Sunflower - NOT amateur radio

This sunflower in a garden down the road (complete with bee!) just had to be photographed.

Amateur signals from the Moon?

Southgate News reports on an AMSAT and ARISS initiative to get amateur involvement in the next NASA visits to the moon. They calculate path losses will be about 30dB higher than low earth orbit stations.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2019/august/amsat-and-ariss-designing-amateur-radio-system-for-lunar-gateway.htm

6m FT8 - Es?

Stations spotted today on 

6m FT8 RX to 1147z

Just now I reconnected my 6m gear and called CQ using FT8. Although no QSOs resulted I got 8 spots with my furthermost report coming from GS8VL (753km) in the far north of Scotland. This is further than many stations in Germany, so probably Es. It does seem odd that I tend to spot more northerly stations towards the end of the Es season. Maybe the things that trigger Es occur more frequently later in the season?

Interestingly, I have so far spotted no stations on 6m FT8 RX. There is no Es (here at least) to the south. Maybe there was Es to the north, but few stations.

You may recall I just use a V2000 vertical omni antenna.

UPDATE 0817z: As there were no spots at all on 6m FT8 RX, yet there were Gs copied I began to suspect my internet connection. I have reloaded WSJT-X to see if this makes things better and reconnected the wi-fi. Still quiet here.

UPDATE 0904z: Just 2 Gs spotted so far today on 6m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 1150z: With 19 stations now spotted on 6m FT8 RX, it looks like there is Es. Best DX spotted is IZ8FDH (1657km).

Sunspots - Sunday August 2019

Solar flux is 65 and the SSN 0.  A=5 and K=1.

Flying ants - NOT amateur radio

Black garden ant (Lasius niger). The queens are 

much larger than the worker ants. 

© JvL via Flickr (licensed under CC BY 2.0)

A few years ago our bedroom was inundated with flying ants. Since then we have seen just a few in the house. On a walk around the village today we saw quite a few and there was one in the lounge a few minutes ago. This is the first time I have seen these this year.

See https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/when-why-winged-ants-swarm-nuptial-flight.html

Erotica? - NOT amateur radio

Bet you didn't know that my wife's namesake wrote erotic novels? Well, she does! I have to confess I have never read them. I think you can get them via Amazon UK too. A quick look showed 6 pages on Amazon UK of Lapthornes, mostly books by this lady. I have never met her.

A search of Lapthorn on Amazon UK shows 3 pages including books by my nephew Nicholas Lapthorn, who is a geographer.

I bet this post gets quite a few hits!

See https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1311754.Merc_and_Her_Men

What am I doing wrong?

Up to now, I had not used my FT991A on any HF band because I had no antennas. Then I remembered I had a small loop antenna that can be tuned anywhere from 40m-10m. OK, I was not expecting great results, but I was expecting to spot stations and be spotted by some. I set the power down to 10W just in case the loop antenna had a power limit. It was some years since I last used this, so could not remember.

As far as I was aware all the FT8 settings were as for 6m, but it sounded different. In the end I spotted nothing on 20m or 30m. I am convinced this is "finger trouble". At some point I will say, "Of course! That is what's wrong.". It sounds like the PC is not getting the audio from the rig, but all the settings seem correct. I am using the SignaLink interface I am currently using on 6m and 2m. Odd.

In the meantime I am back on 6m FT8. On 6m FT8 things sound normal.

Patio flowers - NOT amateur radio

The flowers on our patios and in the hanging baskets have been pretty good this year. The picture shows some of these.

Swifts - NOT amateur radio

It is now August 3rd and I have not noticed the swifts (birds). During May, June and July they are a very common summer migrant. They feed and sleep on the wing. During August most fly south. Suddenly we look up and notice they are no longer there. A few stragglers may stay a bit longer, but most will have started their long journey south. They usually return in late April or early May.

To me, their antics on the wing and their screams are part of an English summer. Safe travels and I hope to see you next summer.

See https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/swift/

6m FT8 - no early Es here, but some later

Today, I am again on 6m FT8. On 6m FT8 RX 2 G stations were spotted so far (0855z). On TX 5 stations spotted me, but all were Gs. As yet, no Es seen here.

UPDATE 1037z:  No 6m Es today? As of now, just 4 G stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX today. You get the feeling the main Es season is ending.

UPDATE 1117z: Well there is Es on 6m FT8 today, with Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Scotland on 6m FT8 RX this lunchtime.

UPDATE 1633z: 16 stations spotted today on 6m FT8 RX and my CQ was spotted by 16 stations in 4 countries with best DX a spot by EC1CT (1065km) in northern Spain.

UPDATE 1815z: Now 19 stations spotted on 6m FT8 RX today with EA8AQV (2989km) being the best DXs as the map shows. No "real DX" here today.

UPDATE 2105z: Now going QRT, so check 6m for a massive opening that I am just about to miss!  😒