Sunspots - Friday June 4th 2021

Solar flux is 76 and the SSN 28.  A=6 and K=0.

Oakfield, Swindon - NOT amateur radio

This is trumpeted by the Nationwide Building Society as a development that is "off grid" using good insulation, heat pumps and no gas. As much as I tried, I could not see prices. Lots of stuff on how wonderful it was, but no prices! If there, the prices must be well hidden.

I am all in favour of sustainable houses, but please make the prices very clear.

See https://oakfieldswindon.co.uk/?et_cid=25726297&et_rid=4593245806 .

Reach walk - NOT amateur radio

When the weather is dry we like to walk at nearby Reach village. This is a sleepy village with some good rural views. This was seen on the walk. 

10m FT8 RX with the tiny indoor loop antenna and the 10FT8R RX (Thursday)

Since breakfast I have been on 10m FT8 RX with the 10FT8R RX and the tiny indoor loop antenna. It is now 0958z and, so far, 21 stations have been spotted on RX. 

UPDATE 1215z:  101 stations spotted so far. See map.

UPDATE 1636z:  209 stations spotted today.

UPDATE 2005z:  317 stations spotted  today with the 4 transistor homebrew direct conversion RX.

Sunspots - Thursday June 3rd 2021

 Solar flux is 76 and the SSN 30. A=5 and K=2.

Round church towers - NOT amateur radio

There are probably more churches with round towers in East Anglia than anywhere. The one shown in the photo is just a few miles away. They are very old.

This one is at Snailwell, near Newmarket. There are far more in the county of Norfolk alone.

Solar update

My favourite website for solar data has been updated. It would appear cycle 25 looks very similar to the last one. I predict we'll see regular F2 openings to the  USA this autumn.

See https://www.solen.info/solar/ .

Growing fast

The photo shows our 2 grandsons. They are now 13 and 12. 

Frightening to think the one on the left could soon be learning to drive!

Politicians and saying "yes" or "no" - NOT amateur radio

On UK breakfast TV they we interviewing Gavin Williamson, who is the UK Education Secretary. Instead of just answering a simple "yes" or "no" to a direct question, he insisted on giving a long and evasive answer that did not answer the question. You get the impression that most politicians are trained to do this. They all appear so stupid.

What is it about politicians? They seem incapable of answering direct questions or ever admitting to making mistakes! Maybe one day they will surprise us all by being totally frank and honest and actually answering questions!  

Oh, there goes another flying pig....

10m FT8 RX (Wednesday)

It is now 0820z. I have been on 10m FT8 RX with the tiny indoor loop and the homemade 10FT8R direct conversion RX for about 5 minutes. So far today, 3 stations spotted on RX.

UPDATE 0944z:  28 stations spotted so far on 10m FT8 RX. 

UPDATE 1344z:  43 stations spotted so far on 10m FT8 RX. See map. All Es.

UPDATE 2019z:  61 stations spotted today.