Sunspots - Tuesday September 13th 2022

Solar flux is 150 and the SSN 117. A=9 and K=0.

10m QRP FT8

It is now 1555z and I have been on 10m FT8 for about 5 minutes. So far, just 2 G spots on RX.

UPDATE 1638z:  Pretty poor!  Just 4 Gs spotted on RX. Nobody has spotted me on TX.

UPDATE 1657z:   Just G0FWX (160km) has spotted me.

UPDATE 1912z:  8 stations spotted on RX with the furthermost ZS1AN (9742km).

UPDATE 2118z: QRT now. 26 stations spotted including Africa, South America, North America and Caribbean stations. 

Earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground

Until our son accidentally cut it, I used this antenna extensively from VLF to 60m. On 630m (472 kHz) it consistently got reports from Norway with a measured ERP  of just 10mW using WSPR. 

My theory is that at low frequencies it acts as a loop in the ground. As you go higher in frequency the loop gets smaller, so the antenna gets worse. 

If my theory is correct, the loop will get larger as frequency is lowered making it very effective for sub-10 kHz communications. Indeed, such an antenna has been used to great effect by DK2FC and others at VLF.

For use on LF and MF it has worked well for me.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/antennas/earth-electrode-antennas .

Beginhof, Amsterdam - NOT amateur radio

This is a very secret and calming part of Amsterdam with an entrance that is quite obscure. 

Our "harvest" - NOT amateur radio

This year we grew pears, tomatoes, crab apples and beans as well as some herbs. 

Most of the tomatoes are still green. As you can see, this has not exactly been a bumper year. We had a wet winter and dry spring with a very hot summer. The pears were not bad (if a bit hard) and the crab apples just enough to half fill a small jar with crab apple jelly. Beans? Maybe enough for 1 meal. Tomatoes? If the green ones turn red I may have the same as a punnet from a supermarket. If they stay green I shall have a go at green tomato chutney. Overall, a disappointing "harvest".

10m QRP WSPR (Monday)

Again on 10m WSPR TX with 500mW QRP.  So far, only spots by local G4KPX (14km).

UPDATE 1215z:   Just G4KPX and HB9TMC (905km) spotted me.

8m FT8 QRP (Monday)

Very shortly, I shall be on 40.680 MHz FT8 TX again with my FT817ND and low wire dipole. 

There seem to be fewer monitors on 8m now that the main Es season has ended. Es still has some openings , but these are fewer now. Most openings now are random MS, F2 or aircraft reflections I suspect. 

Yesterday, EI9KP (649km) again spotted me on 8m. This is very unlikely to have been Es.

UPDATE 0950z:  On 8m FT8 now. Once the Cornish 8m beacon becomes active, I shall start monitoring it on PI4 mode.

UPDATE 1221z: No spots all day. Rig currently off cooling.

UPDATE 1415z: On TX again. EI9KP (649km) has again spotted me. I suspect EI9KP has spotted me nearly every day I have been on 8m!

Sunspots - Monday September 12th 2022

Solar flux is 152 and the SSN 113. A=9 and K=3.

2m FT8 QRP (Sunday)

So far this evening I have been spotted by 16 stations (see map) and 1 QSO with a station in the west of Wales.

Milking - NOT amateur radio

The queen dying after so long as head of state is sad. We are certainly in a new age now. Whilst in Amsterdam last week every English language channel was about the queen and her long reign. 

When we got back home  yesterday, we had non-stop queen on the BBC. Now, I know people grieve in different ways and the BBC will have prepared for how it would respond. They probably have had recordings for this eventuality prepared for years and years.

Am I alone in believing there is grieving and their is milking? 

In my view, enough is enough. I would like to hear about other things as well in the world. Perhaps some of the news is dedicated to the queen and then other news is covered?

If I was an anchor person on the BBC, I would run out of things to say!