18 Jul 2022

10m QRP WSPR TX (Monday)

So far, just one station in Denmark spotting my 500mW QRP  WSPR beacon. There are good days and bad days of Es. Up to now, today has been a bad day.

UPDATE 1243z: 5 unique stations have spotted me today with the furthermost EA8BFK (2880km).

8m experiment (Monday)

I get the feeling that the 8m experiment is losing interest. There are still some monitors, but the Es season is coming to an end. There are still openings, but these seem less frequent. I have been on 40.680 MHz USB dial QRP FT8, but sadly no spots on TX or RX.

UPDATE 1514z: Still no spots today. I am beginning to think I can learn little more until a lot more stations are active.



Sunspots - Monday July 18th 2022

Solar flux is 166 and the SSN 166. A=6 and K=1.

17 Jul 2022

Anglesey Abbey bridge - NOT amateur radio


This bridge is over the mill leat at nearby Anglesey Abbey, UK. Every year, they remove the duckweed that forms on the leat during the summer.

Es bad day?

 It is still quite early, but I get the impression that Es will be infrequent today on 10m and 8m. Of course, things can rapidly change! 

UK political cartoon - NOT amateur radio


I think this first appeared in inews.co.uk. It made me chuckle. The candidates for the Conservative party leadership election and the UK Prime Minister job do not exactly fill me with excitement. We lack leaders of substance at the moment. 

90MHz or 90 MHz??

After nearly 40 years as a professional RF engineer you would think that I should know!! 

Should there be a space after the number before the kHz, MHz or GHz or not? Can either be used? I should try to use the correct format.

One thing is clear. Most engineers don't care! 

Sub 10 kHz amateur radio


This photo was a Facebook memory from 2011 and shows my earth-mode signal at 6km away. 

10m QRP WSPR TX

The 500mW W5OLF WSPR beacon was turned on at 0601z. 

UPDATE 1500z:  There seems less Es today. Is that why I am seeing FR1GZ (9724km)?

8m experiment (Sunday)

The FT8 QRP gear was turned on at 0601z on 40.680 MHz USB dial. 

UPDATE 1501z:  No spots all day on 8m FT8 here.  On again at 1530z.

UPDATE 1710z:  No 8m spots here all day. QRT soon.