Sunspots - Friday October 26th 2018

Solar flux is 69 today and the sunspot number zero. A=6 and K=2. It feels like sunspot minimum!

2m FT8

Inspired by G8OFA, I am today on 2m FT8. An earlier, brief, CQ (2.5W to the omni) was spotted in northern France and by some UK stations.

So far today, 20 stations spotted in 6 countries with best DX OK1FD (857km).

UPDATE 1137z: On 2m FT8 RX so far today, 34 stations in 7 countries spotted.

UPDATE 1400z: Now 40 stations spotted in 7 countries on 2m FT8 RX.

472kHz WSPR

Today, 10m was dire here, so I QSYed to 472kHz WSPR (10mW ERP, 20%) earlier than normal.  M0FMT (51km) is a new one for this season on 472kHz WSPR RX.

Early Halloween party - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday I mentioned that school starts again before Halloween, so an early party at Granny and Grampy was called for. We had this tonight along with silly games. They still love it, although we know these days will soon pass.

Rally

Saturday 27 OCTOBER : ESSEX CW ARC CW BOOT CAMP

3rd Witham Scout & Guide HQ, Rear of Spring Lodge Community Centre, Powers Hall End, Witham, Essex CM8 2HE. Doors open at 8.30am for registration and the event runs from 9am to 4.30pm. Parking is free. Entry £10 with free sausage rolls, drinks, cakes. Contact Andy, G0IBN 0745 342 6087 g0ibn1@yahoo.com.

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

10m FT8 again

After a night on 472kHz (630m) WSPR, I have again gone on 10m FT8 but no spots on RX or TX as yet.

UPDATE 1551z: No spots still.

Sunspots - Thursday October 25th 2018

Solar flux is 69 and the sunspot number zero. A=3 and K=0.

Now on 472kHz WSPR

All the DX on 10m seems to have stopped, so I have QSYed to 472kHz WSPR. All being well, I shall be on until breakfast (20% TX, 10mW ERP, earth-electrode "antenna"). As of now, just a couple of spots of me and none of others.

UPDATE 2107z:  5 unique spots of others with best DX IW4DXW (1190km).

All the grandchildren - NOT amateur radio

A photo showing all of our grandchildren.

Well nearly - NOT amateur radio

Halloween is next week when our grandchildren are back at school. So, tomorrow we are having an early Halloween party. Our granddaughter decided to try her hat today!

Solar cycle 25 start

"While smaller spots with the correct polarity alignment of cycle 25 regions have been observed at high latitude locations as early as 2016, this overview will only include spots large enough to have been visible at a 1K resolution. In the case of reversed polarity cycle 24 regions, those that are not at a sufficiently high latitude (ie. 30 degrees or more), are considered most likely to belong to cycle 24 and will not be included in this list until closer to the actual solar cycle minimum (likely to be sometime between August 2018 and February 2019)."

Notice the last few words. This was copied from http://www.solen.info/solar/cycle25_spots.html .

Bury St Edmunds earlier - NOT amateur radio

Earlier today, we went to Bury St Edmunds with 2 of our grandchildren. It was market day. Bury St Edmunds still has a very old fashioned East Anglian feel. Unlike Cambridge it is not filled with Far Eastern visitors with their selfie sticks. It feels "authentic".

The photo shows my wife with 2 of our 4 grandchildren.

Overnight on 472kHz WSPR

Last night was average. Although I spotted my best DX of the season on 472kHz WSPR RX , my own 10mW ERP was only spotted by 7 UK stations.

472kHz WSPR RX last night

472kHz WSPR TX last night

10m FT8 today

Although I was out for several hours I left the RX running on 10m FT8 RX. There were quite a few spots from Europe today, although nothing further spotted so far.

UPDATE 1635z: No spots outside Europe today on 10m FT8 RX. 15 spots today, so far. Plan to stay on 10m for a few more hours then try MF WSPR.

UPDATE 1555z: A single spot from the Canary Is now.

UPDATE 1812z: The first South Americans came through at 1652z on 10m FT8 RX today.

Sunspots - Wednesday October 24th 2018

Solar flux is 70 and the SSN is zero. A=4 and K=0.

Cactus Day - NOT amateur radio

No, we'd not heard of this either! It was an invention of our granddaughter. To celebrate this day, we will celebrate Oct 22nd as Cactus Day every year from now on.

The photo show the cake that our grandson iced.

Why cactus? Absolutely no idea! 😀

QSYed to 472kHz WSPR

As 10m DX seems to have stopped, I have again QSYed to 472kHz WSPR. As usual, my 10mW ERP is set at 20% TX so I am on RX 4 times out of 5. This means I transmit about once every 10 minutes. I shall be on overnight. With increasing noise floors it is getting harder to spot weak signals, so if you spot me you are doing well. Best of luck!

UPDATE 2050z:  Not a bad start this evening with 8 spots on RX with best DX IW4DXW (1190km). On TX, 6 spots of my 10mW ERP so far tonight, all in England

Blood test - NOT amateur radio

About 10 days ago I had a blood test. Today, I rang to get the results. "No further actions required". Although I had no symptoms, this was good news. As you get older, one wonders if something lurking will be found.

10m FT8

Although I have been on 10m FT8 for a while, no spots as yet on RX or TX.

UPDATE 1845z: Several Iberian spots plus ZS6WB (9094km) on 10m FT8 RX today. No other spots. After another hour I shall QSY to 472kHz WSPR.

472kHz last night

Last night was average on 472kHz WSPR. In all, 8 English stations spotted me. These were all UK stations.

Sunspots - Tusaday October 23rd 2018

Solar flux is 70 today and the SSN still zero. A=6 and K=1.

10m FT8 again

Rather later than usual, I have returned to 10m FT8. After a brief QRP CQ call, I am now RX only. Just a spot of G8KHF (98km) so far.

UPDATE 1542z:  Odd. The only other spot so far today on 10m FT8 RX is ZS6WB (9094km) in South Africa.

UPDATE 1615z: Another spot, this time from central France - aircraft reflection? No South Americans yet tonight on 10m FT8 RX.

Autumn walk - NOT amateur radio

Before lunch, we went for a nice walk with our son and his children at nearby Anglesey Abbey in the pleasant autumn sun. It was about 12 degrees C.

Sunspots - Monday October 22nd 2018

Solar flux is 71 and the SSN zero still.  A=4 and K=1.

Toadstools - NOT amateur radio

OK, I am not very good at telling apart edible mushrooms from poisonous toadstools, so unless I am sure, it does not get touched or eaten! These toadstools (I assume) were seen at Anglesey Abbey earlier in the week where they had removed an old tree. This seems to be the season to see all sorts of strange fungi.

446MHz in the UK

Quite a few of these licence-free radios are available in the UK for silly prices. Some are also available I believe for licence-free use at 70cm, but don't ask me which ones! I have zero experience of 446MHz radios, so have no idea how busy these channels are. If you are an infrequent professional or casual user of 2-way radio, I expect these are an ideal fit. I am pretty sure there are alternatives in other countries.

Last night on 472kHz WSPR

Average night. No DX spots of my 10mW ERP outside the UK. The usual DX spots on 472kHz WSPR RX. It has been better.

Sunspots - Sunday October21st 2018

Solar flux today is 69 and the sunspot number zero. A=2 and K=0.

Slow start on 10m FT8

Been on 10m FT8 for about 30 minutes and the only station spotted so far is 2E0XXO (121km) in Lincoln. An early CQ (2.5W FT8) was spotted by no-one!

UPDATE 1430z: It picked up. Lots of EU stations spotted and a CT1 worked (2.5W FT8). VY2HH (4445km) on Prince Edward Island, Canada spotted on 10m FT8 at 1413z at a strong -10dB S/N.

UPDATE 1852z: Already 6 South Americans spotted on 10m FT8 RX as well as Kuwait and Ghana. A great day. 5 continents spotted on 10m FT8 RX today. 10m near sunspot minimum!

10m FT8 CQs earlier (2.5W)

10m FT8 RX today

472kHz WSPR

As 10m seems to have closed, I decided to try 472kHz WSPR again (10mW ERP).

So far this evening, 9 different stations spotted on MF with best 472kHz WSPR  RX DX being LA8AV (1035km). On TX this evening best DX, so far, is a spot from G4PQP (100km).

472kHz WSPR RX so far this evening

Garden - NOT amateur radio

Autumn is here and we are getting the garden ready for the quiet winter months. Leaves are falling and soon there will be frosts. It was quite warm today, but these days will soon be gone. Next weekend the clocks go back and it is soon dark early. Every season has something good about it.

2m UKAC contest results

The results of the 2m UKAC activity contest for October have been published. Apparently my position has improved. Seeing I use 5W to an omni and usually stay on for less than 60 minutes, I am quite pleased. I do not take contests too seriously.

See https://www.rsgbcc.org/cgi-bin/vhfresults.pl?Contest=144MHz%20UKAC&year=2018

10m FT8

At the moment, I am back on 10m FT8. Best DX on RX is MU0WLV (374km) on Guernsey earlier. So far just G and MU stations spotted. An earlier CQ (2.5W FT8) was spotted by EI7GL (595km). Aircraft reflection?

UPDATE 1525z: Several stations in Portugal and Italy spotted this afternoon on 10m FT8 RX. Lzst night South Americans came through on 10m from 1800z. Last year on this date I was copying stations on 10m FT8 RX from every continent except Antarctica.

UPDATE 1715z: 10 stations in 4 countries so far on 10m FT8 RX today. All EU.

UPDATE 2057z:  I went QRT on 10m at about 1950z. No South Americans were spotted here on 10m FT8 today. Today was the quietest day for some time on the band. In the end, 10 EU stations spotted in 4 countries.

A good night on 472kHz

The last time I was on 472kHz WSPR I was disappointed. Last night was great with 9 stations in 3 countries spotting me and being copied in Norway for the second time this autumn with my 10mW ERP from the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground. I know this is several dB down on a "real" antenna, but it shows that even very compromised antennas work.

472kHz WSPR TX

On 472kHz WSPR, RX 11 different stations spotted in 6 countries with the best DX being IW4DXW (1190km).

472kHz WSPR RX

Sunspots - Saturday October 20th 2018

Solar flux is 70 and the SSN zero. A=2 and K=1. Typical sunspot minimum conditions.

QSY to 472kHz WSPR (10mW ERP)

The last time I was on this band conditions were not too good, so  am trying again tonight. 

Unique spots so far on 472kHz WSPR this evening

Still using the earth-electrode "antenna" in the ground.

Action on 10m FT8 seems to have stopped for now, so I have gone QRT on that band.  I see GW4BVE was calling a station in the Falkland Is on 10m earlier on 10m FT8.

Grooming gang - NOT amateur radio

"During the three trials, jurors heard how the men - who are all British Asians of mainly Pakistani heritage - preyed on young, vulnerable girls, one of whom was described as having the mental age of a seven-year-old." From the BBC report.

I am most definitely not a racist. Many of my friends come from backgrounds other than white British. What really puzzles me is why every member of this gang is Asian. Is it something in their culture which makes them more likely to act in this way? It is inexcusable. Rather than pay for them in jail, send them back to Pakistan on the first plane. If they cannot follow our way of life, they deserve no part in it.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45918845

Coax cable

It is many years since I last bought coax (2012?), so I am a bit out of touch on prices, types and sizes. Come to think of it, I must have bought some low-loss coax when David G0LRD installed my 2m big-wheel, but I cannot recall where I got this from!

Every weekend, MLS has some special weekend deals and this week it includes coax and coax tools.

See https://www.hamradio.co.uk/

JS8Call

This is a development of FT8 to allow longer messages. It is not something I have tried. To me, FT8 is enough, but others may be interested. I believe it is at release 0.75.

See http://js8call.com/2018/10/11/announcing-the-first-js8-qso-party-19-22-october-2018/

WSJT-X

There is a lot of free software at this site for digital communication. WSJT-X is still in beta release with the full Rev 2.0 version due in December. If you want to try some digital modes, take a look.

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