UK politics

The ruling Labour party has a huge majority. It gained power about two years ago, but it has disappointed many people. 

Many were expecting them to come in and enact radical powers which would help ordinary people. Instead they have dithered and enacted some policies at odds with Labour traditionally. The winners have been the Reform party which has a right wing agenda. As with Brexit 10 years, people have flocked to Reform,  thinking they will return the UK to as it was in the middle of the last century. They think they are listening.

Many have pinned their hopes on Andy Burnham coming back into government and becoming the new Prime Minister. He is the mayor of Manchester and is well liked.

His policies are left wing and if he was elected the bond market and UK pound might suffer.

Iran and bonds

In my view President Trump was foolhardy to go to war with Iran. The ramifications on the world are huge and dangerous. I really hope he can extricate the USA soon.

10m 3W FT8 - NOT!!

Until I can fix my PC I am unlikely to be on 10m FT8. Hopefully it is something stupid that I can fix. 

I have reinstalled WSJT-X so I know it is not that. Next thing to try is to make sure the TX audio is getting to the USB port. It will be fixed soon, but at the moment I am too tired.

10m 200mW WSPR (Friday)

My beacon is on.

UPDATE 1613z:   13 stations have spotted me today, by Es I think. 20 spots of me in the last day. 

UPDATE 2002z: 14 stations spotting me with furthest EA8BFK (2880km). QRT now. See table for those spotting me today.

Is Russia in trouble?

The Joe Blogs video today looks inside the Russian economy. It postulates that the Russian wartime economy model is running into trouble.

ICOM announcements at Hamvention

 This was a video of a live stream to the media at Hamvention.

Sunspots - Friday May 15th

 Solar flux is 106 and the SSN 60. A=5 and K=1.

10m 200mW WSPR (Thursday)

 My beacon has been on this afternoon.

UPDATE Friday 0633z:   Spotted by 11 stations in Europe probably by Es.

Rain (or lack of)

 East Anglia is usually quite a dry area of the country, but yesterday we had only the first rain ☔️ this month after a very dry April. I hope we get some more ….at night! 

FT8 issue?

 Earlier I planned to go on 10m FT8. My Windows 10 PC had other ideas. 

Last night it did a Windows update and refuses to TX! I need more disk space to upgrade to Windows 11 or recover to an earlier date. I shall try reloading WSJT-X first and see if that cures it 😢

UPDATE 0930z: Reinstalled WSJT-X. Still no TX .

Sunspots - Thursday May 14th

 Solar flux is 103 and the SSN 56. A=10 and K=2.

70cm FT8 activity contest

Stations spotting me on 70cm FT8 this evening

It never fails to amaze me how well 10W FT8 and a 144MHz big-wheel omni does on 70cm . Tonight was the 70cm FT8 activity contest. Every contest I seem to be copied in continental Europe and was spotted at considerable range within the UK. See map.

I was only on about 10 minutes.

EV batteries

CATL is the biggest battery manufacturer in the world and has announced some remarkable advances. In my view we are on the cusp of a transport revolution leaving fossil fuel vehicles left in the Stone Age. 

Wake up USA, or you will be left far, far behind.

10m 3W FT8 (Tuesday)

 So far, the thunder has missed us, so I have gone on 10m FT8.

UPDATE 1518z: Spotted by 65 stations.

Thunder?

Our weather forecast is a mix of sunshine and showers. We may get some thunder so I think that radio will "take a miss" today.

See  https://www.lightningmaps.org/#m=ses;t=3;s=0;o=0;b=;ts=0;y=50.6166;x=0.7725;z=7;d=2;dl=2;dc=0;

My son and jazz

 My son is a professional jazz pianist playing all the major London venues (Ronny Scott's, 606 club etc.) and across the country and abroad.

70cm activity contest yesterday

 Last night was the May leg of the UKAC activity contest.With my poor voice, 10W and 144MHz big-wheel omni antenna it’s hard work, so I don’t stay on long. Just 2 stations worked.

Sunspots - Wednesday May 13th

 Solar flux is 111 and the SSN 58. A=4 and K=1.

10m 200mW WSPR (Tuesday)

 The 200mW beacon was turned on at about 1900z. 

UPDATE 1948z:  Many spots of me by EA8BFK (2880km). At the peak I had about 28dB in hand!

Fiddling as Rome burns?

In the UK there is a debate about whether the Prime Minister should be replaced. To me this seems like "fiddling as Rome burns".

Within 12 months we could have rationing of some foodstuffs and fuel, and live in a world that is radically different. 

With Ukraine, Iran, Gaza, Taiwan, Sudan etc, not forgetting climate change and a widening gap between rich and poor, the world has a great deal to think about and act upon.