“Our” windmill in the rain - NOT amateur radio

After a decent start, Sunday was a miserable day. This is the view from our lounge window.

Sunspots - Monday January 27th

 Solar flux is 171 and the SSN 140. A=3 and K=0.

10m QRP WSPR TX (Sunday)

My stand-alone 500mW 10m WSPR beacon was turned on at about 1058z.  Just EA8BFK (2880km) spotting me.

UPDATE 1320z:  12 stations have spotted me. See table.

UPDATE 1855z:  22 stations spotted me today. Now QRT.

8m QRP FT8 TX (Sunday)

My QMX+ with about 2W to the low dipole was turned on at about 1058z this morning.

UPDATE 1857z:  Just one spot of me by EA7KBX (1661km). Now QRT.

Wicken Fen collage - NOT amateur radio

 

My wife made this collage of our walk yesterday. We are expecting rain later!

Too easy?

As mentioned in the earlier post, I am on 10m QRP FT8 at the moment. At the peak of the solar cycle it is all too easy! 

At solar minimum it will be very different as many will desert the band. In my view 10m would be good for DX at solar minimum far more often than we would have thought. 

I really hope more stick with 10m, even 8m, FT8 for much longer so we can see. 

One useful experiment would be to TX FT8 on 15m, 12m, 10m, 8m and 6m sequentially and see how many stations spot on each band over time. Ideally this should be carried out over several years around solar minimum. An antenna that covers all these bands would be needed.

10m QRP FT8 (Sunday)

As my QMX+ was already on 10m FT8  from yesterday, I decided to try 10m QRP FT8 this morning. 

UPDATE 0936z:   My 3W to the end-fed had been spotted by 19 stations. On RX the furthermost is Japan.

UPDATE 1019z:  141 stations spotted on 10m FT8 RX (see map) and 73 stations have spotted me.

Watery world - NOT amateur radio

One of our favourite walks is to Wicken Fen where we stop half way, before walking back, for a coffee and a bite to eat at the cafe.

It is a watery world. In mid-winter it can be a bit bleak but lovely on a cold winter's day with a blue sky.

Being fenland, it is very flat so we can see our village church in the distance. 

Wicken Fen wind pump - NOT amateur radio

This pump replaced a much older wind pump used to keep water levels in this nature reserve at just the right level. Wicken Fen is (I think) the oldest National Trust property in the UK.

Why are numbers down?

On Friday night our local radio club had its AGM. Some were there in person and many were on Zoom. One of the questions was why membership had dipped 33% in the last 12 months.

To me the answer is clear, although it is not one we want to hear. Amateur radio is mainly a hobby of old men. As we age fewer people want to venture out at night. Some die, go into care homes, become ill, or for some other reason amateur radio is no longer important.

At some point I took a screen shot. Most were grey haired old men! This is not a problem confined to amateur radio. My wife was in a choir for over 30 years that had to fold as most were too old. At the same meeting was a leader of sailing club. He said that there were too few young people joining. Many church congregations consist of old ladies. When they die or go into homes many churches will close as they will be unable to afford the upkeep costs.

With regards to our local radio club I suggested some time ago to hold all talks by Zoom and have a regular social meeting in a cafe or pub. This would mean no room hire costs at all saving several hundred pounds a year.

If amateur radio is to thrive we need to understand what "turns on" younger people.  What attracted us to the hobby (the magic of radio) rarely works these days.