Snow - NOT amateur radio

This is a photo of our grandson enjoying the snow on his birthday. It is still snowing now and this winter has been the coldest for several years.

Sunspots - Wednesday February 28th 2018

Solar flux is 69 and the sunspot number 15. A=19 and K=2.

More on WSJT-X V1.9.0

Southgate News has more information on the latest version of WSPR-X, free software available for download. The FT8 weak signal, narrowband, mode has really "taken off" and has amazed me. The software for this is in WSJT-X and is totally free. All you have to do is sit on a given USB dial frequency and watch the DX appear. QSOs are formulaic, but the mode allows low power to reach great distances. Yesterday for example my 2m 4W ERP was spotted in north Devon quite easily.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2018/february/wsjt-x-version-1-9-0.htm#.WpXVPkx2vIU

Joining the dots - NOT amateur radio

This may be because I am getting older or an artefact following my 2013 stroke.

Sometimes I mishear things or simply misunderstand and my brain tries to make sense of it by subconsciously "joining up the dots". Sometimes I completely get the "wrong end of the stick". Today, I misunderstood my wife saying an old friend was coming tomorrow afternoon when in fact he was coming this morning. I guess this happens several times a week.

The moral is to make sure I heard correctly and don't interpret things incorrectly. At times my brain plays tricks.

Cambridge bikes - NOT amateur radio

When crossing roads in Cambridge you have to be careful: there are lots of bikes and often cycles are allowed to go down roads against the traffic flow. It is all too easy to walk into bikes. I have the dubious distinction of causing a cyclist to crash off his bike when I was a pedestrian buckling his front wheel. That was in 1971, but the nickname "crash" was still with me well into the 2000s! Cambridge is synonymous with bikes.

630m (472kHz) WSPR RX

If I can successfully download the latest version of WSPR-X (V1.9) I may give 472kHz WSPR a go this evening and overnight.

UPDATE 1422z: Well, it looks like WSJT-X V1.9 rc2 has successfully downloaded and installed. Currently, I am on 472kHz WSPR RX, but no spots yet.

UPDATE 2115z: 10 unique stations spotted so far this evening including 9A3KB (1290km) which is a new country for me on this band. Best DX so far is LA2XPA (1310km). The shack PC is on battery power.

UPDATE 2155z: The shack PC battery is charging until about 2300z. Thereafter, I shall be on 472kHz WSPR RX through the night with the shack PC on battery power. The PC usually stays working until about 0600z.

UPDATE 2310z: Everything is now set up for an overnight look on 472kHz WSPR. Yet again, I am hoping for some USA spots. Well, I can hope. After about 10 minutes, 5 uniques spotted.

2m FT8 RX

Yet again, I am monitoring 2m FT8 RX. I was on overnight. In the last 12 hours 15 unique stations in 4 countries with the best DX being DK0IZ (643km) north of Hamburg.

The map shows the stations spotted on 2m FT8 in the last day.

Sunspots - Tuesday February 27th 2018

Solar flux is 71 today and the sunspot number is 16. A=7 and K=2.

OFCOM announce bidders

Today, OFCOM announced the people who will be allowed to bid for 3.4GHz spectrum in their forthcoming auction.

See http://ofcom.cmail20.com/t/ViewEmail/i/FAF3B1CF960D46302540EF23F30FEDED/59D1BD3EA2F08127C67FD2F38AC4859C

New version of WSPR-X released (V1.9)

According to the Princeton site, a new improved version of WSPR-X has been made available. Better LF and MF WSPR decodes are supposed to be possible.

See https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjtx.html .

When I looked this was this was a release candidate, so there might still be some bugs?