Breakfast - NOT amateur radio

 😂

A friend recently stayed at a hotel and was overwhelmed by the size of the breakfast. 

I have fry-ups 3 times a week, but not like this!

If faced with this, I would make a good try 😋 . 

10m 6W FT8 (Tuesday)

My IC-705 at 6W was turned on just before breakfast on FT8.

UPDATE 2000z: 844 stations have spotted my 6W 10m FT8 today with the furthermost Antarctica. See map for spots.

Sunspots - Tuesday March 25th

 Solar flux is 156 and the SSN 85.  A=19 and K=3.

Quiet village lane - NOT amateur radio

 

This is a quiet lane in our village. With blossom and daffodils there are plenty of signs of spring.

Covid-19: lab leak accident? - NOT amateur radio

Five years after the whole world suffered the effects of Covid-19, there are still debates over its origins. 

Increasingly it appears this was an accidental lab-leak in China. People do not want to say this in case it offends China. In truth, we can never be sure.

UPDATE 2110z:  This really does look like an accident.  They may have been working on a bio weapon, but the virus that escaped (if indeed it did) was not the strongest that could have been created.

Yaesu FTX-1F latest news

Basically, as far as I can tell there is none, at least available to Jo Public. 

No doubt dealers have been told the selling price and any features. There is a video bemoaning the fact that "early 2025" looks more like the end of June.....or never.

Signs of spring - NOT amateur radio

 

There are definite signs of spring in our village. 

All the snowdrops have been replaced with yellow daffodils.

10m QRP FT8 (Monday)

I went on 10m QRP FT8 with my IC-705 at 6W at about 0650z.

UPDATE 1405z:  290 stations have spotted my 10m FT8 QRP. See map.

UPDATE 1413z: Just for fun I have reduced my IC-705 to 500mW FT8.  It will be interesting to see how this goes.

UPDATE  1502z: Already 37 spots of my 500mW 10m FT8 with the furthermost N4LR (7277km).

Stations spotting my
500mW 10m FT8

UPDATE 1817z: 104 stations have spotted my 10m 500mW FT8. Furthermost is HK4R (8498km). See map.

Sunspots - Monday March 24th

 Solar flux is 168 and the SSN 110. A=10 and K=3.

Intelligent life in outer space - NOT amateur radio

One of the points which I picked up from my recent University of the Third Age course in Cambridge was about the advances in AI. 

Within a few years AI is likely to exceed the intelligence of human beings. When we scan the skies for intelligent life elsewhere we may come across civilisations (e.g. via SETI) that may not be sentient. 

What is consciousness? I think it is beings that are self-aware.  Although vast computers may have vast amounts of knowledge, this is not the same as self-awareness and consciousness. 

I can imagine some planets even slightly more advanced than ours which have AI far more advanced than ours.