6m QRP FT8 (Friday)

48 spots of my 2.5W 6m FT8 to the V2000 vertical omni antenna so far. Most of these look like Es (see map).

Sunspots- Friday May 31st

 Solar flux is 185 and the SSN 144. A=8 and K=2.

Rally News

 The following rally has been notified to me. As always, I recommend contacting the organiser to check details.

Sunday June 2nd - Spalding and District ARS Annual Rally, Spalding, PE12 6AF. Contact rally2024@sdars.org.uk .

6m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

Today, I am on 6m FT8 with 2.5W to the V2000 omni vertical antenna. At 1400z, 33 stations had spotted me. Most look like Es.

UPDATE 1517z:  40 spots of my QRP 6m FT8 today so far (see map).

500uW 10m WSPR (Thursday)

 No spots of my 500uW (0.5mW) beacon today.

Brunch in Cambridge - NOT amateur radio

One of the benefits of being old is free bus travel. This is us having brunch in Cambridge before shopping and sitting in King's College Chapel. Free entry to King's as a local. 😉

Google Adsense - NOT amateur radio

Perhaps they should rename this Google Nonesense? In the last hour my visitor numbers have (supposedly) doubled, which I am sure is not correct. I look regularly, although I am not sure why. Like the UK weather, I think your guess is as good!

European Es (Thursday)

As yesterday, there is intense Es in eastern Europe, which I hope moves west. Unlike yesterday, I have not seen any Japanese stations on 6m FT8. My own 2.5W FT8 is being spotted in the UK, with many on 6m hoping for some Far East DX!

See https://www.tvcomm.co.uk/g7izu/radio-propagation-maps/europe-sporadic-e/ .

Salcombe, Devon - NOT amateur radio

This photo shows where I lived as a young child. At the time we just took it for granted. Salcombe is in the distance on the left.

Much later, I realised just how lovely it was. These days it is a very expensive place to live with many second homes. House prices are ridiculously high, so much so that locals are priced out.

2200m beacon

Looking through some old photos, I spotted this one from 2012 showing my beacon for 2200m (137kHz).

As I recall it produced about 8W although the ERP was in the microwatts as my antennas were not very good.