Sunspots - Sunday January 15th 2023

Solar flux is 228 and the SSN 170. A=11 and K=4.

Shetland storm - NOT amateur radio

 

This photo was posted recently by a friend on 365project. It shows a storm on the Shetland Isles.

QDX - soon

Around Christmas I ordered a QDX digital transceiver from QRP Labs. Mine covers 10m and was ordered ready built. When ordered I was told the wait was about a month. Most days I check where I am on the list.  When I started, I was way down the list. At this rate I should get mine in February.

Exhaustion - NOT amateur radio

There is world of difference (I have found out the hard way) between tiredness and exhaustion. With tiredness, you feel you need sleep to feel better. With exhaustion, you feel totally drained even though you may have had a good sleep. This may just be old age or a result of my 2013 stroke. I tend to feel exhausted now far more than I did.

If someone, e.g. with MS, tells you they feel exhausted, they are not just tired; they are EXHAUSTED.

Triffid? - NOT amateur radio

At this time of year (dull January) we get great pleasure seeing amaryllis grow from bulbs to huge plants with splendid flowers.

8m QRP FT8 (Saturday)

 I have been on 2.5W FT8 on 40.680 MHz USB dial for about an hour. No spots.

UPDATE 1427z:   Just G0HVQ (181km)  has spotted me today on 8m FT8.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Saturday)

At the moment I am on 10m WSPR with my 500mW beacon. So far today (it is now 1125z) , 4 unique stations have spotted me. There is some evidence of winter Es. 

UPDATE 1145z:  Still the same 4 stations spotting me.

Stations spotting me today

UPDATE 1529z:  16 unique stations spotting me today on 10m QRP WSPR TX  (see table).

Plans for today (Saturday)

Later this morning I expect to go on 10m WSPR QRP TX and 8m QRP FT8. This is still the mid winter Es season so there is a chance of being copied in Europe on 8m FT8 despite the low power. 

VLF earth-mode

This photo was taken in 2011 and shows where my VLF beacon could be received locally. The TX was 5W. 

Oscar 100 - worst yet?

It has never seemed this bad. The photo shows the narrowband transponder on a European weekend morning. Where is everyone? 

Stations on Oscar 100 at 1010z

UPDATE 1012z: A little better, but still very under-used.

Oscar 100 wideband transponder spectrum

UPDATE 1020z: There appears to be better use of the wideband transponder on Oscar 100. Although there is a spectrum display (see photo), I am not aware of a site with DATV streams. If so, I do not know of it.

See https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/ .

Apparently (this was news to me) there is a weekly TV net on Oscar 100 on Thursday nights at 2000z. 

See https://batc.org.uk/live/oscar100net . This link streams the results. I must check this out.