QRP CW transceiver
Classic car day
Yesterday was the Classic Car Day at our local museum. It is always hugely popular. As usual, there were plenty of people, cars and motorcycles.
17 Aug 2025
Another old QSL card
I suppose with LOTW, eQSL and similar they are becoming rarer. Certainly it is many years since I sent one.
HackRF One and HackRF Pro
They work on RX and TX from VLF to 6GHz, making them ideal for experiments, especially with an external RF amp.
Output power is in the low milliwatt range and I expect a low pass filter would need to be added for "on air" use e.g. as a beacon.
I see MLS in the UK supplies them.
The Faroe Islands
One of my friends on 365project lives in the Faroe Is. He posts some amazing photos.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faroe_Islands
6m QRP FT8 (Sunday)
UPDATE 1925z: 153 stations have spotted me. See map to see where I was spotted today. QRT soon.
10m 500mW WSPR (Sunday)
My beacon has been on since about 0856z.
UPDATE 1929z: 13 stations have spotted me. One looks like F2 and the others probably Es. QRT soon.
Crab apples
16 Aug 2025
6m 5W FT8 (Saturday)
 |
| Stations spotting me on 5W 6m FT8 this evening |
UPDATE 2107z: 116 stations have spotted me. Plenty of Es.. Most of my activity is now on FT8 or WSPR. I blame it on my poor voice, but generally there is a move away from other modes on HF and VHF/UHF. In the end I suspect we are moving into a future in which amateur radio may not exist or be very different. QRT soon.
Wimo video about Yaesu's FTX-1 Field
Wimo has a video on YouTube about the FTX-1 Field. They did this before the radio arrived in Europe. It is quite a decent overview of the product.
It is quite a respectable radio but far too expensive in the UK and, I presume, mainland Europe. It comes without GPS and Bluetooth. If it was £999 or less I might have considered it, but at this utterly stupid price I am afraid, like many, I shall give it a miss.
For a long time I have said Yaesu has lost its way. They make some good products, many of which I have owned, but for some time they have appeared to have been drifting. I have serious concerns about their future in this market. I hope I am very wrong and the FTX-1 drops in price a long way!
Putin and Trump
These two leaders met in Alaska yesterday. They failed to reach an agreement on peace in Ukraine.
I gather the Ukrainian leader is travelling to Washington for talks with President Trump on Monday. I hope the president treats him better than the last time he went to Washington which won President Trump no friends around the world. It was utterly disgraceful.
We all want peace in Ukraine. I hope a settlement can be reached that is fair to everyone so all think they have won.
In my mind I think something like Germany after WW2 might work: clearly Russia has influence in the east of Ukraine and in Crimea. Maybe (for now) there is Western Ukraine and Eastern Ukraine. In 30 years time things could be very different as in Germany.
Whatever the final outcome Ukraine MUST be involved.
Outside Anfield, Liverpool, UK
Anfield is where UK league champions Liverpool FC play their home football matches. They recently lost a key player in a road accident. Judging by the flowers outside the ground he clearly meant a great deal.
10m 1W FT8 today (Saturday)
My 1W FT8 has been on since just after breakfast.
UPDATE 1747z: 73 stations have spotted me on 6 continents. 1W FT8 seems quite enough.
10m 1W FT8 yesterday
 |
| Stations spotted here on 10m FT8 |
Having been away for a few days, I went on 10m QRP FT8 yesterday when I got back. There was no Es in evidence yesterday. On 1W QRP my furthest was Israel although several South American stations were copied on RX . See map.
15 Aug 2025
14 Aug 2025
Old QSL cards
Looking through some old photos I chanced on 79 old USA QSL cards. I must have downloaded these years ago. I can’t remember where they were from. This one dates from 1934 .
Unless I missed it, I can’t see the band? 🤔
Football mad?
Radio changing
Already some countries have switched off Band II FM radio totally and there are far fewer shortwave stations with English language broadcasts.
Many people do not receive realtime broadcasts preferring to select what they want to receive when they want from services such as iPlayer, Amazon Prime or Netflix. Much of what they want is via the internet rather than “over the air“.
What is clear is that things are changing.
Sunrise over Iraq
My grandson took this shot out of an airplane window of the sunrise somewhere over Turkey or Iraq.
13 Aug 2025
Echolink
I am not a great fan of EchoLink but chanced upon GB3HN-R which seems to link many repeaters (?) connected by Hublink. Every time I have connected it has been busy.
Paddy’s wigwam
This is the name given to the Roman Catholic cathedral in Liverpool. From the outside it is a fairly boring round concrete building (hence the name) but inside the light and colour are amazing.
12 Aug 2025
Perseid meteor shower
This peaks tonight I think. Often meteor showers are linked to good VHF propagation due to their ionised trails . Often signals are brief but strong.
Liverpool Lime Street railway station
Most years we spend a few days with our best man (1971!!) who lives near Liverpool. The photo is Liverpool Lime Street station . I
