Museum of Liverpool - NOT amateur radio

As I mentioned yesterday, we had 4 nights with our old friend Pete on the Wirral near Liverpool. As always he was a great host and we visited several old haunts.

Liverpool has been through a regeneration since we were there and we were impressed. The people were always warm and friendly but the changes make it an even better place. Anyone off to a UK university could do a lot worse than choosing Liverpool.

My wife (and my mum in the 1930s) went to St Kaths College. This has now become Hope University. It has changed a bit since my wife was there in the 1960s, but it is lovely with great grounds and just a bus ride from the middle of this vibrant city.

In the regenerated docks area is the Museum of Liverpool which is free and one of the best museums I have ever been to. In the docks area is a Tate Gallery and don't forget the Three Graces!

OFCOM

A few days ago I got a note from OFCOM about their Communications Market Report 2016. See http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/market-data-research/market-data/communications-market-reports/cmr16/?utm_source=updates&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CMR16&utm_term=CMR%2C%202016%2C%20communications%2C%20market%2C%20report

Rallies

Sunday 7 AUGUST : 27th KING'S LYNN ARC GREAT EASTERN RADIO RALLY

Gaywood Community Centre, Gayton Road, King's Lynn, Norfolk PE30 4DZ. Talk in will be available on 145.550MHz and doors open at 9am with admission £2. Car parking is free. There will be trade stands and a Bring & Buy. There are amateur radio pitches outside as well as table inside. Onsite catering will be available. Details from Ted, G4OZG on 01553 768 701. www.klarc.org.uk


Sunday 7 AUGUST : LORN RADIO RALLY

Crianlarich Village Hall, Main Street, Crianlarich, Perthshire FK20 8QN Doors open at 10.30am and entry will be £2. Raffle tickets cost £1 and the draw will take place at 1.30pm. There will be a Bring & Buy, trade stands and local groups. Tea, coffee and light refreshments will be available. Details, by email to, lornradioclub@gmail.com

A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

As always, check the dates and status with the rally organisers to avoid disappointment if you have far to travel.

Es on 10m and 6m

I have been back on 10m WSPR and 6m JT65 since breakfast. There is Es on both bands with my 500mW being spotted in Germany and Spain. On 6m JT65 (1W ERP vertical) I have copied one Italian station so far this morning as well as being spotted by an English station.

UPDATE 1036z:  My 6m JT65 has been spotted in southern Spain and in Finland already. Things look promising.

UPDATE 2120z: A good day for 6m Es with spots from all over Europe.

Sunspots and 10m - Saturday August 6th 2016

Solar flux is 80 today. Sunspot number is 36 (K=3) and the forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".

Back on 10m WSPR and 6m JT65 tomorrow

All being well I shall be back on 10m and 6m QRP in the morning. When away, everything is switched off and PC and antennas are disconnected. Some will remember that nearby storms can cause rig damage even without a direct lightning strike.

Sunspots and 10m - Friday August 5th 2016

Solar flux is 79 today. Sunspot number is zero today (K=3). 10m F2 propagation is yet again "poor".

Back Home - NOT amateur radio

We were away for a few nights in Liverpool staying with our best man of 45 years ago. This is where I was at university a long time ago. This has meant no blog updates for a few days.

More VLF from Alaska

From Laurence KL7L. This was posted a few days ago to a Yahoo group..

Been fairly active on VLF tonight with a lot of active Chorus and noise bands up to 9KHz at times – not as noisy as this.

Local thunderstorm after noon a week or so back – I'm running a slow instance still on 8kHz if someone want to shove up a carrier or two.

http://kl7l.com/14thjuly160236z.mp3

73 Laurence KL7L

Aspire and 7m vertical wire on a dock by the lake 100m of cat5.

UPDATE 0821z: Several German stations are still testing (radiated transmissions) at 8.27kHz and 2.97kHz. DK7FC has still to be received on ULF in the UK with Paul Nicholson in Todmorden unable to see anything at all after 9 days looking in very narrow bandwidths. Paul is till trying different settings of filters.

Sunspots and 10m - Monday August 1st 2016

Solar flux is 72 today and the sunspot number 12. K=1. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor". There is still Es on 10m and 6m.

QRP and QRP Club

More from Oleg...

Dear Club 72 members and friends,

QRP  Rendez-Vous  round  table  Visitors  of the week: UR0ET, IZ5OPK, RU3NJC, HB9DAX, RV3DSA, TF/RA1M, US3EN, R2FAE, SM7ZDI, RX3DIT, US5ERQ, MM0CIN,  DF2JY,  UA1ASB, UR7VT, G3XJS, OM6TC, F8GLE, OE5EIN/p, OH5XO,UA1CEG/p,  F5IN, RV3GM, R6TQ, OH6NPV, OK2SAM/p, UY0IF, UA3AGO, ON6KZ,SM4ETE, IZ1ASM, DL/OE1WSA, UA1ATD/p, HB9WG
Operators SM7ZDI, R6TQ, HB9WG became "rendezvous" Honor Frequenters
See  full  Visitors  and  Frequenters lists on the Club 72 web page -
www.club72.su
See  full  "rendezvous" report with comments and pictures on the blog
page - http://qrp-club72.blogspot.ru/

72! Oleg RV3GM / KH6OB "Mr. 72"

Stroke Update - NOT amateur radio

Every now and again I give an update on my recovery from my stroke in 2013. There is very little change! I seem to be on a plateau now with most (all?) foods OK but I still have problems with drinks. Beer and orange are OK in small sips but I find tea (especially Lapsang Souchong) and coffee hard work. I used to love these!

All the time I feel giddy on my feet and I still tire easily after any physical or mental activity of more than 15 minutes. My emotional threshold seems lower - I worry and cry more. I have a sick feeling most of my waking time. Sleep is fine, although I sometimes muddle dreams with reality: for example I was convinced my younger son had decided to break a journey to the Lake District here next weekend. He is coming but they have no plans to visit the Lake District. I must have dreamed this! I can drive and most cognitive functions are fine. My fine motor skills are not as good as they were.  My voice is poor.

In summary, I am having to adapt to the new "me". If things improve, great, but after all this time I am beginning to accept my limitations. The main problem is people see me and say how well I look. Indeed I do look well. Inside I still feel unwell. In some ways it would be easier to have a disability that people could see.

Es and 10m WSPR and 6m JT65 activity

Apart from G4KPX (14km) there have been no spots of my 500mW 10m WSPR all morning. By contrast, I have had several spots on 6m JT65 and spotted others on 6m too. I can only put this down to too few on 10m WSPR. I shall stick with 6m JT65 for a little longer.

Steve VE7SL has also commented on the possibility of chordal hop Es as a possible explanation of very long 6m Es paths. Steve was saying he'd found this 6m Es season very poor. It is true that I've not caught any really long paths on 6m Es this summer. There have been plenty of European reports, but little further afield on 6m. Even on 10m I was only spotted in the Caribbean once. A couple of Paraguayan spots on 10m may have been Es or Es/equatorial spread F.  In all, I tend to agree with Steve: I have seen better Es seasons.

UPDATE 1354z:  It seems that Es openings are still occurring but less often than a month or so ago. Today, there has been some Es on 10m and 6m, but not much.

UPDATE 1503z: No further 6m or 10m Es reports.  When good, I can get spots from all over Europe with QRP and simple antennas.

Ducklings - NOT amateur radio

We had a lovely site yesterday when a mother duck and 8 tiny ducklings decided to walk across our front lawn. Luckily we managed to take a few photos.

Sunspots and 10m - Sunday July 31st 2016

Solar flux is 70 today and the sunspot number 13. K=0. The forecast for 10m F2 is (yes you guessed correctly) "poor".

Quiet start today

I was not on overnight but restarted the 10m WSPR and 6m JT65 at breakfast. So far, just one Es spot on 10m WSPR by EA1FAQ (1249km) and none at all (yet) on 6m where I have been spotted by a couple of Gs, probably by tropo or aircraft reflection. I have also been spotted by EI4DQ (576km) on 6m JT65. It is just possible this was Es, but more likely aircraft reflection.

UPDATE 1124z: On 6m JT65 I have spotted EA1YV (1289km) and a French station, so there is 6m Es about.

Plenty of 6m Es

6m JT65 (1W ERP vertical) has been good with Es and other modes today. There has been widespread Es as well as tropo and aircraft reflections. In all, 6m is still good. Es continues on 10m too with a 10m WSPR spot from Finland.

See https://pskreporter.info/pskmap.html .

OFCOM crappery

So, I tried to log in to check my amateur licence is still validated. As it was some years since I logged in, I had forgotten my password so I wanted to request a new one. It did not even recognise my email!!  Give up.

Do they add any value?

JT65 on 10m - well soon

With good Es still on both 10m and 6m, I am reluctant to swap from JT65 on 6m to JT65 and JT9-1 on 10m. As I've said before, it is a case of "either or" on 10m JT65 as I cannot use my W5OLF beacon stand alone as it only works on 10m WSPR. For 10m JT modes I need the FT817 and the PC.  I am sure there is more activity on JT modes (certainly true on 6m).

Even though JT modes are less good than WSPR, this is made up for by the 1 minute cycle time and greater activity. I shall probably swap to 10m JT modes mid-August.

Church blog addition - NOT amateur radio

See http://eachurches.blogspot.co.uk/

This now includes Mildenhall in Suffolk. Supposedly, the largest church in Suffolk according to Simon Knott who knows a few things!

10m and 6m

On 10m WSPR (500mW) just one early Es spot from northern Spain EA1FAQ (1249km) and otherwise just Richard G4KPX (14km) spotting me.

On 6m JT65 (1W ERP vertical) several UK spots plus one from near Paris, which I think was aircraft refection as it would be very close for Es.

Sunspots and 10m - Saturday July 30th 2016

Solar flux is 71 today and the sunspot number 13 (K=2). The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor". I'd like to try 10m JT65 but this means going QRT on 6m and 6m is proving quite interesting still with plenty of Es.

See http://www.solen.info/solar/ for more solar data.

6m Es today

There has been a plentiful amount of Es on 6m today. I have been on 6m JT65 all day (1W ERP vertical) and there has been lots of Es in evidence.

Same stations on 10m WSPR?

As well as low activity on 10m WSPR, when I am spotted it seems to be the same old stations. On 6m JT65 there seem to be more different stations.

More from OFCOM

See http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/wt-exemption-2016/?utm_source=updates&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wt-regulations.

10m and 6m Es

Both 10m and 6m have shown signs of Es this lunchtime. On 6m JT65 (1W ERP) I have been copied in Poland and have copied Ukraine by Es. On 10m WSPR (500mW) I have been copied several times in Scandinavia.

Grandchildren - NOT amateur radio

When our "London" grandchildren come to stay they often play with some local friends they first met many years ago.

Rally

Sunday 31 JULY : HORNCASTLE SUMMER RALLY

Supporting the Fenland Repeater Group GB3FR and GB3SO Horncastle Youth Centre, Horncastle, Lincolnshire LN9 6DZ. The venue is all on one level and doors open at 10.30am. Admission is £1.50. There will be refreshments available, including hot bacon butties. Details from Tony Nightingale, G3ZPU, on 01507 527 835, or email tony.nightingale@yahoo.co.uk.

A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

As I have said before, if travelling any distance it is worth contacting the organisers to confirm details to avoid disappointment.

Sunspots and 10m - Friday July 29th 2016

Solar flux is 70 today. Sunspot number is 13 (K=4) and the forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor" again. At the moment I am not on 10m WSPR although I am on 6m JT65.

Solar flare

Southgate News reports that there was a strong solar flare recently.

See http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2016/july/sun-blasts-out-2016s-strongest-flare.htm .

6m JT65 and 10m WSPR

Not a single spot on 10m WSPR all day. However, 6m JT65 was more productive with several Es spots from Europe. I think this proves that activity on WSPR is the main issue, not propagation

Sunspots and 10m- Thursday July 28th 2016

Solar flux is 71 today. Sunspot number is again zero but conditions are more disturbed with K=4. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".

Sour Grapes? - NOT amateur radio

Although I voted to remain in the EU, a majority in the UK voted to leave. The pound seems to have settled at a fair exchange rate, the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 share indexes seem to be doing just fine. In all, I think the UK can do well outside of the EU. Maybe the EU, especially France and Germany are troubled by such a successful economy (and contributor to its coffers) leaving the EU? I think it is a classic case of sour grapes.

As I have said many times before most in the UK favoured a common market but were not interested in a political union or federal Europe. On balance, I think the EU is heading for difficult times ahead.

No, I think political union, no real control of the numbers coming into the UK from other EU states and more political union were anathema to many in the UK. The positive benefits of being a member of the EU were underplayed.

Bath - NOT amateur radio

We spent a few nights in Bath with 2 of our grandchildren and their mum and dad. We had a good time.  The picture shows one of our sons in a Bath park, feeding ducks with one of our granddaughters. Simple pleasures.

I was surprised by the large number of kites (birds) seen from the train. In all, I saw seven and I was not trying that hard! At one time seeing a kite in England would have been rare. A few years ago they were reintroduced in some areas and now they are seen all over the place.

Sunspots and 10m - Wed July 27th 2016

My apologies for no solar data yesterday but I was away.

Solar flux is 71 today and the sunspot number 0 (K=0). Yet again the forecast  for F2 propagation for 10m is "poor".

Tomorrow I should be back on 6m JT65 and 10m WSPR.

Rally

29-31 JULY : AMSAT-UK COLLOQUIUM
Holiday Inn, Egerton Rd, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XZ. www.amsat-uk.org.

A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

Packhorse Inn - NOT amateur radio

Last year we (by accident) discovered this place to eat. We have now been there 5 times! It is the Packhorse Inn in Moulton,near Newmarket. We have never been disappointed. They always serve a (free) starter of breads, savoury popcorn and savoury macaroons. Both food and service are excellent.

6m JT65

Last night I received a report from G0LRD that my JT65 timing was out and I was consequently not decoding. To be fair it had been running a long time and possibly my internet timing had not been corrected. At the moment I am not on 6m JT65 or 10m WSPR.

Sunspots and 10m - Monday July 25th 2016

Solar flux is 78 today and the sunspot number down to 16 (K=4). The forecast for 10m F2 propagation is "poor" again. Whether it improves in the autumn remains to be seen.

4X1RF's amazing spots on 6m JT65

Although I have yet to be spotted on 6m JT65 by 4X1RF (me being vertical probably does not help!) he does spot some amazing DX on the band regularly. Every time I look I see spots by him at great distance on 6m. He only uses a 3 element according to PSKreporter - nothing too grand.

I assume these long distance spots are Es, but some could be tropo across the Med, but unlikely.  I still wonder about chordal-Es as he seems to regularly spot stations a long way away. I have been spotted in Israel this summer (1W ERP) and I have spotted a station in Kazakhstan twice. Kazakhstan is a very long way!