Sunspots - Saturday August 23rd

 Solar flux is 136 and the SSN 51. A=8 and K=2.

10m 500mW WSPR TX (Friday)

My beacon was turned on late morning.

UPDATE 1130z:   No spots of me. I get the impression there are fewer WSPR users and more FT8 users.

UPDATE 1150z:  Just 3 spots by V51RS (8481km). No Es. 

UPDATE 1844z: 9 stations have spotted me.

6m 5W FT8 (Friday)

 My gear (IC-705 and the V2000 vertical omni was turned on late morning after we had been for a walk. 

UPDATE 1127z:   16 stations have spotted me. A very non-scientific observation is that stations in Scandinavia are more common late in the Es season. They are not alone with others elsewhere in Europe if the band is open, but I have observed this now quite often. I wonder if some other mechanism is in play?

UPDATE 1855z:  36 stations have spotted me today.

Our local church

 

The photo shows the inside of our local church. It was probably designed by the same man responsible for King’s College Chapel in Cambridge. Most dates from the 1400s but some parts are centuries older. 

Sunspots - Friday August 22nd

 Solar flux is 121 and the SSN 76. A=7 and K=3.

Good year for fruit in the UK

This has been a good year for fruit. 

For many weeks I have picked blackberrries for breakfast and this pear tree in our village is heavily laden.

10m 500mW WSPR (Thursday)

Just a few spots from a station in Austria.

UPDATE 1400z: 3 stations spotting me with the furthest V51RS (8481km) probably by F2.

6m QRP FT8 (Thursday)

With just 27 stations spotting my 5W QRP FT8 today, I think we have come to the end of the main Es season in Europe. Many of my spots were from the UK and I cannot say the type of propagation on the few Europeans that spotted me. It is possible even these were aircraft reflections.

UPDATE 1404z: Spotted by just 30 stations.

How do they do it?

Steve G1KQH has told me of the latest Banggood portable .  2 (yes 2!!) for just over £23 . 😉

Sunspots - Thursday August 21st

 Solar flux is 120 and the SSN 59. A=13 and K=2.