Sunspots and 10m - Friday June 2nd 2017

Solar flux is 81 today and the sunspot number 18. A=7 and K=1.

Conditions on 10m are good by Es and 6m conditions (Es?) seem exceptional (see earlier post).

10m WSPR TX

All morning, I have been on 10m WSPR TX (500mW, 100%). My signal is being widely received across Europe.

UPDATE 1455z: 34 unique spots of my 10m WSPR. All were in Europe.

6m JT65 - amazing conditions

Just spotted 7A4TOI (13582km) in Indonesia on 6m VHF!! This is the greatest distance I have ever received on a VHF band. Extraordinary long path - Es?  My own 1W ERP 6m JT65 signal was copied in Israel earlier by 4Z5ML (3571km).  Conditions on 6m seem extraordinary today.

UPDATE 1100z: At one time receiving Qatar and Asiatic Russia (5210km) would have seemed exceptional on 6m - both copied this morning on my poor antenna. Now I expect anything!

UPDATE 1600z: Today, 6m JT65 has been more like 20m with lots and lots of spots of my 1W ERP signal. I hope we see transatlantic DX this evening. It may not happen, but after today it is anyone's guess.

General Election in the UK - NOT amateur radio

We have a General Election in the UK next week. At the beginning of the campaign, the pundits were talking of a landslide victory for the ruling Conservative Party. Now, in the last week, things are much closer. Last time the experts were wrong. It will be interesting to see who is right.

Personally, I think we have a real lack of good leaders in all main parties. What we need is a "centre ground" party with strong, charismatic leadership. There is little to chose between the three main parties: the right of the Labour Party is very similar to the left of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are somewhere there too. Not one of these parties has what I'd call a good leader.

Home quiet - NOT amateur radio

We have had all our 4 grandchildren and parents here over the last week. These days I find them very tiring. It is great having them and it is "clean mess". Once they have all gone, the house does seem empty, but tidy!

CQ-DATV

TV is one part of our hobby I have never tried. After all, it is hard to do everything! If you are interested in DATV, issues of CQ-DATV may be downloaded freely.

See http://cq-datv.mobi/48.php  for the latest issue.

10m JT65 again

Once again, I am on 10m JT65. So far, just Europeans by Es. Yesterday was a good day with plenty of South Americans coming through on 10m JT65 in the late afternoon and evening.

UPDATE 2028z: After another good 10m JT65 Es day, it is time to go QRT. Tomorrow I may try 10m WSPR TX and 6m JT65 transceive.

OFCOM and mobile phones on ships - NOT amateur radio

See http://ofcom.createsend1.com/t/ViewEmail/i/742AAB4E823BB885/59D1BD3EA2F08127C67FD2F38AC4859C

OFCOM is consulting on the use of mobile phones on ships.

Sunspots and 10m - June 1st 2017

Solar flux today is 75 . Sunspot number is 11. A=4 and K=1. Widespread 10m Es.

10m JT65

Conditions seem quite good this morning. On 10m JT65 RX my best DX is UN7DA (5276km). My own signal is being widely copied in Europe by Es. Other notable RX spots include YI3WHR (4186km) in Iraq late last night. I find it hard to believe this is Es. F2 is possible although the time is wrong for F2.

Are these long paths Es with some sort of chordal hop? I have long suspected this sort of mode. I am not a great believer of these being multi-hop Es. It would be interesting to hear what experts have to say.