Russian tax

It would seem Russia is trying to bring Ukraine to its knees. At the same time the very high cost of the war is bringing a severe strain to the Russian economy starved of western chips and semiconductors. There is a new tax coming in that tries to help Russia make its own and be less dependent on the West. This will take time.

10m 1W FT8 (Friday)

For a change I am on 10m 1W FT8 rather than WSPR. 

UPDATE  1053z: Spotted by 13 stations. F2? See map.

Sunspots - Friday October 2nd

 Solar flux is 92 and the SSN 38. A=4 and K=1.

6m 1W FT8 (Thursday)

 My gear has been on since breakfast.

UPDATE 2102z: Just 5 English stations spotted me - very disappointing.

10m 200mW WSPR ( Thursday)

 My beacon was on most of the day from breakfast.

UPDATE 2100z: Today, 3 stations spotted me with the best Israel.

Blackberry bush

For months, this bush near us, has provided us with delicious blackberries for breakfast. It is now the end of the season so I have probably picked my last this year.

630m WSPR RX last evening and overnight

 Yet again, I decided to monitor 630m WSPR RX last evening and overnight.

UPDATE 0819z:  In all, 10 stations in Western Europe were spotted. All were spotted before midnight.

Declining sunspots

It is now October 1st and we are clearly on the decline in the current sunspot cycle. HF conditions on the higher bands become more challenging, but are often better than expected. 

It is worth checking the solar cycle on your favourite site and not giving up on the higher HF bands.

See https://www.solen.info/solar/

Sunspots - Thursday October 1st

 Solar flux is 93 and the SSN 29. A=3 and K=0.

630m WSPR RX (Wednesday)

 My RX was turned on at about 1720z.  

UPDATE 1921z:   4 stations spotted. I think signals are weaker - is that because we had rain and the effective "loop in the ground" is smaller?