10m 5W FT8 (Wednesday)

After a very brief period on TX just before breakfast when two English stations spotted me, I have been RX only.

UPDATE 1340z: 4 stations spotted here. I still get the impression that conditions are not good.

UPDATE 1502z: 6 stations spotted here on RX including South Africa and Reunion.

UPDATE  2125z: 21 stations spotted here today. Now QRT. See map of stations received here.

Archetypal Cambridge

 

Cambridge is famous for its colleges, River Cam and punting.   

Just out of the photo is the Wren library. In the back is St John's college. 

The tower is St.John's college chapel.

This photo has it all.

Sunspots - Wednesday April 15th

 Solar flux is 101 and the SSN 64. A=4 and K=0.

What's next for ICOM?

After the release of the IC7300MkII people are wondering what is next for ICOM. The IC-705 is due for an upgrade.

One "easy win" would be a repackage of the IC-705 as a handheld. This could just require new mechanics, but a nice upgrade would be to add 4m and delete the lower HF bands and add an internal auto ATU.

Oscar 100 and DATV

Activity is surprisingly low on the narrowband transponder of this geosynchronous satellite. There is (at least) one DATV net via the satellite, transforming amateur TV.

There are some very clever people around!

President Trump and the pope.

 Whatever your political views, the lambasting of the pope by President Trump was ill judged at best in my view. As the leader of the western world I would have expected better.

The  AI cartoon on Truth Social (was it Jesus or the Red Cross?) was in very bad taste in my view. I am not quite sure what message this was intended to portray?

10m 200mW WSPR (Tuesday)

At about 0805z I went across to 10m WSPR TX with my beacon.

UPDATE 1600z:  No spots all day. 

10m 5W FT8 (Tuesday)

My gear was turned on just before 0600z.

UPDATE 0746z: 1 English station spotted here and I have been spotted by 6 stations. Now RX only. I definitely think there are fewer people now on 10m FT8.

Sunspots - Tuesday April 14th

 Solar flux is 99 and the SSN 58. A=3 and K=2.

New reserve currency?

For years the US dollar has been the reserve currency of the world. Oil prices are currently in US dollars.  

The current US government seems to want a more isolationist stance on the world stage. 

In my view we need a new reserve currency in the world and oil priced in something other than the US dollar.  I have no idea what this should be. Any change might take years. 

Sadly. the current US government seems hell bent on ruining the USA. In the next 50 years I can see China becoming a major power and the USA becoming far less important.